Meet Polara: The ultra-straight, non-conforming ball Bryson DeChambeau practiced with at The Open
Golf's great mad scientist Bryson DeChambeau is at it again during the 153rd Open at Portrush.
Bryson DeChambeau has not had a good start to this Open week. The American enters day two of the action well down the pecking order, having posted a 7-over 78 to open his tournament and summarily skipped media duties this morning, presumably to figure out exactly want went wrong in an errant, air-swinging round.
It's tempting, then, to wonder how the LIV star who has admitted to being unhappy with his current choice of Titleist Pro V1x golf ball in recent times, would have fared had a certain ball he practiced with before the tournament been in his bag on the first tee.
The ball in question is called the Ultimate Straight and made by Polara: a Spanish company which makes a range of specialised balls and clubs, all non-conforming to the rules of golf, designed to address a number of different golfing needs in extreme ways. As the name suggests, the Ultimate Straight is designed to be incredibly accurate—so straight, in fact, that it violates the USGA's parameters on accuracy.
Ex-PGA tour golfer-turned-star pundit Smylie Kaufman clocked Bryson practicing with the Polara in his bag in a practice round at Royal Portrush, speaking about what he witnessed on The Smylie Show podcast.
How, then, does the Polara Ultimate Straight work? As is generally the case with golf balls of its type, it broadly comes down to aerodynamics. A two-piece ball, it has a very specific dimple pattern that not only promotes a stable ball flight, but allows the ball to self-correct on hooks and slices. The result, Polara claims, is a ball that reduces the effects of hooks and slices by up to 75%.
DeChambeau found this out in his practice round, crushing drives into Royal Portrush's notoriously heavy crosswinds. The result? "That went dead straight."
Exactly why the American decided to game the Polara in a practice round when he could presumably have been testing other balls is anyone's guess. Then again, we all know how it feels when you just want to hit a straight drive during a down patch. One thing's for sure though: this mad scientist is never going to stop tinkering.
While the Polara Ultimate Straight is illegal for the tour pros, you can test a dozen out for yourself at the link below.
Brad Nash is Reviews Editor at GolfMagic, having joined the team in June 2025 to look after all things reviews, soft goods testing and equipment alongside Equipment Editor Tom. Primarily a writer, you may see him pop up in videos or on the GolfMagic socials from time to time.
