Bryson DeChambeau is now a two-time U.S. Open champion as he conquered Pinehurst No. 2 in epic fashion on Sunday.
DeChambeau hit an incredible 55-yard bunker shot that rolled to three feet on the 18th hole. He then made his par putt just like Payne Stewart famously did 25 years ago. That final putt put the finishing touches on a 1-over 71, which had him finishing at 6-under-par, one stroke ahead of Rory McIlroy.
When DeChambeau needed his best, he provided it in the biggest moment. That bunker shot may go down as one of the greatest in golf history, given the difficulty and the circumstances. If he had not executed that shot the way he did, there could have been a playoff, at least.
Nevertheless, the LIV Golf captain won the crowd over this week at Pinehurst.
Chants of USA-USA-USA and De-Cham-beau, De-Cham-beau, De-Cham-beau whistled across the course. The fans loved him, and DeChambeau’s image change seems complete.
After he won, social media messages flourished. Fans praised the two-time U.S. Open winner for his performance on the course and for his remarkable display of talent.
All DeChambeau wants to do is grow golf.
These reactions to his winning the U.S. Open showed he is already achieving that goal:
Ludicrous scenes. Bryson DeChambeau is running at a hundred miles an hour around Pinehurst, giving every fan present a chance to touch the US Open trophy.
This is why major championship golf is one of the few things I love as much now as when I was a boy. Pure folklore. pic.twitter.com/YQEcZuccHi
This video of him running around with the U.S. Open trophy so the crowd could touch it is priceless. He told fans to try and touch it, so DeChambeau attempted to make it happen. Not everyone gets to feel the U.S. Open trophy, but DeChambeau may not have won without this crowd.
Golf influencer Paige Spiranac said it perfectly, “Such amazing golf, drama and entertainment! This is what golf needs.”
This sport needs a personality like DeChambeau.
Wow what an incredible US Open! Congratulations to Bryson Dechambeau! Such amazing golf, drama and entertainment! This is what golf needs
I can’t believe I’m a Bryson DeChambeau fan now. Love the energy, crowd engagement, and the 180 turn in attitude. The right guy won today.… however, I will not be getting single length clubs.
ESPN’s Jeff Darlington also made a good point about DeChambeau—he is a needle mover. People flock to him and get excited when the LIV Golf star does well.
Meanwhile, if he wasn’t already, Bryson DeChambeau sure seems to be have become this weekend what golf is continually seeking: A needle mover.
Even Brooks Koepka congratulated his fellow LIV Golf member.
DeChambeau now has two U.S. Open’s—only the 23rd player in history to achieve this, and he did so dramatically. Better yet, he joins Bobby Jones, Jack Nicklaus, and Tiger Woods in winning a U.S. Amateur title and multiple U.S. Opens. That’s pretty good company.
The third major of the year did not disappoint, and much like the PGA Championship, DeChambeau continues to show how incredible golf can be.
Savannah Leigh Richardson is a golf staff writer for SB Nation’s Playing Through. For more golf coverage, be sure to follow us @_PlayingThrough on all major social platforms. You can also follow her on Twitter @SportsGirlSL and Instagram @savannah_leigh_sports.
INDIANAPOLIS — It may still be very early in their respective journeys, but Angel Reese and Caitlin Clark will be tied to one another no matter what happens over the rest of their careers.
Even before simultaneously entering the WNBA as part of one of the most heralded rookie classes ever, Clark and Reese — and especially the competitive college clashes between their Iowa Hawkeyes and LSU Tigers, respectively — played a huge role in bringing the women’s game to a national audience.
Sunday offered the latest chapter in their rapidly growing rivalry. For the second time in as many meetings against the Chicago Sky, Clark was hit with a hard foul. This time, it was Reese who caught Clark in the head on a block attempt, a play that was eventually deemed a Flagrant-1 foul.
While it likely won’t create the national firestorm the last flagrant foul against Clark in a game against the Sky did, it was a watershed moment between the two in another game that came down to the wire, a recurring theme in matchups between the pair.
Clark had arguably her best game in the WNBA, flirting with a triple-double while finishing with 23 points, 9 assists and 8 rebounds, as well as a couple of late clutch plays — including an assist to NaLyssa Smith and a pair of free throws in the final 30 seconds — that helped seal a fifth win of the season for the Fever (5-10) and fourth in the last six games.
Reese left her mark as well, scoring 11 points to go with 13 rebounds (5 of them were offensive), and 5 assists.
After the game, though, there was only one topic to discuss. After cursory first questions to open their pressers, the second question for both Clark and Reese postgame was about the flagrant foul.
“What’s going through my mind is I need to make these two free throws,” Clark said when asked about Reese’s flagrant foul. “That’s all I’m thinking about. It’s just part of basketball. It is what it is. She’s trying to make a play on the ball and get the block but, yeah, it happens.”
Reese, meanwhile, was far shorter with her response, calling the foul a “basketball play” and stating that she was going for the ball. Neither wanted to make a big deal about it, but that won’t stop the take train from going down the tracks — and potentially derailing women’s basketball discourse for a few days once again.
Clark and Reese are no strangers to being in this spotlight, nor is it new for them to do it together. Sunday was the eighth time the pair have faced off, including in college. Reese won the first four meetings, culminating in the national title game in 2023 in which the first viral moment between the two came when Reese taunted Clark in the waning seconds of the game.
Clark, though, has won the three most recent meetings. That includes the Elite Eight contest earlier this year and the two WNBA meetings between the pair so far.
While their duels in the Big Ten when Reese was at Maryland in her freshman and sophomore seasons before transferring to LSU didn’t capture the national audience, their tournament showdowns certainly did. The pair helped set the record for the most-watched women’s college basketball game of all time in 2023 at 9.9 million viewers.
This spring in a rematch with a Final Four berth on the line, they obliterated that record, with 12 million fans tuning into the game. In their first WNBA meeting this season, 1.5 million fans tuned in, the fourth-largest audience to watch a WNBA game in the last two decades at the time.
After years of commanding enormous audiences on the collegiate level, Clark and Reese are now bringing a whole new set of eyes to the professional ranks.
“They love to watch us,” Reese said of her and Clark before Sunday’s meeting. “I think we’ve done a great job bringing a lot of fans to the league from college. I think we both have done that from our respective schools and [having] our championship runs and going to the Final Four. I think we did a great job bringing fans from college to the league and…we’ll continue to help [the league] grow.”
Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports
Given the events and controversy that took place in the first meeting between the Fever and Sky in their first meeting, the TV audience for Sunday’s game will almost certainly be another large one. Gainbridge Fieldhouse was sold out for the fourth time this season, and the fans were as loud as they’ve been all year.
It’s inarguable that Reese and Clark are compelling television: two of the best young players in the world squaring off with one another time and time again as they help grow the game along the way.
But what Clark thinks draws audiences most, though, is the “emotion and passion” the two play those showdowns with.
“I think people love to see that,” Clark said. “I think that’s maybe not something that was always appreciated in women’s sports and it should be. That’s what makes it fun. We’re competitors. That’s the way the game should be. It’s going to get a little feisty, it’s going to get a little physical but at the end of the day, both teams are just trying to win.
“I think what she’s done with her platform is incredible. She has an entire fanbase that has supported her [with] what she did at Maryland and then LSU. Obviously, I’ve played her for a very long time and she’s been a tremendous player. It’s been fun to get to compete against. I think it’s been really good for the game. People just love seeing great matchups. But also, at the same time, people tune in for these matchups but then they get to see how amazing these teams are and then they find new players to support and continue to come back for them, too. So, I think that’s another benefit of it, honestly.”
Sunday was another noteworthy moment in the rivalry. Even if both downplayed it, the headlines from the game won’t be about Clark’s near-triple-double or Reese’s double-double. It will bring attention to the league, but not in the way either desire.
The pair, though, is bringing lots of the wanted attention to the league as well. And Reese and Clark will have plenty of opportunities to provide more memorable moments against one another.
The WNBA is not chock full of rivalries that resonate on a national scale the way Clark’s and Reese’s do. The Liberty and Aces are a clear one as the league’s two superteams, but outside of that, there aren’t many other nationally-known rivalries.
Pregame, Fever head coach Christie Sides was asked if their matchups against the Sky feel like rivalry games. Sides, who served as an assistant in Chicago from 2011 through 2016, said it was a “huge” rivalry and has been for many years. But even if that’s how it felt to those on the inside already, the addition of Reese and Clark was always going to bring it up a couple of notches now.
They’re two of the bright young stars in this game and have already defined an era of the college game. They look to be on the path to doing the same in the WNBA as well.
And if they do, it could help elevate the league to its highest levels yet.
Somehow, someway, Lilia Vu is an LPGA winner again.
Vu, the second-best player in the world behind Nelly Korda, has battled a back injury for most of the season. She even missed the U.S. Women’s Open two weeks ago, and had to withdraw from the Chevron Championship in April because of her back. But Vu overcame that ailment—and an eight-shot deficit on Sunday—to win the Meijer LPGA Classic in thrilling fashion.
Vu carded a 7-under 65 to climb up the leaderboard on Sunday, as she finished at 16-under-par, putting her in a tie with Lexi Thompson and Grace Kim after 72 holes. The trio needed three holes to determine the winner, but in the end, Vu made a birdie putt on the third playoff hole to seal the deal.
“I wasn’t thinking about winning,” Vu said.
“This was the one day I was playing really well. Felt really good with my swing. Coming back from an injury, I was a little up in the air, not knowing my swing, and I felt like I didn’t know where my arms were if I wasn’t tight. I was just trying to make contact today. That’s it.”
Like Vu, Thompson came from behind to get into the playoff. She fired a 4-under 68 on Sunday, while Kim, the 54-hole leader, carded a 1-over 73 on Sunday to fall back to the field.
After all three ladies made birdies on the first two extra holes, they walked over to the par-5 4th. After each player found the green in regulation, Thompson and Kim missed their putts to extend the playoff while Vu sank her birdie putt for the win.
“I think my mindset when it comes to putting is pretty simple: It goes in, or it doesn’t,” Vu said.
“I don’t put a lot of pressure on it. That relieves the pressure for me, and I go for it.”
Vu won her first LPGA win in Thailand in February 2023 from six shots back, so she has experience coming from behind.
“I felt like my first win I had blinders on,” Vu said.
“In the final round, I was focused on making birdies. I felt like that today. I felt like I left some out there, too. So once I got the opportunity for the playoff, I got to the box, and my caddie said, ‘There is nothing to lose now.’ We just went out there and played.”
Vu called this one of her most meaningful wins because she did not know if she could ever play golf pain-free again.
But clearly, she can.
Now, Vu has her fifth career LPGA victory as she eyes another major championship at next week’s KPMG Women’s PGA Championship. Hopefully, her back holds up for her at Sahalee.
Savannah Leigh Richardson is a golf staff writer for SB Nation’s Playing Through. For more golf coverage, follow us @_PlayingThrough on all major social platforms. You can also follow her on Twitter @SportsGirlSL and Instagram @savannah_leigh_sports.
Jack Milko is a golf staff writer for SB Nation’s Playing Through. Be sure to check out @_PlayingThroughfor more golf coverage. You can follow him on Twitter @jack_milko as well.
Words can barely describe the scenes that played out down the stretch at Pinehurst No. 2 on Sunday.
But in the end, Bryson DeChambeau emerged victorious, winning his second U.S. Open title in four years. He shot a 1-over 71 on Sunday, needing every single stroke to outlast Rory McIlroy by one.
It all came down to the 18th hole, where McIlroy, in the group ahead of DeChambeau, missed a 3-foot-9-inch par putt to drop down to 5-under for the championship. Had that putt dropped, McIlroy likely would have forced a playoff with DeChambeau, who stood in the fairway at 6-under.
DeChambeau made a brilliant par save to seize the title. His drive went way left off the tee and settled on a root under a tree. He then scuttled his second shot up and into the bunker 50 yards short of the green, greatly diminishing his chances of saving par.
Yet, he got the job done. DeChambeau hit a wonderful third shot from the sand, as it stopped four feet away from the cup. He called it the greatest shot of his life during the ceremony afterward.
DeChambeau then went on to roll it in for par, much unlike McIlroy minutes before.
Meanwhile, this loss will hurt McIlroy for years to come. He had a terrific chance to seize his first major in a decade and held a two-shot lead at one point on the back nine. But his putter went completely cold over the final three holes. He missed a 2-foot-6-inch putt on the 16th hole, which not only horrified everyone watching but also put him in a tie with DeChambeau at 6-under. McIlroy also made a bogey on the par-3 15th after air-mailing the green.
Then his misstep at 18 happened, giving DeChambeau the opportunity to make par and win the U.S. Open.
Jack Milko is a golf staff writer for SB Nation’s Playing Through. Be sure to check out @_PlayingThroughfor more golf coverage. You can follow him on Twitter @jack_milko as well.
Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese entered the WNBA has household names after their electric rivalry in women’s college basketball. Reese’s LSU team beat Clark’s Iowa team in the 2023 national championship game when both players were juniors. They met again in the Sweet 16 as seniors, and Clark and the Hawkeyes got revenge by ending LSU’s season.
Clark was the No. 1 overall pick in the 2024 WNBA Draft to the Indiana Fever. Reese went No. 7 overall to the Chicago Sky. There’s already a budding rivalry between their pro teams after Chicago’s Chennedy Carter hip-checked Clark earlier this season in a play that started a nauseating amount of national discourse. Part of the problem with that play was the refs ruled Carter’s cheap shot as a common foul — until the league changed it to a Flagrant foul the next day.
As the Sky and Fever met again on Sunday in a nationally broadcast game on CBS, Clark was again hit with a hard foul, but this time the refs got the call right. As Clark was driving to the basket, Reese went for the block and hit her hard in the head. The officials called for a review and determined it was a Flagrant-1 foul, meaning Clark got two free throws and then Indiana got the ball. Watch the play here:
This isn’t a dirty play or intentional cheap shot. Clark went for the layup, Reese tried to recover for the block, and while going for the ball she whacked Clark in the head.
Clark looked just fine after the sequence, scoring nine points in the last five minutes of the third quarter. Hopefully she’s okay because hard hits to the head are nothing to play around with.
The Angel Reese vs. Caitlin Clark rivalry will keep going strong in the WNBA. It’s must-see TV every time these two players matchup.
After posting a 1-under 69 on Saturday, Rory McIlroy enters the final round at 4-under, trailing 54-hole leader Bryson DeChambeau by three strokes.
Despite the deficit, McIlroy feels confident that he can get the job done and win his first major championship since 2014. So, what does McIlroy need to do to win the 124th U.S. Open?
First, he will need some help from DeChambeau. If DeChambeau shoots anything lower than a 1-under 69, the championship is his. The former SMU Mustang has carded three straight rounds in the 60s, so for him to fire another under-par score is not out of the question but rather the likeliest of possibilities.
Bryson DeChambeau on the 18th hole on Saturday.Photo by Alex Slitz/Getty Images
Still, DeChambeau has fought some left misses off the tee. He has also taken some aggressive lines, most of them paying off to this point. But one bad bounce here or another unfortunate bounce there can lead to a double-bogey, which would bring McIlroy and company back into the fray.
Nonetheless, what can McIlroy control?
First, he has to be patient. If he goes flag hunting on this course, Pinehurst No. 2 will clap back and bite him in the ass. Trying to push to make birdies and taking aggressive lines can lead to bogies or worse quickly, especially with some of these diabolical pins tucked in the corners of these ‘Turtleback’ greens.
With that said, the 3rd and 5th holes present early birdie opportunities. I think he has to play those holes in 1-under, at a minimum. By the time he reaches the 6th tee, he needs to be at -5 overall.
Rory McIlroy on the 14th tee.Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images
He also needs to take advantage of the par-5 10th. Earlier in the week, I wrote about how par-5 scoring is imperative for McIlroy, something he has struggled with this season. But he must birdie both par-5s on Sunday to put pressure on DeChambeau. He failed to take advantage of the par-5s last year at the Los Angeles Country Club, even making a bogey on the 14th, a big reason why he lost by one. If you recall, Wyndham Clark birdied that par-5, thanks to his stellar 3-wood that found the green. That was the difference.
I would also add the shortened par-4 13th into the mix of holes McIlroy has to make a move on. Measuring only 325 yards on Sunday, McIlroy should uncork his driver and try and get it up by the green. The pin is right in the middle, but a large slope in front of it will ricochet shots off the front. That false front starts a mere feet before the cup, requiring exquisite precision with pitches and chips. McIlroy has the talent to get it close, as he did on Saturday at 13, but he will need to do that again on Sunday.
Finally, McIlroy will have to make some putts. He is currently 45th in strokes gained putting while playing beautifully from tee to green. If he can pick up a stroke on the field with his putter on Sunday, and perhaps hole a long-range bomb, he has a great chance.
But it all comes down to DeChambeau. If DeChambeau shoots 72 and McIlroy shoots 68, there you have it. Yet Bryson is the key piece to this puzzle, as it’s his championship to lose.
Jack Milko is a golf staff writer for SB Nation’s Playing Through. Be sure to check out @_PlayingThroughfor more golf coverage. You can follow him on Twitter @jack_milko as well.
After a delay of over four hours due to severe weather in the Omaha area, the final game of the opening round of the 2024 Men’s College World Series between Florida and Texas A&M finally got underway after 11:00 p.m. local time. The Aggies took a 3-2 lead into the top of the ninth inning, powered by a pair of runs in the second inning and one more in the third as they built a 3-0 lead.
But the Gators did not go quietly into the night. Florida put a pair of runs on the board in the top of the seventh inning to cut the Aggies’ advantage to just 3-2, and that was the score when the Gators came to bat in the top of the ninth inning. After Brody Donay struck out to start the ninth, center fielder Michael Robertson — a hero for Florida in the 2023 MCWS double-elimination round — got on board with a single to bring Kurland to the plate, representing the go-ahead run.
After the count got to 1-1, Kurland got a backdoor breaking ball that he drove to right, putting everything he had into the swing.
It was almost enough:
Instead of the two-run shot he thought it was off the bat, right fielder Jace LaViolette used every inch of his 6’6 frame to climb the wall in right field, and deny Kurland of the go-ahead blast.
Leaving the Florida second baseman stunned:
LaViolette might have had a quiet night at the plate, going 0-for-2 with a pair of walks, but he put up monster numbers at the dish for the Aggies this season, slashing .311/.453/.751 with 28 home runs.
Rory McIlroy has a 10-year-old monkey on his back, but to shake it off, he will have to overcome a three-shot deficit during the final round of the U.S. Open.
Despite that, McIlroy, who last won a major in 2014, feels confident that he can still find a way to triumph at Pinehurst No. 2.
“I’ve got a great chance going into [Sunday],” McIlroy said after his 1-under 69.
“I love the test that Pinehurst is presenting, and you’ve got to focus and concentrate on every single shot out there. It’s what a U.S. Open should be like. It’s obviously great to be in the mix.”
The biggest obstacle in McIlroy’s path is not the challenging test that Pinehurst presents. Instead, it is Bryson DeChambeau, who shot a 3-under 67 on Saturday. DeChambeau, who is 7-under through 54 holes, is the only player to card three straight rounds in the 60s on this par 70 layout. He pulled away from the contenders on the back nine thanks to his remarkable driving prowess, aggressive iron play, and clutch putting.
Bryson DeChambeau acknowledges the fans on the 18th green.Photo by Alex Slitz/Getty Images
Yet, even DeChambeau is not immune to Pinehurst’s diabolical ‘Turtleback’ greens. Look no further than the par-4 16th hole, where DeChambeau’s second shot rolled off the front of the green. His third shot then did the same, which led to an unfortunate double-bogey.
After DeChambeau stumbled, he dropped back to 6-under for the championship, a score that McIlroy briefly sat at, too.
But the Northern Irishman made a slew of poor iron shots down the stretch, which led to a pair of bogeys on the 15th and 17th holes—both par-3s.
“The last few holes are playing very, very difficult,” McIlroy explained.
“Even 17, it’s downwind, but with that pin cut at the front, it’s hard to get that ball close, and even on 18 where that [front] hole location is.”
McIlroy had a chance to salvage his bogies with a closing birdie, but his attempt on the last slid past the hole, leaving him at 4-under for the championship. That put him in the penultimate Sunday pairing with Ryder Cup rival Patrick Cantlay.
“I’m excited about it. It would have been nice to hole that putt at the last, get to 5-under, and break out of that logjam at four. Pros and cons. Pros and cons to being in the last group, and maybe playing one group ahead might not necessarily be a bad thing,” McIlroy reasoned.
“I’m pretty much in the same position I was last year going into the final day at [the Los Angeles Country Club]. So familiar position, been here many times before, and hopefully tomorrow I produce the golf that’s needed to go one better.”
One year ago in Los Angeles, McIlroy entered the final round trailing Wyndham Clark and Rickie Fowler by a stroke at 9-under. Those two comprised the final group, while McIlroy and Scottie Scheffler went off second to last.
Rory McIlroy hits his tee shot on the 17th hole.Photo by David Cannon/Getty Images
McIlroy got off to a solid start, birdieing the opening par-5. But that marked his last par-breaker of the day. His bogey at the par-5 14th ultimately sealed his fate, which left him short of another major again. He finished one behind of Clark.
Getting off to a strong start is a must for McIlroy this time around, especially since his deficit is two strokes greater than the one he faced a year ago. Pinehurst No. 2 is also a much more challenging course than the Los Angeles Country Club, which yielded a pair of record-breaking 62s last year. No one has come close to that this week.
But McIlroy believes in himself and his game plan. He still feels he can get the job done despite the adversity he faces.
“I think there’s holes where you have to be aggressive. There are holes where you have to be conservative. There are hole locations that you can take on and hit wedges close to. There are hole locations you’ve got to stay away from,” McIlroy explained.
“It tests your chipping. It tests your putting. It obviously tests your mental fortitude more than any other golf tournament. But it’s a style of golf that I’ve started to try and embrace over these last few years, and it’s the reason that my performances at the U.S. Open have been much improved over the last half a decade.”
Nobody can rival McIlroy’s U.S. Open record since 2019, even though he has not emerged victorious. That, of course, will change if DeChambeau wins Sunday, which would mark his second U.S. Open title in four years. But McIlroy feels confident that he can stop him from doing so. Whether he can get the job done is a different story.
Jack Milko is a golf staff writer for SB Nation’s Playing Through. Be sure to check out @_PlayingThroughfor more golf coverage. You can follow him on Twitter @jack_milko as well.
Pinehurst No. 2 has once again proven itself worthy of a terrific U.S. Open venue. It has tested the best players in the world, punishing poor shots while rewarding good ones.
Hence, only eight players sit in red figures after 54 holes, with Bryson DeChambeau leading the pace at 7-under. He holds a three-shot lead over Rory McIlroy, Matthieu Pavon, and Patrick Cantlay as he eyes his second major. DeChambeau won the U.S. Open at Winged Foot in September 2020 during the pandemic.
So after another fun day at Pinehurst, here are the winners and losers from North Carolina:
Winners:
Bryson DeChambeau’s Game
Bryson DeChambeau entertained the golf world all day on Saturday. His clutch putts, his 350-yard drives, his spectacular shot from the sand on the 13th hole, and his tremendous approach on the 14th hole all added up to a 3-under 67.
Diabolical approach.
Brandel made a great point about the angles here too. Bryson had nothing, and yet went right at it. A confident, aggressive mindset is a dangerous one and it’s paying off!
He looks like one of the best golfers in the world, relying on his power and short-game finesse to take a commanding lead going into Sunday. He did stumble on the 16th hole, where he made a double bogey, but that did not phase DeChambeau at all. He bounced back with a birdie on the 17th hole, thanks to an ultra-aggressive line he took off the tee.
But every hole DeChambeau plays is must-watch television, whether he birdies or bogies. He is the most entertaining golfer on the planet, which explains why his popularity has skyrocketed.
Ultimately, if he shoots another round in the 60s on Sunday, the U.S. Open is his.
DeChambeau’s Balls
Bryson DeChambeau apparently puts his golf balls in Epsom salt before every round. A reporter asked him about it after his round, and DeChambeau’s response about his balls is priceless:
“Thanks for the salty balls question. I appreciate that. Yeah, I put my golf balls in Epsom salt. I’m lucky enough that Connor, my manager, does that now. I don’t have to do it. But essentially, we float golf balls in a solution to make sure that the golf ball is not out of balance,” DeChambeau explained.
“There was a big thing back in the day where golf balls are out of balance, and it’s just because of the manufacturing process. There’s always going to be an error, especially when it’s a sphere, and there are dimples on the edges. You can’t perfectly get it in the center. So what I’m doing is finding pretty much the out-of-balanceness of it, how much out of balance it is. Heavy slide floats to the bottom, and then we mark the top with a dot to make sure it’s always rolling over itself.”
To quote CBS Sports reporter Kyle Porter’s mantra, “Normal Sport.”
Can Rory McIlroy do it?
Rory McIlroy’s 10-year major drought has been well documented. But what amazes me about McIlroy, at least this time, is that he is back in the mix for a sixth straight U.S. Open. Despite the outside fray with LIV Golf, his dreams of a world tour, and most importantly, the uneasiness of his family life surrounding a potential divorce, McIlroy still has a chance to win a second U.S. Open title.
Rory McIlroy shakes hands with Tony Finau after their third round at the 2024 U.S. Open.Photo by Alex Slitz/Getty Images
He shot a 1-under 69 on Saturday despite making two late bogies that stalled his momentum. And yet, anything can happen on this golf course, and McIlroy knows that. He also has plenty of confidence going into round four. Plus, he is hitting his driver better than anyone, so if he can clean up his irons a tad, he should have a shot at the end.
All of this gives McIlroy—and golf fans everywhere—hope, and hope is an amazing drug.
Losers:
Tony Finau and Ludvig Åberg
The 13th hole all but ended their chances, as Tony Finau and Ludvig Åberg made triple bogies on this short par-4.
Each golfer played a game of ‘ping-pong,’ chipping back and forth across the green, which took them out of contention. Even if each player walked away with a bogey, they would still have an outside shot at winning their first major title on Sunday. But a triple bogey is too damaging of a score to overcome. Finau now sits six shots back of Dechambeau while Åberg, the 36-hole leader, is now five.
Because of this, Johnson Wagner of the Golf Channel analyzed this hole on ‘Live From the U.S. Open’ after the round:
Scottie Scheffler
Scottie Scheffler played much better on Saturday.
But his third round was a day filled with ‘What-ifs?’ Those question marks mainly stemmed from his putter, as Scheffler could not get a putt to drop all day. He gave himself plenty of chances to climb the leaderboard, but his flat stick kept him at bay. As such, the World No. 1 settled for a 1-over 71, but he could have easily shot a score in the mid-60s.
Scottie Scheffler during the third round.Photo by Cliff Hawkins/Getty Images
Pace of Play
My god. The final two groups played at a snail’s pace, with Patrick Cantlay and Bryson DeChambeau as the main culprits. Cantlay is notoriously slow and has been for quite some time. Just ask Brooks Koepka.
Similarly, DeChambeau, who needed to get stretched out on the 11th hole, loves to take his time. Given his scientific and mathematical approach to the game, DeChambeau has to dissect every single shot he plays, even putts from inside of 18 inches.
As such, the United States Golf Association (USGA) should have levied a penalty. They supposedly provided a warning to DeChambeau and Åberg, who, for what it’s worth, flies around a golf course, but a steeper penalty should have been assessed. Pace of play is a problem, especially considering that DeChambeau’s group—the final pairing—finished nearly 45 minutes after McIlroy’s, who played in the third to last group.
Jack Milko is a golf staff writer for SB Nation’s Playing Through. Be sure to check out @_PlayingThroughfor more golf coverage. You can follow him on Twitter @jack_milko as well.
Bryson DeChambeau stayed patient during the U.S. Open on Saturday, which eventually paid off for him down the stretch. He wound up firing his third straight round in the 60s, carding a third round 3-under 67. That score gives him a three-shot lead at 7-under for the championship.
He picked up an impressive 3.13 strokes with his putter, which ranks fourth during the third round. DeChambeau needed only 25 putts during round three, as he leads the field with 1.46 putts per green.
“Made a lot of great putts today. I’ll tell you that,” DeChambeau said.
“Pleased with how I struck it for the most part. Tomorrow it’s the same quote I’ve said all week—trying to have boring golf. Middle of the greens never moves, so I am going to try and hit a lot of the greens, give myself some good looks on some holes and two-putt a lot.”
He made three crucial par saves to open his round and keep pace with his fellow contenders. A bogey on the 4th dropped a shot, but it did not last, as he got it back on the par-5 5th. Another birdie followed at the 7th.
Then, during a stretch in which he made back-to-back birdies on the 10th and 11th holes, DeChambeau began to battle hip tightness. That did not stop him. His lead extended to four at the par-4 14th when he sank his fifth birdie of the day.
Photo by Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images
However, a double bogey on the par-4 16th diminished the lead to two. That hiccup did not phase him as he made his sixth birdie on the day at the par-3 17 to head into Sunday with a three-shot advantage.
The crowds showed up all day for the Grapevine, Texas, resident. Like the PGA Championship, the fans could not get enough of him.
Fans chanted USA-USA-USA from DeChambeau’s opening tee shot until he walked off the course. Not to mention his hilarious “Don’t boo me, I’m sorry” comment to the crowd on 13 when he did not choose to hit driver.
Throughout the day, he spoke to fans, signed autographs and enjoyed the crowds.
“It gives me a spike in my adrenaline and allows me to focus more on delivering for the fans, myself and my family. It inspires me,” DeChambeau said.
It is massive for the fans to get behind him as a LIV Golf player. He was not a fan favorite when he played on the PGA Tour. Some liked him, and many did not.
However, things changed when he began showing off his personality through his social media and YouTube Channels. More people saw who he truly was, and for the past two major championships, the fans have gravitated toward him.
“It’s meant a lot to me. Just thinking back three years ago, the landscape was a lot different,” DeChambeau said. “I tried to show everybody who I was. I didn’t do it the right way and could have done a lot of things better.”
“I’m lucky enough to have a great team around me to help me move in the right direction with the content we’re producing, social media, and a great perspective on life. That combination of things has allowed me to not only have a new perspective but an opportunity to show myself in a different light and entertain the fans out there.”
DeChambeau has a new outlook on life, where he chooses to focus on the positive things. So far, this has grown his brand massively, especially in the majors.
He is 18 holes away from winning his second U.S. Open in four years.
DeChambeau will play alongside Frenchman Matthieu Pavon in the final group of the day. They tee off at 2:21 p.m. ET.
Savannah Leigh Richardson is a golf staff writer for SB Nation’s Playing Through. For more golf coverage, be sure to follow us @_PlayingThrough on all major social platforms. You can also follow her on Twitter @SportsGirlSL and Instagram @savannah_leigh_sports.
:format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25493650/2157756812.jpg "U.S. Open: Rory McIlroy can beat Bryson DeChambeau, but how? u,s,open,rory,mcilroy,can,beat,bryson,dechambeau,but,how,sbnation,com,front-page,golf,us-open-golf,golf-majors,golf-pga-tour,golf-news,liv-golf")
:format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25493087/2157757561.jpg "U.S. Open: Rory McIlroy confident despite Bryson DeChambeau’s lead u,s,open,rory,mcilroy,confident,despite,bryson,dechambeau,s,lead,sbnation,com,front-page,golf,us-open-golf,golf-majors,golf-pga-tour,golf-news,liv-golf")
:format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25493156/2157707896.jpg "U.S. Open Day 3 Winners, Losers: Bryson DeChambeau dominates u,s,open,day,winners,losers,bryson,dechambeau,dominates,sbnation,com,front-page,golf,us-open-golf,golf-majors,golf-pga-tour,golf-opinions,liv-golf")
