Augusta, Ga. — Paul Pearman is used to the Masters Week non-stop parties. The 64-year-old Augusta resident has seen it all.
The house, a museum on Lake Olmsted, is more or less folding artist, Pearman is often at the heart of the festival. He knows his history, especially when it comes to local lore at Augusta National. Avid golfer, he built world-class putting greens in his backyard with impressive lighting arrays.
It was so bright that it acted like a bat signal to attract one of the best golfers in the world.
On a Friday night, Pearman returned home and messed up the lights. He saw a group of men walking across the bridge next to his house and saw his head snapping as the greenery was lit. They turned to the house and greeted Piaman.
“Do you guys play golf?” he asked.
“Hello, I’m Bryson Dedanbeau,” one of the men replied from the dark corner of the driveway.
“Nice to meet you, I’m Jack Nicklaus,” Pearman replied.
His guests then stepped into the light and he realized it wasn’t just a look. “Yeah,” he said. “I’m not really Jack Nicklaus.”
Deccanbaugh, who shot a 69 on Saturday and joined the final group alongside Rory McIlroy, is in a position to win the third major and first green jacket in just two strokes behind the Northern Irish. He is stunning with his wedges and leads the field with strokes acquired around the green. Perhaps that’s because of the job he got in at 10am in Augusta’s backyard the night before he moved in.
At Pearman’s location, Deccanbo fires a 72-degree wedge into the night sky.
“It was like someone was flying on a Goodyear airship and dropped a golf ball on the flag,” he said.
He chose what Pearman calls his “Libera Sparter.” This is a huge, clear block of Lucite with a head similar to a block of soap.
“Like a cheesy thing with a scorpion inside,” Pearman said. “If you’re an employee of the month, I hope you win.”
Piaman ran around the room and told his wife Michele that he had returned from his pajamas. get up! Bryson in the backyard.
“You’re full of s–” she replied.
But he wasn’t, and Michele said how polite she was to everyone, including her beloved Rottweiler. “He was very sweet,” she said. “He introduced himself, waved my hand, and he was everywhere in Rosie and she loved it.”
Deccanbo is one of the most confused people in golf. In tournaments, he often hits the ball when his round is over. He brings a launch monitor to the practice green while he rolls his putt. He has recently had side gigs as a YouTuber, and he’s pretty good at it. He tries many things other professionals can roll their eyes.
It’s like working on his short game with a mix and match club he found in a backyard golf course shed.
One thing Pearman couldn’t understand is why Deccanbeau wandered around Augusta late at night, discovering a practice spot she didn’t even know to exist just a few minutes ago. He told Piaman he couldn’t sleep. “I won’t blame you,” Pearman said.
Pearman’s eccentricity earned him an interesting share of friends. In 1989 he set a Guinness world record and broke the legendary skater Tony Alba’s longest skateboard jump (over 26 barrels). He is his third black belt and has a state and national championship belt for amateur kickboxing. He creates handmade mosaics and belt buckles, many of which are sold to musicians and celebrities.
Rory Sabatini wore one of the buckles on her belt during her round at the Masters. The legendary Augusta national marker Jeff Knox was wearing it when he defeated McIlroy in the 2014 round.
As a result, he knows people. And his backyard greenery isn’t your average homemade variety. At 71 feet x 41 feet, the kidney-shaped giant “has a unique drainage system with nine French drains and 15 catches,” Pearman said. “It’s probably the largest artificial greenery in town.”
He said he didn’t want to get bored six months after building it, so he made an extra swell all over the surface. It caught Deccanbeau’s attention, he said.
“This is really cool,” he told Piaman. “Usually they’re really small and don’t move much.”
As an artist, Pearman said he is always grateful for Deccanbeau, a player who is insisted on tinkering with his infinite energy and every piece of his game and every piece of equipment in his bag. Now, Pearman saw Bryson’s process first hand. He watched the man who had already hit around 1,000 shots in range at Augusta National this week spent Friday night in his backyard looking for answers.
And he might have found them there too.
On Saturday, Pearman and his friends sat in his “golf shed” in his backyard and watched Deccanbe drain a 45-foot putt to number one for a birdie. By the evening, more gatherings were available to see Dedanbeaubidi’s three of the last four holes, adding an exclamation point by draining 48 footers at No. 18 to secure his place in the final group on Sunday and some important momentum.
“If Bryson doesn’t win tomorrow, I might cry,” Michele said.
Paul said the most difficult garden maintenance he has is killing Clover in his yard. However, he points out that it is filled with four-leaf varieties. Maybe he said, there’s something to it.
“I’m lucky here,” he said. “Obviously, you only need one lesson.”
After sparkling on Saturday, after Friday night adventure, Deccanbo was asked how to avoid burnout in his game.
“Undoubtedly, the most important thing is to go back and relax and have a fun, enjoyable evening,” he said. “I just wander around with my friends and family and be myself.