Are you a fan of Bryson DeChambeau's quirky methods?

Yes – I’m already a Bryson DeChambeau fan, says Mark Townsend

Every now and then you watch an amateur who you just know is going to be a superstar in the years to come. On the Sunday of the Walker Cup I followed DeChambeau and was as fascinated by his ball striking as I was the length of his clubs.

On that morning he hit some incredible shots, so much so that the first thing I did on getting home was to read as much as possible about the US Amateur champion.

The most memorable, away from those 37.5 inch clubs, was that he put his golf balls in a bowl of Epson Salts to balance each one. He will then spin the ball and the out-of-balance one will wobble to where the low point or heavy side of the ball is due to the centre of gravity not being in the exact centre. He will then put 60 milligrams of lead tape to see if the ball then flips back over. If the ball is more than 60mgs out of balance then he won’t play it. Supposedly four out of every dozen were taken out.

Now I don’t actually pretend to understand any of this but if this is how his mind works then it’s got to be more interesting than ‘yeah, I’ve been rolling the ball nicely in the last few weeks’.

DeChambeau doesn’t do all these things for effect, he does them because that’s how his mind works and he thinks it will give him his best chance. He’s still only 24, he’s already inside the top 100 in the world and he has a win to his name.

He might need to speed up a bit but, if anyone is likely to over-think a shot, then it will be DeChambeau.

No – I need more convincing, says Alex Perry

As if the psychological part of golf isn’t tough enough as it is…

To date, 447 major championships have been competed in the men’s game using, shall we say, the more traditional methods of playing the game.

I punched DeChambeau’s name into Twitter to see what others were saying about him and everyone seems to be on the same page – except Mark, of course. One tweet in particular stood out: “Everything about Bryson Dechambeau bothers me and I’m not even sure why.”

I couldn’t put it better. And then there was this at the Memorial…

This is Bryson’s world and we’re all just living in it. pic.twitter.com/7otJsokgsJ

— Alex Perry (@AlexPerryNCG) June 3, 2018

I feel really bad saying this but I find everything about DeChambeau’s game rather irritating. The grip, the swing, the hat. It all looks ridiculous. And my goodness does he take a long time to do it all.

What’s the point in putting all that time and thought into a putting stroke if the grass is going to be twice as long by the time you hit the sodding thing?

Don’t get me wrong, he’s a very impressive golfer, I’m just not all in on the DeChambeau Project, I’m afraid.

Hey, if in 20 years we’re sitting here talking about DeChambeau as a multi-major champion, then I’ll hold my hands up and admit I was wrong to doubt his methods.

Three PGA Tour wins in and I’m impressed, but I’m not won over.