PINEHURST, N.C. (828newsNOW) —
Like two heavyweights duking it out in the sand, it was a championship to remember Sunday at one of golf’s great cathedrals, Pinehurst No. 2.
Bryson DeChambeau was the last man standing in the ring at 18 on a warm evening as he hoisted his second U.S. Open trophy after outdueling Rory McIlroy.
It felt more like a Duke/North Carolina game at the finish, with the crowd and Dechambeau going wild.
DeChambeau became the fourth player to win multiple major championships since the start of this decade (2020).
He joins Collin Morikawa (2020 PGA, 2021 Open), Jon Rahm (2021 US Open, 2023 Masters) and Scottie Scheffler (2022 and 2024 Masters).
The last time that the top two finishers at a U.S. Open were former winners of this championship was in 1998 at The Olympic Club, when Lee Janzen finished one stroke better than Payne Stewart. Stewart won it the next year at Pinehurst.
Shortly after sinking the winning putt, DeChambeau flashed the Payne Stewart pin that was attached to his cap to the NBC camera.
“I’m so happy I got that shot up-and-down on 18,” DeChambeau said. “Oh, man, I didn’t want to finish second again. PGA really stung. Xander Schauffele played magnificent.”
“I wanted to get this one done, especially at such a special place that means so much to me, SMU, my [late] dad (Jon who died in 2022 from diabetes), what Payne meant to him, 1,000th USGA championship. Stack them on top,” DeChambeau said. “That bunker shot was the shot of my life. I’ll forever be thankful that I’ve got longer wedges so I can hit it farther, get it up there next to the hole.”
A visibly upset Mcilroy made a quick exit from Pinehurst.
As the Associated Press reported: It was another heavy dose of heartache for McIlroy. In a wild final hour of more blunders than brilliance, DeChambeau capped off a week of high entertainment by getting up-and-down from 55 yards out of a bunker, making a 4-foot par putt to close with a 1-over 71.
“That’s Payne right there, baby!” DeChambeau screamed as he walked off the 18th green.
Payne Stewart famously made a 15-foot par putt on the final hole in 1999 at the first U.S. Open at Pinehurst No. 2, beating Phil Mickelson by one shot. DeChambeau says he was inspired to go to SMU when he saw a mural of Stewart on campus.
This was as much about a blown opportunity for McIlroy.
Trying to end 10 years without a major, he led by two shots when he stood on the 14th tee. McIlroy still led by one shot until he missed a 30-inch par putt on the 16th hole. And then on the closing hole, he pitched to just inside 4 feet, only to miss the par putt.
He was watching from the scoring room as DeChambeau escaped from an awful lie left of the fairway, punching into the fairway, and expertly hitting the long bunker shot that rolled out on the crispy green to set up the winning putt.
McIlroy spun his tires in the gravel as he left quickly.
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AP golf: https://apnews.com/hub/golf