Equipment
Do Bryson DeChambeau’s upright iron lie angles give him an advantage from the rough? – GolfWRXers discuss
In our forums, our members have been debating whether Bryson’s iron lie angles give him an advantage over his peers from shots out of the rough. WRXer ‘Valtiel’ kicks off the thread saying:
“Is it possible the Bryson’s extremely upright iron lie angles (~10*+ more upright than standard) give him a bit of an advantage out of the rough? It would seem like the more upright a club is, the less shaft/heel/hosel would actually be grabbed on to/twisted by deeper rough.
To look at it from the opposite extreme, an iron that was bent significantly flat would, if I’m correct, come into contact with a lot more of the rough around the hosel area. Thoughts?”
And our members have been having their say on the subject in our forums.
Here are a few posts from the thread, but make sure to check out the entire discussion and have your say at the link below.
- jll62: “Buddy of mine is on the MacKenzie Tour and also has irons that are nearly as upright as Bryson’s. He said better performance out of the rough is definitely a thing with that upright of a lie angle. Basically, if you have a high VSP, you start to minimize rough interaction as much as you can.”
- NoCalHack: “I don’t think that the lie itself would make a big difference at all. 10 degrees probably means a couple of blades of grass. But one reason why his clubs are so upright is the one length thing. The fact that his longer irons are shorter means he swings them steeper. This no doubt helps him.”
- Hairpie: “I think the added length that produces more speed is a bigger factor. I also think Winged Foot is more accessible to a bomb and gouge mentality since nearly every green is open in front.”
- ronbo: “Biggest advantage is the GW is the length of his 6 iron and the amount of club head speed compared to a Std. GW or even a PW out of the rough is unbelievable. Try it sometime. One Length here to stay….”
- labgolf: “100%. I was saying it all week. Not to mention the extra weight and length on the wedges. HUGE advantage. He’s a sharp cookie!”
Neal Shipley was the first to admit that he enjoyed his food while in college. But since his days at Ohio State, he’s slimmed down and earned a PGA Tour Card.
That hasn’t stopped him from having fun with his wedge stampings, though it’s led to some misunderstandings.
On the 54 (degree), we have ‘Big Fudge,'” Shipley told GolfWRX. “It was supposed to be ‘Big Fridge,’ so this happened a little while ago. ‘Big Fridge’ was a nickname between my college teammates and I, with ‘fridge’ meaning stomach, a big stomach.
“We told the Ping guys to put … ‘Big Fridge’ on it, and I think maybe some bad cell service or something, and they thought I said ‘fudge,’ so they put fudge on it.”
On Shipley’s 50-degree he also continues the food theme, this time with his go-to order at the “Golden Arches,” and his stamping “DONS 7.”
“The number 7 meal, the two cheeseburger meal, that was my McDonald’s order, back when I would have McDonald’s frequently,” Shipley shared.
At GolfWRX, we are a community of like-minded individuals who all experience and express our enjoyment of the game in many ways.
It’s that sense of community that drives day-to-day interactions in the forums on topics that range from best driver to what marker you use to mark your ball. It even allows us to share another thing we all love – buying and selling equipment.
Currently, in our GolfWRX buy/sell/trade (BST) forum, @raw10628 has a L.A.B. DF3 putter and Masters putter cover up for grabs.
From the listing: “Some great items here today, time to thin out and make room for next set of gear. All prices include shipping.
LAB DF3 Purple 33.5” 68° lie with TPT – $725. LAB Masters release DF3 cover – $150.”
To check out the full listing in our BST forum, head through the link. If you are curious about the rules to participate in the BST Forum, you can learn more here: GolfWRX BST Rules
Driver: Ping G440 LST (9 degrees)
Shaft: Accra TourZ Green 5-M4
3-wood: Ping G440 Max (15 degrees)
Shaft: Accra TourZ Green 6-M4
5-wood: Ping G440 Max (19 degrees @18)
Shaft: Accra TourZ Green 6-M4
Hybrid: Ping G440 (23 degrees)
Shaft: Oban Isawa Red Hybrid Shaft 04 Flex 70 Gms
Irons: Srixon ZXi7 (5-P)
Shafts: Aerotech SteelFiber Private Reserve i80
Wedges: Cleveland RTZ (50-MID, 54-FULL, 58-MID)
Shafts: Aerotech SteelFiber Private Reserve i105
Putter: L.A.B. Golf OZ.1i
Shaft: ACCRA Putter Shaft
Grips: Golf Pride Tour Velvet
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Maria Torres WITB 2026 (June)
Driver: Ping G440 LST (9 degrees) Shaft: Accra TourZ Green 5-M4 3-wood: Ping G440 Max (15 degrees) Shaft: Accra TourZ Green 6-M4 5-wood: Ping G440...
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Driver: PXG Lightning Tour Max (9 degrees) Shaft: Project X Titan Yellow 70 TX 3-wood: TaylorMade Qi4D (15 degrees) Shaft:...
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Driver: Callaway Quantum Triple Diamond (8.5 degrees) Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Black 6 X Mini driver: Callaway Paradym Ai Smoke Mini...
Wyndham Clark’s winning WITB: 2026 CJ Cup Byron Nelson
Driver: TaylorMade Qi4D (10.5 degrees) Shaft: Project X Titan Yellow 60 TX 3-wood: TaylorMade Qi4D Tour (15 degrees) Shaft: Project...
Rich
Sep 24, 2020 at 10:41 pm
“But one reason why his clubs are so upright is the one length thing.”
No, it isn’t. His clubs are so upright because his swing is (a) single-plane and (b) upright. This would be true with traditional irons–progressive lie angles, but each far more steep than “standard.” Nothing about that has anything to do with single-length irons.
I play single-length irons. I have a more-traditional 2-plane swing. All my irons are 2 degrees upright, but that was also the same in my traditional sets because I have slightly shorter arms for someone my height.
Conflating one-plane swings with single-length irons is a common mistake.
Stokley Carmichael
Sep 24, 2020 at 12:42 pm
No, but his broom handle length putter does!