Golf’s Greatest Strategy Revealed: Precision vs. Power at Bethpage Black

Ryder Cup 2025 Strategic Analysis: Bryson DeChambeau vs Russell Henley at Bethpage Black

Join Drew Hopper for an in-depth breakdown of how distance and strategy create completely different approaches to golf’s biggest stage.

🏌️ TIMESTAMPS:
0:00 Introduction & Four Dimensions Framework
1:01 Yardage Comparison Analysis
2:43 Hole 5 Strategic Breakdown
6:42 Hole 12 Analysis
9:32 Hole 15 Deep Dive
13:07 Key Takeaways for Your Game
14:09 Ryder Cup Predictions

🎉 GIVEAWAY: Win $3,000 in Golf Performance Training!
Enter now at: https://www.eliteperformancejuice.com/golf-coaching-giveaway
Takes just 10 seconds!

#RyderCup #GolfStrategy #BrysonDeChambeau #RussellHenley #BethpageBlack

Welcome to Performance Juice. I’m Drew Hopper, your host and performance coach, specializing in golf strategy and the four dimensions of elite performance. Are you excited for the RDER Cup? I know I am. This isn’t just a golf tournament, though. It’s a master class in strategic performance. We’re going to break down exactly how two elite players approach the same golf course completely different and what that means for your game. Example, Bryson Day Shambo averages 340 yards off the tee. Russell Henley 289. That’s a 51 yard gap, the biggest on either team. But here’s what most golfers miss. Distance isn’t everything. Strategy, positioning, and mental approach can be just as important. Today, I’m going to show you exactly how these differences play out on three of Beth Page Black’s most challenging holes. If you’ve ever wondered how to think your way around a golf course like a pro, this analysis will change how you approach every round. Well, let’s start with the numbers. I’m going to throw a visual aid up here for you. Here are Bryson’s stock yardages. He’s published these on his Instagram account, so you can go find those yourself as well. And then look at Russell’s next to it. Look at the gap. It’s not just the driver. Obviously, their bag is built up a little bit differently, but it’s really every single club. Now, here’s what’s fascinating, though. Russell Henley is currently fifth in strokes gain total and second in greens and regulation on the PJ tour at the time of this recording. This guy hits it significantly shorter than most pros, but his precision is world class. This actually reminds me of Tom Watson. I think some of you can remember when he was competing at the Open. I believe he was in his 60s at this time and he was hitting hybrids into par fours where other players were hitting short to mid irons. So, we’ve seen examples of where precision can overcome distance limitations, but it requires nearperfect execution. I think we could say the same. Russell actually won not too long ago. And so, the guy has a demonstrated history of, you know, top performance with the capabilities that he has. And so, today we’re going to bring this to life by analyzing three holes where these differences matter the most. [Music] Down. [Music] All right, let’s start with hole five. And this is playing around 480. They’ll move the T’s a little bit here and there. We’re going to look at Bryson’s drive first. Throw that up on the screen. And you can see the distribution, right? 24 yards approximately wide the fairway. And we can see that he’s going to be more than likely left and right of that. Yeah, this is pretty consistent throughout this course. A lot of narrow driving holes. So, but but not too many that would be considered out of bounds given the shot distribution that you’re seeing on the screen. Right? So, assuming that he hits that driver around his normal driving distance, that going that’s going to leave him a 50°ree in. All right. And so, what I’m going to show you then on that approach shot, and for this hole, I’m assuming a front left pin position for the sake of this conversation. And Bryson’s hitting that 50 in. And he would be aiming long and right. Right. So a little bit towards the center of the green, if you will. And with that, what we see is that shot distribution with a 50. I think there’s a couple just short of the green in the rough, but none in the bunker. And most are on the putting surface, right? Like 95% are on the putting surface. So then let’s contrast that. Let me pull this up for Russell. I’ll throw this up on the screen. is well so quite interesting what we’re looking at here the difference with the T-shot distance what we see with Russell is similar distance or you know width of the fairway at this part part where he’s driving the ball but we actually see a couple are going in the bunker in terms of his distribution so that wasn’t even like in Bryson’s mind that the bunker’s in play not at all but Russell really has to hit the right line and hit on the number to take that bunker out of play. So that’s the first consideration. But then we say, okay, Russell’s amazing driver of the ball. He’s going to do that more than likely. And even the distribution shows that that’s a very small percentage of likelihood. But then he’s left with a five iron in. And what did Bryson just hit? A 50, right? And so we know that a five iron, the distribution is going to be different. throwing that up on the screen. Looking at his approach, Russell hitting that five iron in. Even if he’s aiming at a similar target to Bryson, long right towards the center of the green, we see with that distribution that he’s got several on the bunker, several not on the green, and his proximity of approach is just generally longer, right? And so from a pure scoring perspective, this is going to make it much more challenging for Russell specifically on this hole because he’s hitting a five iron in whereas Bryson’s going to be hitting some kind of wedge into that green. And so that’s the first hole uh that we’re comparing. And you can see the massive difference here. Um and again, there’s a lot of assumptions here regarding wind and um you know, Bryson, is he in the rough? Is he not in the rough? How penal is that rough? And so, you know, we’re not going to be able to make those kind of determinations until we see it play out. And so, the sake for the sake of today, we’re talking really about targets and distribution and how that affects club selection as well as the likely outcome that they both will enjoy. And so, I think advantage Bryson assuming he’s he’s hitting it in the fairway. And I will put the disclaimer, right, Bryson has been very open that he’s recently struggled with non full wedges, right? And so, has he got that under control going into the Ryder Cup? Is that going to show up? [Music] All right, moving on to hole 12. So looking at Bryson straight away, his T-shot again, bunkers aren’t in play, right? He’s airmailing the bunkers. And if we look at his distribution in this specific hole, not a lot of trouble really. Again, disclaimer, don’t know how penal the rough is going to be, right? So, uh, assuming the rough is playable and that he can advance the ball from the rough, it’s, you know, it’s a pitching wedge for him. Now, let’s take a look at his approach. And again, I’m assuming a backright pin position, which if you think about it, just I didn’t say this on the first hole, but I’m going to say it here. He would want to be on the left side on the left half of that hole ideally in order to access the back right pin position. Right? So, again, with a pitching wedge in his hand, assuming he’s his target is just slightly short left in order to optimize that distribution. You can see the little circle. Um, he’s going to be in pretty good shape. None in the bunker. Maybe one or two just tad short right, but generally speaking, he’s in really good shape in this very crazy long hole and he’s hitting a pitching wedge or so in. Let’s contrast that to Russell. All right, so different line, right? First thing you see off the tea is he’s taken a much different line because he he has to. But with that, that forced carry on that bunker is at the edge of his distance, right? And so if he has a headwind, he’s going to have to go further right, even maybe with a sidewind. Now, if he has a tailwind, he’s just fine. But that carry on the line I’m showing is literally at the edge of his capability. So, with that said, he does probably have a couple go in that bunker if he takes on that line and then there’s any degree of misit whatsoever. Assuming he’s in the fairway, then remember Bryson just hit a pitching wedge into this hole. Now, Russell is likely to hit a hybrid. Maybe if he gets a little bit of roll out more than normal, maybe a 4iron. Um, but with that hybrid, assuming he does, same pin position back, right? Look at the distribution, right? Hybrid distribution obviously is going to be much larger than the pitching w distribution. And that shows up that his proximity of approach again is much further on average than Bryson’s. All right, let’s move on to the last hole. [Music] Hole 15. Let’s take a look at Bryson’s T-OT first. Again, about a 25 yard wide fairway seems to be a common theme. And if we look at Bryson’s distribution off the tee, throwing that up on the screen for you. Again, assuming the rough is playable, he should be good, right? And really no issues here to speak of. We then look at his approach shot. So driver, we’re assuming he’s going to go driver and then that would leave him. Again, he’s kind of got a weird bag makeup because of the one length as well as his distance. He’s hitting a 45 is what he calls it. And that would even be a full 45. So maybe he would call that like a a 10 or 11 o’clock 45. And look at the distribution. Again, I’m assuming front right pin position and he is aiming shortly a little bit long left of that pin position. Um, again, he would want to be on the left side of the hole ideally in order to have the most aggressive angle to approach here. With that said, with a 45 in his hand at that target, everything is on the green. I think I see one that’s just on what we would call like the fringe and he, you know, maybe putter chip that, but the rest are a good proximity of approach and on the green. So, let’s contrast that to Russell. Here we go. Putting that up on the screen for you. So, again, what we see with him, uh, quite a bit back from where Bryson was. Nice tight distribution. So, we’re going to say Russell’s more accurate, and that’s what we see here, than than Bryson in terms of the distribution of the the drive. And the big thing, though, is that Russell has about a fiveiron left in, right? And so, how does a 45 versus a 5iron affect proximity of approach? Well, same kind of ideal target, a little bit towards the center of the green in order to deal with the distribution. And if he had a similar just target to Bryson with a five iron in hand, he’d have several in the bunker, uh, a few over here in the rough. And generally speaking, his proximity of approach is worse. And so, again, I think this just puts a lot more pressure for flawless execution. Again, assuming Bryson’s drives are serviceable and that he’s able to play from wherever he ends up. So, this really shows how extraordinary Russell Wil Russell Henley Russell Wilson uh thinking about his terrible play lately. Apparently, Russell Henley uh and just how incredible his precision really is. And man, like mad respect for him. And really, I guess my question to the audience would be, do you think this was a good a good player to put on the Ryder Cup given Beth Paige Black’s difficulties. I’d love to hear what you think about him being on the team. Obviously, we’re all going to see how he plays and how he contributes. And so, you know, I hope my foot is in my mouth uh by the end of the weekend and Russell Henley has done great things. Also, I I wish the same for Bryson, but it’s super interesting for me to see the differences in how these guys approach. And so, let’s wrap it up. I’ll give you some key takeaways. club. First, know your distances and play accordingly. If you’re built like Russell, short but accurate, focus on positioning and course management. Get on the correct side of every hole for your approach. Again, that’s called opposite a pin. And you’re trying to optimize the geometry in your favor. Second, dispersion matters sometimes more than distance. Russell’s wider shot pattern mean he more regularly needs to hit high quality, more precise shots. There’s less margin for error. I think the same would be true for you and me in that regard. Third, mental resilience is everything. When you’re facing challenging shots, your mental approach will often influence your physical capabilities, right? We talk about this in a lot of our other podcasts with our Braver system and how those two things are related. Next and final key takeaways. If you want to learn how to think your way around the golf course like a pro, that’s exactly what we cover in our coaching programs, the four dimensions, which obviously includes strategic and course management within that, right? So, let’s talk then about this RDER Cup. I hope you guys enjoy it. Pay attention to how these differences play out. And, you know, we have a lot of emphasis today on distance, and I think for good reason, right? We’ve seen the game change quite a bit. We’ve seen Augusta National push holes back. Tiger proofing was step one of that. Now we’re going to another level, but distance isn’t always everything, right? If if you’re not where you need to be from a distance perspective, and it can actually be more penal than helpful. So, let’s see if Bryson’s dialed in. Let’s see how this plays out. And and one thing to watch for, I mentioned this earlier, Bryson’s been very open about his struggles with his wedges. And so if drivers, you know, working great for him and he’s banging at 340, but his wedge game is horrific, what does that mean regarding his proximity of approach relative to then Russell who we know is like as close to a iron Byron golf robot as it as it can get just based on his amazing stats in terms of leading the tour and and par three scoring and other things. So really my question to you in closing, what’s your biggest takeaway from this and how are you going to apply it to your game? Looking forward to seeing you on the next one. Until then, stay elite.