A golfer uses creativity to win the U.S. open, shake up his sport in new ways

Who knew golf could be creative?!

First, confessions. I am not a golfer. I don’t play, watch it on TV, or talk about it. I’ve really never understood the appeal, and I know this will turn off some readers right here.

But, despite my lack of knowledge, I would argue that I am a good person to write about one topic in golf: creativity, or doing things differently to get better. Here’s how I got there.

Late in September, a friend of mine mentioned she was watching the U.S. Open.

What? I thought. That finished two weeks earlier. Naomi Osaka won, brilliantly. Was my friend watching reruns?

Of course, I was thinking tennis, she was talking golf. Who knew two sports had the same name for their tournaments?

I tucked aside her comment until later, when she said, you really need to know about what happened.

Apparently a young player named Bryson DeChambeau threw the sport on its ear, winning the U.S. Open in a way that roiled and cheered golfers around the world. I wanted to know more.

It turns out, for those of you who are not big golfers, that this young man was creative in his thinking and his actions, and it paid off.

Golf World magazine’s Sept. 20 issue described 11 unusual things DeChambeau did to become such a winner. Here are three:

▪ He gained weight and bulk and muscle, allowing him to hit further — some 20 yards more — than he had the previous year. He’s great at hitting the putting green in one stroke, as opposed to what most golfers do, using two strokes to get there. As one coach says, he looks like a weightlifter but has the range of motion and flexibility of a golfer.

▪ He’s dedicated and works very hard at whatever he chooses to do. For instance, he learned to sign his name backward with his left hand, even though he’s right handed, because he wanted to learn how. He applies that desire to learning how to do things differently across the board. It’s part of what he calls “brain training.”

▪ He seems to relish activities that are far from golf, from drawing to history to science and music. He’s an aggressive learner.

All of this made me want to become a golf watcher, if not player, just to see how someone who thinks differently can shake up his sport in new ways.

I suspect all golfers will be better for watching this young player in the future.

Nancy Napier is a Boise State University distinguished professor. nnapier@boisestate.edu