By: Global Golf Post

Bryson DeChambeau’s use of irons of the same length was considered a novelty when he won the 2015 NCAA Championship and U.S. Amateur.

His come-from-behind victory Sunday in the John Deere Classic bolsters his reasoning behind the notion.

DeChambeau collected his first PGA Tour title with a 6-under-par 65 on Sunday, overpowering TPC Deere Run’s back nine with a 6-under 30 that included birdies on the 17th and 18th holes and enabled him to overtake Patrick Rodgers, who finished a stroke back. Wesley Bryan and Rick Lamb tied for third at 16-under 268.

“Oh my gosh, you are kidding me!” DeChambeau exclaimed on the range when Rodgers’ chip at the last to force a playoff missed. “I don’t know what it means right now.”

It means plenty. DeChambeau, 23, grabbed the last berth in this week’s Open Championship with the victory, as well as a PGA Tour exemption through 2019 and all that goes with it. He’d tied for 14th in the Greenbrier Classic the previous week, but aside from a T2 finish in Puerto Rico, 2017 hadn’t been bright, including a string of eight consecutive missed cuts.

Rodgers, who had led or shared the lead since Friday afternoon, bogeyed the par-5 17th hole to fall a shot behind, and missed his birdie chip to tie on the 18th by a foot. His final-round 70 matched the highest score of the contenders on a typical day at Deere Run, when anything more than 69 sent you backwards.

DeChambeau’s last two birdies were boldly constructed. He lased a hybrid 259 yards from a sidehill lie in the rough to the tree on the par-5 17th and two putted from 40 feet, then dropped his approach on the par-4 18th 14 feet behind the cup on the back edge of the green and ran that in for a 3 to tie Rodgers.

Moments later came Rodgers’ bogey at the 17th, and DeChambeau went to the range to prepare for a playoff that never came.

Steve Stricker made a strong bid for a fourth Deere Classic title, making birdies on 14 of his last 30 holes after making the cut on the number. Out three hours before the final twosome, the 50-year-old shares the lead for a time before making a final-hole bogey for 64 and 269, tying for fifth with fellow past winners Zach Johnson and Jonathan Byrd, as well as Scott Stallings and Daniel Berger.

Driver:Cobra King LTD Pro, 8.5 degrees
Shaft: Project X HZRDUS T1100 6.5 (75 grams)
Length: 45 inches, gripped

3 Wood: Cobra King LTD Fairway 3/4 (12 degrees)
Shaft: Project X HZRDUS Black 6.5 (85 grams)
Length: 44 inches, gripped

Driving Iron: Cobra King Utility (18 degrees)
Shaft: Project X HZRDUS Black 6.5 (105 grams)
Length: 39.5 inches, gripped

Irons: Cobra King Forged One Length (4-PW)
Shafts: Nippon N.S. Pro Modus3 Tour 130X (all 6-iron shafts)
Length: 37.5 inches, gripped

Wedges: Cobra King Versatile Grind (50, 55 and 60 degrees)
Shafts: Nippon N.S. Pro Modus3 Tour 130X
Length: 37.5 inches, gripped

Putter: S.I.K. C-Series
Length: 39 inches

Ball: Bridgestone B330-S

Republished with permission from Global Golf Post