Michigan Man on PGA Tour: Ryan Brehm

By Janina Parrott-Jacobs

While three years of Covid isn’t worth celebrating, Mt. Pleasant native, Traverse City resident and PGA Tour member Ryan Brehm may have a different take: a minor health issue and Covid-delayed medical exemption propelled his entry into the 2022 Puerto Rico Open. With one start remaining to retain his PGA Tour card, Brehm needed a win or solo second. 

“Puerto Rico fell in the middle of a month-long break, which was good. I’d finished 11th there in 2021 and making money early in the Korn Ferry Tour schedule created a positive mindset,” recalled Brehm.

Leading the tournament going into the final round, his Sunday morning was rather peaceful.

“I had breakfast with friends…and they had a newborn, which was great. I used breathing techniques to remain calm and talked myself into being aggressive. It’s my style; that weekend, there’d been rain and squalls and if the ball is stopping, you can go after it.” 

His plan worked and he won, earning $666,000 plus a coveted two-year exemption on Tour, now extended through 2024.

Turning 37 this month, Brehm might be considered as cresting the hill of PGA Tour competitiveness, having won and lost his card, but finally earning rookie status on the ‘Big Show’ in 2016. Hopes were high since distance is king.

“I had the fastest swing speed out there, at 128mph,” said Brehm. That is, until Bryson DeChambeau went ballistic and employed extreme strengthening and swing speed exercises to boost his to 132mph. Statistics indicate 80 players are now booming it over 300 yards.

But Ryan was doing that as a teenager and beyond, his family an important fixture in the golf business. The Michigan phenom and patriarch Grandpa Bill Brehm always enjoyed a special relationship. With long-hitting Tour great Dan Pohl as architect, the family owned and operated the PohlCat in Mount Pleasant. Now standing 6’4”, with so much leverage, Brehm’s swing seemed effortless but was packed with well-groomed torque and power. Michigan PGA professionals saw his talent and length firsthand when he won four Michigan Opens in six years.

Still impressive, Ryan remains in the 300-plus-club – but where his drives end up can sometimes create problems.

“No one outhit me during my rookie year,” he said. “But to win out here, you have to be great in two main categories that are measured ….and currently, I’m just OK. My best are driving and putting. You must be consistent. Just before Puerto Rico, I switched to a draw off the tee, did an equipment dial-in, but also made some other minor changes.”

Shifting swing techniques as a tour player is no small matter. With such an emphasis on power, many golfers are turning more toward extreme gym workouts, muscle strengthening, and bulking up.

“This feast of length…..Tiger’s made the game grow,” he said. “It was ‘cool’ to play golf. More athletes at younger ages are specializing and instructors know how to engineer old swing myths into something new. You can also now measure what you couldn’t before, taking strong athletes and helping them move properly, mainly to prevent injuries. Father Time’s wear and tear takes its toll. What Phil Mickelson did at the PGA Championship was incredible….but he added speed in the right way. You don’t want to spend a ton of time or stress ligaments with too much weight training, but instead train smaller muscles to do that with lighter, and then heavier clubs. You move faster….not stronger.”

Some professionals are melding western sports psychology techniques with Eastern meditation and yoga. Brehm embraces that, training at Neurospeak in Grand Rapids and working with former U of M golfer Andy Matthews.

“Growing up, Andy was the guy to beat,” Brehm said. “Now he monitors my heart, cortisol levels and such because, well, stress kills you.”

Practice regimens vary, from players who hit the rock pile infrequently or don’t play much, to those who do. For Brehm, it ebbs and flows, often recalling words of wisdom from IBM’s CEO Ginny Rimetti: “Growth and comfort cannot co-exist.”

“You are basically the CEO of your own company,” Brehm says. “My wife Chelsey manages Ryan Brehm Enterprises. You must evaluate daily what areas need more attention. Efficiency and data analytics matter, but what matters most might not be the same from day to day. Data and Trackman have helped and have changed my game. It is a power game but you have to hit driver in the fairway. The best players are those who hit driver most often.”

The newest exemption has allowed Brehm to enter Tour events at courses he’s never played, posing a personal disadvantage to players who are experienced at these venues. It’s an energy-zapping process to learn them. 

“Some of these courses are really, really tough: Colonial and Riviera CC……Bay Hill, PGA National, TPC Sawgrass, and the Memorial. I’m seeing them for the first time.” 

Brehm is, however, showing sparks of greatness. At last month’s Honda Classic, he tied for 14th, his best showing after Puerto Rico, which he regrettably did not defend. Instead, he competed at Bay Hill, with both events running simultaneously…..and missed the cut.

Brehm also missed the cut at THE PLAYERS Championship despite a rousing start, 3-under after 4 holes. But then, at the Valspar, Innisbrook’s challenging Copperhead course offered up some shining moments. Lipping out an ace during Monday’s Pro-Am, Brehm corrected that in round 1 with a hole-in-one on the 212-yard 17th and led the tournament at 5-under. Struggling on the weekend, Brehm fell back but eventually rallied somewhat on the final day to finish tied for 65th.

Most of learning comes later in life. Sometimes players are faulted for being too aggressive but in Brehm’s mind, it’s often the right thing to do if that’s how you’ve been playing. And yes, he gets nervous.

“No one likes being nervous,” he said. “However, that doesn’t mean you’re going to hit a bad shot; you can surprise yourself at the outcome. You have to learn to focus your breathing. Also, I don’t eat a lot and drink only a little water. I also try to play my round in 3-hole increments, focusing shot by shot.” 

Great advice, since most instructors often preach the most important shot in golf is your next one…..not the ones later in the round.

“One of the best tips I’ve ever gotten came from my high school basketball coach: ‘Things are never as good as they seem….but things are never as bad as they seem either.’ I know it sounds like a cliché, but he used this quote frequently. To me, it also means I need to find the silver lining when things are tough but to also look for the gratitude when things are going well.”

When asked about fellow Michigan touring pro, James Piot, who won both the GAM Championship and the U.S. Amateur in 2021 and chose to join the LIV Tour, Brehm commented, “Each week is a new opportunity. If I were him, I might have done the same. The difference is that James was not a PGA Tour member when he left for LIV…so he’s not barred.”

Concerning other LIV events of the past year, Ryan sees no fault with some of the best players in the world going off to seek their fortunes.

“But don’t expect to come back, once you do.”