BIG-HITTING BRYSON TAMES WINGED FOOT
Transformed DeChambeau pushes golf into new era with his U.S. Open triumph
Golf's riskiest experiment reached an unchallengeable outcome on Sunday at the U.S. Open when Bryson DeChambeau delivered a career-defining and idea-shattering victory at Winged Foot Golf Club.
The 27-year-old former U.S. Amateur champ, NCAA champ and multiple PGA Tour winner changed his body, changed his swing and now, with his first major championship, has changed the way a 500-year-old sport is played at its highest level.
The only player under par on Sunday, the only player under par for the week, DeChambeau shot a 3-under 67 in the final round to win the championship at 6-under, a half-dozen shots clear of 54-hole leader and runner-up Matthew Wolff.
“I think I'm definitely changing the way people think about the game,” he said at the trophy ceremony. “Now, whether you can do it, that's a whole different situation.”
DeChambeau was the story of golf's restart for all the right reasons, then all the wrong reasons and now, again, for the greatest of reasons.
When golf returned from its 91-day COVID-19 break, DeChambeau's transformed body and mega-distance grabbed headlines as he reeled off four top 10s including a win in his first four starts. It wasn't all positive, though, as questionable exchanges with a cameraman and a rules official moved the focus off of his game and onto his unique personality. But Sunday at the U.S. Open, DeChambeau channelled the grit, the testiness, the obsessiveness, the unrelenting drive, all into his game and delivered a performance that belongs beside the greatest in the championship's long history.
“I did it, as difficult as this golf course was presented, I played it beautifully,” he said. “Even through the rough, I was still able to manage my game and hit it to correct sides of the greens, except on 14 today, and kept plugging away. My putting was immaculate today. My speed control, incredible.”
The U.S. Open became a twoman race between DeChambeau and Wolff on the par-5 ninth hole, when DeChambeau, with a one-shot lead, hit a 375-yard bomb only to be one-upped by his 21-year-old competitor's 388yard drive.
Both players found the green in two shots, and both players made eagle. But it wasn't a race for very long.
Wolff bogeyed the 10th to fall two behind, and then bogeyed the 14th, and double bogeyed the 16th to fall to level par where he would finish.
Louis Oosthuizen shot a 3-over 73 to finish third at 2-over.
Harris English also shot a 73 to finish fourth at 3-over. Xander Schauffele was one stroke behind English at 4-over. Other notables in the top 10 included Dustin Johnson at 5-over and Rory McIlroy, Justin Thomas and Tony Finau at 6-over.
Taylor Pendrith of Richmond Hill, Ont., who plays mainly on the Korn Ferry Tour, finished the week as low Canadian after shooting an even-par 70 on Sunday to finish at 10-over and in a tie for 23rd.
Adam Hadwin of Abbotsford, B.C., shot a 10-over 80 on Sunday to plummet to 19-over and finish in 54th. Corey Conners of Listowel, Ont., and Mackenzie Hughes of Dundas, Ont., missed the cut. DeChambeau delivered an exclamation mark off the tee at the 16th hole when, with the championship firmly in his grasp, he stuck with his formula of hitting driver rather than playing it safe.
This wasn't supposed to work at the U.S. Open, certainly not at Winged Foot, the toughest course at a championship known for tough courses. This was supposed to be the week that power had to be carefully paired with patience and precision. But it wasn't. In the end, DeChambeau hit just 23 of 56 fairways, but the punishing rough proved no match for wedges swung by arms as thick as the trees lining the golf course.
“I hope that inspires people to say, hey, look, maybe there is a different way to do it,” he said.
“Not everybody has to do it my way, I'm not saying that. I'm just saying in general that there are different ways to do things.
“If you can find your own way, find your passion — like Arnie (Palmer) said, swing your swing. That's what I do.”
Few, if any, top players in a sport have jumped headlong down a rabbit hole, risked everything, to tear down and rebuild their body and philosophy in search of their ultimate potential.
DeChambeau's hacking of the game of golf with power was not without critics. Some view him as everything that's wrong with the modern game, but he's a product of the modern game, not the problem with it.
“And I'm not going to stop,” DeChambeau said. “Next week I'm going to be trying a 48-inch driver. We're going to be messing with some head designs and do some amazing things with Cobra to make it feasible to hit these drives maybe 360, 370, maybe even farther. I don't know.”
Love him or hate him, what Bryson DeChambeau showed the world at the U.S. Open at Winged Foot was human progress, a most noble pursuit.
Save the debate for tomorrow, today we celebrate.