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Call him a mad scientist in a tamo’shanter cap. Call him a revolutionary in golf. Any description of Bryson DeChambeau now starts with the US Open champion.
In an impressive performance Sunday at Winged Foot, on a field so demanding no one else broke par, DeChambeau lunged with his driver and had short irons from rough to ankle on his way to a 3-under 67.
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Bryson DeChambeau (R) of the United States celebrates with the American Championship trophy after winning his first major title.
When his 7-foot par putt landed on 18, DeChambeau threw those two powerful arms into the air. This was validation that his idea of adding 40 pounds of mass, to produce an incredible amount of speed and power, would lead to moments like this.
Two shots behind Matthew Wolff going into the final round, he passed him on five holes, walked away to start the last nine and ended up leading by six shots.
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Bryson DeChambeau (left) is congratulated by runner-up Matthew Wolff after winning the 2020 US Open.
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Wolff, trying to become the first player since Francis Ouimet in 1913 to win the US Open on his debut, closed with 75.
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Bryson DeChambeau of the United States celebrates on the 18th green after his victory at the US Open.
Just under a year ago, DeChambeau closed his 2019 season in Las Vegas and said, “I’ll be back next year and look like a different person.”
He was true to his word among skeptics wondering if the crush factor would work in a specialty, especially at Winged Foot, where keeping it on short grass was equivalent. DeChambeau vowed to keep hitting as far as he could, even if it meant being raw.
And it worked. It hit just three streets on Saturday, six on Sunday and 23 on the week.
Skepticism turned to admiration, with a healthy dose of disbelief.
“I really don’t know what to say because that’s the opposite of what you think a US Open champion does,” said Rory McIlroy. Look, he found a way to do it. If that’s good or bad for the game, I don’t know, but it’s not the way I saw this golf course or this tournament being played.
Louis Oosthuizen birdied at 18 to finish only in third place.
In the previous five US Open at Winged Foot, only two of 750 competitors ever broke par on 72 holes, and that was in the same year of 1984 when Fuzzy Zoeller and Greg Norman finished at 4 under 276.
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Bryson DeChambeau lines up a putt on the 17th green during the final round.
DeChambeau finished 6-under 274, a score no one saw coming.
He left nothing to chance, staying on the driving range until after 8pm – the club turned on the lights for him – in cold weather as he hit driver after driver, trying to find enough precision to lead him to a title.
The US Open was still in play for a fleeting moment around the corner. DeChambeau and Wolff went out of position on the eighth hole and bogeyed. DeChambeau was at 3 under, one shot ahead of Wolff. Ahead of them, Oosthuizen and Xander Schauffele lurked side by side.
There were still the last nine left, where a lot has gone wrong at Winged Foot over the years.
Not this time.
DeChambeau and Wolff fired drives down the fairway at par 5. DeChambeau rolled on a 40-foot eagle putt with perfect rhythm. Wolff, who had a pitching wedge for his second shot, called his eagle with a 10-foot putt.
This is what a two-man race was like.
And then it was a one-man show.
Wolff’s tee shot at par 3 10 rolled left into the thick neck of the bunker, such a precarious spot that he had to stand in the deep bunker and grab halfway down the steel shaft of his sand wedge. He hit 10 feet down the hole for a bogey to land two shots back.
Then the 21-year-old Californian blinked. From the fairway on the 11th, his wedge was thick into the right rough and had to fight for par rather than establish a reasonable birdie chance. DeChambeau from the right rough came up short, but used the putter from the green to birdie from 15 feet away.
With a three-shot lead, DeChambeau kept shooting as if he was chasing, not leading, just like he said he would. He saved the pair from the rough left deep on the 14th, drank another protein shake walking down the 15th, marching towards a major title that validated his original approach to the royal and ancient game.
