Bryson DeChambeau pumped both of his fists, leaned back and let out a victorious yell into the clear North Carolina skies. He tore his hat off his head and kept the celebratory screams going as he turned to fans on all sides of the 18th green at Pinehurst No. 2. He pumped his right fist, clenching that navy cap, again. Then he hugged his caddie, and then lifted both arms in the air and tilted his head back — finally, seemingly, at peace.
DeChambeau navigated the difficult final hole at Pinehurst — hitting his second shot out of the trees, then getting a clutch up-and-down onto the green out of a sand bunker — and sank a putt for par to hold off a late surge from Irishman Rory McIlroy to win the 124th U.S. Open on Sunday, Father’s Day, in Pinehurst.
“That bunker shot was the shot of my life,” DeChambeau said. “I don't know what to think. It fully hasn't sunk in yet. I just want everybody to enjoy it. … It's a dream come true.”
It’s the second major championship — and second U.S. Open victory — of DeChambeau’s career. He won the 2020 Open at Winged Foot in Mamaroneck, New York, and he is the fourth U.S. Open champion at Pinehurst, joining Martin Kaymer, Michael Campbell and DeChambeau’s idol, the late Payne Stewart.
Two years after winning that first U.S. Open, the 30-year-old defected from the U.S.-based PGA Tour and joined the Saudi-backed LIV Golf, which has been widely condemned for sportswashing the Saudi monarchy’s corruption and human rights abuses. Shortly after, Rocket Mortgage ended its sponsorship with DeChambeau.
Other stars in golf — including Brooks Koepka, Patrick Reed, John Rahm, Dustin Johnson and Kaymer, the 2014 U.S. Open at Pinehurst — have also joined the LIV tour. At the 2023 PGA Championship, Koepka became the first golfer to win a major while playing for LIV. DeChambeau is the second to do so, and the first to win a U.S. Open.
“If I'm to be quite frank, I hope we can figure things out quickly. I hope this can bridge the gap between a divided game,” DeChambeau said. “All I want to do is entertain and do my best for the game of golf, execute and provide some awesome entertainment for the fans. From at least what I can tell, that's what the fans want, and they deserve that.”
While DeChambeau has been criticized for his decision to join LIV, he emerged as a fan favorite this week in Pinehurst as he signed dozens of autographs, joked with supporters, and came across as engaging in interviews with the media — even explaining why he floats his golf balls in Epsom salt. Wherever DeChambeau went on Sunday, a crowd of fans followed him, gathering under the Carolina pines for a glimpse at one of his swings.
Early in his career, DeChambeau earned the nickname “The Scientist” for his analytical approach to the sport, but for the most part, the 30-year-old who majored in physics at now-ACC member SMU didn’t act stiff or like a careful chemist this week. After receiving the U.S. Open trophy, DeChambeau paraded it through a crowd of fans and let them all touch it.
“My mission is to continue to expand the game, grow the game globally, domestically. YouTube has really helped me accomplish some of that. Consequently, I think people have seen who I am on YouTube, which has been fantastic, because then I get to play off of it. It just feeds itself out here,” DeChambeau said. “Those fans out there really helped push me out there today.”
That looser approach and fun attitude may have helped him tame Pinehurst No. 2, a challenging course in the cradle of American golf that was designed by Scotsman Donald Ross more than a century ago with its unforgiving dome-like greens that play hard and fast. What put DeChambeau in the lead heading into Sunday was his remarkable third round on Saturday, which included three birdies for a score of 67 on the day. To put his third round into proper perspective, consider that DeChambeau is the first player to ever break 70 in the first three rounds of a U.S. Open at Pinehurst.
DeChambeau entered the fourth round on Sunday in the lead with an overall score of seven under par, three strokes ahead of Matthieu Pavon, Patrick Cantlay, and McIlroy, who were tied for second. And DeChambeau’s impressive play continued, as he finished one-over in the fourth round. DeChambeau briefly lost the lead to McIlroy after he bogeyed on holes 12 and 15, but he made par on each of his final three holes. Meanwhile, McIlroy bogeyed three of his final four holes, including the 18th, where a par putt would’ve put him into a tie with DeChambeau. The Irishman just missed it.
“(The 15th hole) really stung. I had an easy putt,” DeChambeau said. “But righted the ship. Hit a great drive. Hit a great second shot in there. … All I was focused on was myself. Every once in a while, I could hear ‘Rory, Rory’ chants, for what he was doing, so I knew what he did based on the roars. That was actually kind of fun because it gave me the knowledge of what I had to do.”
Within six minutes of DeChambeau’s winning putt, McIlroy was throwing his golf bag into the back of a Lexus, speeding off after skipping his media availability with assembled reporters.
The putt McIlroy missed on No. 18 was 3-feet and nine inches. The one DeChambeau made was 3-feet and 11 inches. Simply put, DeChambeau was just a bit better than McIlroy through four rounds.
“I was a little lucky,” DeChambeau said. “Rory didn't make a couple putts that he could have coming in.”
Before sinking that putt, DeChambeau did have to navigate a few difficult shots after his drive sailed wayward. Before finally hitting the ball out of a wooded area, DeChambeau kept check-swinging his attempt to try to avoid hitting the tree his ball had nestled up against. The Texan got out of the woods, but then landed in the bunker next to the green. Still, he persisted, and connected on a 55-yard shot, an excellent approach, to put him a short putt away from glory.
“I was actually concerned I might hurt myself getting out of that,” DeChambeau said of hitting the ball out of the lie. “I had no backswing. At a certain point in time, I'm just like, ‘Okay, I have to hack it.’”
All week long, DeChambeau had an old-school flat cap hanging from his golf bag. He used to wear it more regularly, but now often opts for a baseball hat sporting the logo of his LIV team, the Crushers. But this is the style of hat that DeChambeau’s heroes — SMU graduate Payne Stewart and fellow Texan Ben Hogan — wore. Both were multiple-time U.S. Open champions, and Stewart’s triumph at Pinehurst in 1999 is now immortalized with a statue here. The cap, DeChambeau says, reminds him of Stewart. This week, he played a lot like him too, and joined Stewart in the exclusive club of multiple-time U.S. Open winners.
“I wanted to get this one done, especially at such a special place that means so much to me, SMU, my dad, what Payne meant to him, 1000th USGA championship. Stack them on top,” DeChambeau said.
The U.S. Open — the men’s and women’s tournaments — will return to Pinehurst in 2029. It will be the beginning of four men’s Opens to be played in the Sandhills through 2047. Pinehurst will also host the U.S. Women’s Amateur in 2027.
A different men’s golf major will come to North Carolina next year when Charlotte’s Quail Hollow hosts the PGA Championship.
