Bryson DeChambeau received his second US Open title in 4 years after prevailing in a battle of the ages with Rory McIlroy on a dramatic Sunday afternoon at Pinehurst, the place the result of the season’s third main championship lay within the stability till the final shot.
The heavyweight showdown between two of the game’s greatest stars – and poster boys for his or her rival excursions – greater than lived as much as its billing, with the pair buying and selling hammer blows from the off till the final man was left standing some 5 hours later.
Holding a three-shot lead after 54 holes, DeChambeau was out within the final group with Matthieu Pavon, who was bidding to turn into the primary Frenchman to win a serious since Francis Ouimet in 1913, whereas McIlroy, bidding to finish a 10-year drought within the majors, was paired with Patrick Cantlay for the primary time since final 12 months’s fiery Ryder Cup encounter, one group forward.
The tightly packed group of gamers within the teams decrease down the leaderboard rapidly thinned out, with Ludvig Åberg, the US Open debutant who led after 36 holes, making a triple-bogey seven on the second gap to successfully take away himself from competition, whereas Pavon’s birdie on the third was offset by dropped pictures on the first, fourth, eighth and 12th to finish France’s hopes of main glory.
Hideki Matsuyama, one of many few gamers inside touching distance, opened with eight successive pars however dropped again a shot with a bogey on the 9th, whereas Cantlay’s putter was stone chilly all day, leaving the 2 principal protagonists to slug it out over the again 9.
STATEMENT OF INTENT
McIlroy wasted no time closing the hole on the chief when holing from 20 ft for birdie on the first, an announcement of intent that hinted on the battle forward. DeChambeau, who had the change the pinnacle of his driver simply quarter-hour forward of his tee time, overcame a sequence of early unhealthy breaks, saving pars from drives that landed in a fairway divot on the primary and a bunker on the second.
His lead was lowered to at least one after a bogey on the 4th, however McIlroy gave the shot again moments later on the par-5 fifth after what gave the impression to be an pin-point strategy with a wedge that rolled all the way in which down the hill and right into a sandy space from which he may solely make bogey.
McIlroy put his tee shot on the par-three ninth to fifteen ft to show in 34 and again on the eighth DeChambeau was creating large cheers, finishing a outstanding up-and-down to avoid wasting par and keep one forward.
A lay-up after discovering the waste space off the tee on the par-five tenth meant McIlroy had 27 ft to hitch the lead and he drained it, however DeChambeau additionally discovered the waste space off the tee and performed a lay-up, following it with an attractive pitch to 5 ft to get his nostril again in entrance.
He wouldn’t be alone for lengthy, as McIlroy holed from 22 ft on the twelfth and the 35-year-old led alone after DeChambeau was punished with a bogey after discovering the waste space down the correct off the tee on the identical gap.
The tee on the thirteenth had been introduced ahead and McIlroy briefly led by two after driving to the aspect of the inexperienced and getting up and down, however DeChambeau drove onto the placing floor and obtained down in two himself.
MCILROY’S COSTLY MISSES
McIlroy dropped a shot on the fifteenth after placing his tee shot over the inexperienced, however DeChambeau three-putted the identical gap just for McIlroy to return the favour on the sixteenth, lacking a two-footer for par to go away the pair again in a tie.
A restoration from a poor tee shot meant McIlroy had two ft for par on the final however he couldn’t make the putt and left the door open for DeChambeau’s massive end. The 2020 champion hit his tee shot on the final into the left-hand scrub, along with his ball coming to relaxation beside a tree root. He gouged his second shot right into a bunker in need of the inexperienced, after which hit a sensational third shot from 55 ft that rolled to inside 4 ft, the place he rolled dwelling the putt earlier than celebrating in a mode that solely DeChambeau is aware of how.
DeChambeau signed for a one-over 71 to complete on six-under for the week, one higher than McIlroy, whose 69 left him within the runner-up spot for the second 12 months operating after additionally dropping out by one shot to Wyndham Clark in Los Angeles final 12 months.
“I nonetheless can’t imagine that up-and-down,” DeChambeau stated whereas taking in a replay in the course of the trophy ceremony. “Most likely the most effective shot of my life.”
As for McIlroy, he minimize a disconsolate determine as he watched the motion unfold from the scorer’s hut, turning on his heals and heading for the automotive park, after which a ready personal jet, as quickly as he noticed his rival’s profitable putt drop.
“Rory is among the greatest to ever play. With the ability to combat towards an ideal like that’s fairly particular,” DeChambeau stated. “For him to overlook that putt, I’d by no means want it on anyone. It simply occurred to play out that approach.”
DeChambeau’s win extends a run of dominance by Individuals within the majors not seen in additional than 4 many years. Six completely different US gamers have received every of the previous six majors, beginning with Brooks Koepka on the US PGA Championship final 12 months, Wyndham Clark eventually 12 months’s US Open, Brian Harman on the Open, Scottie Scheffler at Augusta and Xander Schauffele final month at Valhalla.
For all of the scores from the 124th US Open Championship, and video clips of the ultimate spherical motion, click on right here.
