Bryson DeChambeau gets validation with U.S. Open title

Bryson DeChambeau silences the doubters with emphatic U.S. Open victory

The U.S. Open is supposed to be the ultimate test of guile and strategy, of accuracy and touch. You’re not supposed to overpower the course, especially not one with the thick rough and fast greens of Winged Foot Golf Club.

Bryson DeChambeau, with his booming, towering drives, shattered those stereotypes this week at the 120th U.S. Open. Winged Foot was no match for him on Sunday; his three-under 67 was the best score of anyone during the round by three shots as he breezed to a six-shot victory and his first career major championship.

The 27-year-old California native is the most unorthodox U.S. Open champion. A year ago, he made the calculation that the best way to succeed on the modern PGA Tour was to out-drive everyone. DeChambeau has put on 40 pounds of solid muscle. His clubhead speed has been measured this year as high as 137 mph, more than any other player on tour. He went from 34th in driving distance in 2019 to leading the tour at 322 yards in 2020.

DeChambeau’s length off the tee allowed him to neutralize Winged Foot’s notorious rough. He hit just 23 of 56 fairways all week—nine of 28 on the weekend—but was the only player in the field not to shoot over-par in any round. But he averaged 336 yards off the tee on Sunday and was fifth in greens in regulation for the week.

His driving, though, is not the only reason he’s the U.S. Open champion. DeChambeau has made a vast improvement in his putting since he first arrived on tour. Three years ago, he was 145th on tour in putting; he was 10th in 2020 and finished the U.S. Open ranked 11th in the field. He has a putting style all of his own. His arms hang perfectly straight and perpendicular to the ground. It looks unnatural, uncomfortable, and tense. But he makes it work for him.

On the par-five ninth hole on Sunday, locked in a close head-to-head battle with Matthew Wolff, DeChambeau faced a 35-foot putt for eagle. The putt would give him a two-shot advantage. He calmly rolled it in. Two holes later, just short of the green on the par-four 11th, he made another birdie putt and was off and running. The rest of the back-nine was simply a coronation for the tour’s most fascinating player.

https://twitter.com/GOLFTV/status/1307769970290577412

Even with the title well in hand, DeChambeau tried to ignore the bigger picture of what his win would mean. “You know, it’s kind of interesting, On nine is when I first thought, ‘Okay, this could be a reality.’ I made that long eagle putt…and I thought to myself I could do it,” he said at the trophy presentation, the champion’s medal around his neck.

“And then immediately after I said, ‘Nope, you’ve got to focus on each and every hole.’ I just kept, throughout the course of the back-nine, ‘Nope, we’ve got three more holes, four more holes, whatever it was.’ I just had to keep focused and make sure I was executing every shot the best I absolutely could.”

DeChambeau’s stunning transformation has attracted his fair share of doubters, critics who question whether a player could succeed simply by swinging as hard as he can or if it’s good for the game. He proved them wrong this week at Winged Foot. He puts in the hard work, staying at the practice range late into the night and going through high-intensity workouts in the gym. And that work has paid off.

Twenty years ago, Tiger Woods had a similarly momentous victory in the U.S. Open (DeChambeau joins Woods and Jack Nicklaus as the only players to win the U.S. Amateur, NCAA title, and U.S. Open). Woods’ 15-shot victory at Pebble Beach changed the game of golf forever. DeChambeau’s win at Winged Foot is another history-changing moment in golf, as he proved that power, not accuracy, is the new currency in the game.