If you haven’t heard of James Hart du Preez, now’s your chance to get in the know. At 6’9″, the 26-year-old South African is tough to miss, and after making his PGA Tour debut at the American Express in January, he’s itching to continue to test his talents on Tour — and his prodigious driving distance will no doubt make him a fast fan favorite.
Yeah, yeah, you might be thinking. Between Bryson DeChambeau, Cameron Champ, Dustin Johnson and Phil Mickelson, there are plenty of big bombers on Tour. And that’s true. Champ is currently leading the driving distance statistic on the PGA Tour, averaging an impressive 323 yards off the tee.
Du Preez, though, averaged an eye-popping 373 yards on the Sunshine Tour last year, surpassing Champ’s total by a whopping 50(!) yards. Say what?!
Du Preez made a guest appearance on this week’s episode of Off Course with Claude Harmon, where all Harmon could do was shake his head and laugh when Du Preez rattled off his carry distances with each club:
Driver: 350 yards
3-wood: 305 yards
3-iron: 275 yards
4-iron: 253 yards
5-iron: 240 yards
6-iron: 227 yards
7-iron: 206 yards
8-iron: 191 yards
9-iron: 183 yards
50-degree wedge: 160 yards
58-degree wedge: 144 yards
“You’re hitting the golf ball distances that the people listening to this podcast, it doesn’t even seem like it’s real life!” Harmon said, while acknowleging that a player of Du Preez’s height and weight (260 lbs) would be expected to smash it.
While Du Preez missed the cut after receiving a sponsor’s exemption at the American Express a few weeks ago, it likely won’t be long until we see him teeing it up on Tour again.
For more from Du Preez, including the surprising downside of his long-bombing ability and what he thinks he needs to work on to have a successful Tour career, check out the full interview below.
This article originally appeared on Golf.com.
