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The moans, groans and gnashing of teeth over the outcome of this US Open promise to be more entertaining than the final stages of its 120th edition. Bryson DeChambeau is a big winner. He has as many US Open titles as Tom Watson and Gary Player, which is one more than Seve Ballesteros and Nick Faldo. The professor is not so crazy after all. In fact, you may have changed the way of golf in four competitive rounds.
History will show that in a typically brutal fourth round of the US Open, DeChambeau circled the field at Winged Foot. His 67-six-under total secured him a half-dozen-stroke victory over Matthew Wolff. DeChambeau, 27, was the only 61-man player on the field to break par on the fourth day.
DeChambeau is the third player, after Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods, to win the US College Singles title, The US Amateur and the US Open. “It’s just an honor.” said. “I do not know what else to say. It has been a lot of work. Being in that company is special. I will always appreciate it. ”
The backdrop, however, was one of gruesome shooting. DeChambeau has made no apologies for bulking up, with 20 pounds of muscle, giving him the ability to master the courses. Traditionalists object to that, with the debate pretty irrelevant until he made this breakthrough.
The Californian can now point to the results with a nonchalant shrug. He won at Detroit in July and finished fourth in the US PGA Championship, thus dramatically improving on a clearly average all-time record even before Winged Foot’s glory. This is not the golf of James Braid or Harry Vardon; like Leo Messi he cannot be compared with Ferenc Puskas. In DeChambeau’s case, pounds of muscle have meant rewards. His nod to tradition begins and ends with a flat cap similar to Ben Hogan’s.
DeChambeau probably talks too much in the field. She has done so in unprofessional terms towards the officials in charge of the rules and, in one particularly ignominious episode, a cameraman. His pace of play has been rightly criticized previously as painfully slow. Yet here is a player, so far left that all of the irons, named, not numbered, in his bag must be the same length, which breaks the mold. Now he has successfully turned elite golf into a science.
It is up to the authorities to debate whether it is necessary to recover the technology, so someone in the DeChambeau position cannot launch units in different zip codes. But for now golf has an individual whose quest for perfection is both attractive and valid. This should be accepted rather than made fun of. Even before he hit a par at the 72nd hole, a lot of media coverage demonized him and hilariously hinted that only the best players have won major championships. Things from the land of clouds, in short.
During the most nervous round of his career, DeChambeau’s golf was exemplary. Precision matched with power. You should get high praise just for that.
Wolff will inevitably have plenty of opportunities to emulate DeChambeau, but for the 21-year-old, this turned out to be a hurtful day. He started the fourth round with a two-shot lead. Playing his first eight holes in plus three caused him problems, slightly offset by an eagle in the ninth. However, his opponent was three down after the 11th, with Wolff making a ghost on the 10th and firing another shot on the 14th. Heading into the 15th hole, DeChambeau’s lead was four.
It was early six o’clock when Wolff capitulated further on the final leg. His dream of becoming the first player since 1913 to win the US Open as a rookie had been shattered. He signed for a fourth round of 75. Louis Oosthuizen claimed third with two more, one ahead of Harris English.
That the US Open was going to return to the type was clear from the beginning. The English lost a ball in the 1st. Rory McIlroy made four putts on the same hole, his first shot from 85 feet, his second from 63 feet. The Northern Irishman posted a 75, with his six over means a tie for eighth place. “This is as appropriate as they come in and look at what happened,” McIlroy said in evaluating DeChambeau. “He has full faith in what he’s doing and it’s quite impressive.”
Patrick Reed, long a key part of this championship, closed with a 74 for a participation of 13th in plus seven. Lee Westwood, who signed with a 72, was one of those who kept Reed company. Justin Thomas finished a better shot after a streak of 73, 76, 72 to follow Thursday’s astonishing 65.
“It is an incredible golf course,” said Thomas. “It sure is my favorite US Open venue that I have played at. I am quite disappointed in how I ended the week. I hit him terribly in the second and third rounds. I hit it good today. I played really, really good golf and hit a lot of good putts that just burned the edges. It’s fair. If you play well you can score and birdies ”.
DeChambeau accepted the challenge much better than anyone. The applause will take time to come when it really shouldn’t be. “People think I have all these crazy theories,” he said in June. “But when you really break it down into the fundamental principles of what I’m trying to do, it’s a lot of common sense.” As he posed with the US Open trophy held high, who were we to argue? The pioneer has his prize.
