They were classmates, used similar headgears, and used amazing par saves to win the U.S. Open at Pinehurst No. 2. They have now each won the U.S. Open twice.
At the location where he wrote one of golf’s most amazing tales , a story where inspiration and tragedy were mixed together , Payne Stewart and Bryson DeChambeau’s bond was reinforced on Sunday. Stewart and DeChambeau are both SMU alumni, and they both donned the flat cap made famous by Ben Hogan, one of the greats of the game.
Payne Stewart is commemorated with a statue located behind Pinehurst No. 2’s 18th green. His silhouette can also be seen on the grandstands that flanked the final hole of the U.S. Open on Sunday, as well as on the flag that stood sentry there. The 18th green’s hole on Sunday was the same one that was utilized in 1999 when Stewart won his first major in eight years with a 25-foot par putt. Within 4 months, a flying disaster claimed his life.
The U.S. Open this year commemorated the 25th anniversary of Stewart’s victory, which DeChambeau secured with an unlikely par on the last hole. Similar to Stewart, DeChambeau’s drive missed the 18th fairway. Since Stewart’s victory, Pinehurst has undergone a drastic makeover. As a result, DeChambeau’s ball was surrounded by wiregrass, weeds, and a tree root that worried him about his wrist, as opposed to Stewart’s ball being buried in thick Bermudagrass rough. The tree branch also got in the way of his backswing.
50 yards from the hole, DeChambeau hit a low shot that sailed over the fairway and into a bunker, barely managing to swing the club past waist-high. His next stroke found its mark in the center of the green, some thirty feet away from the hole, and it rolled to four feet. The best part of the back nine, according to DeChambeau, was the support he received from his caddie, Greg Bodine, just before he made his third shot.
“This is your shot. I’ve witnessed far tougher shots being taken by you.” Bodine told him.
Although Stewart had a longer putt than him, it was still of a similar length to the par putt that Rory McIlroy had missed moments before, which had returned the lead to DeChambeau.
DeChambeau finished the round at 1-over 71 with a 4-round total of 6-under 274, thanks to his par on the last hole. McIlroy finished one stroke behind after making bogeys on three of the last four holes. At four under par, Tony Finau (67) and Patrick Cantlay (70) tied for third place.
Following his sixth-place showing in this year’s Masters and his runner-up result at the PGA Championship, when he was one shot behind Xander Schauffele, DeChambeau’s victory occurred four years after he won the 2020 U.S. Open at Winged Foot.
“I’m overjoyed to have received that up-and-down on 18. I really didn’t want to come in second place once more. PGA hurt a lot. Xander had a fantastic performance. I was anxious to finish this one, especially since it was at SMU, my dad’s place, the 1,000th USGA tournament, and everything that Payne meant to him. Place them atop one another. The shot of my life was that one from the bunker.” DeChambeau said on Sunday.
Despite placing close to the bottom of the pack in Driving Accuracy, DeChambeau led the U.S. Open field in Driving Distance and was eighth in Greens Hit. He also finished 12th in Strokes Gained: Putting and 10th in Strokes Gained: Around-the-Green.
DeChambeau prevailed in a competition that bore similarities to Stewart’s victory from 25 years prior.
DeChambeau had a three-shot lead going into the first round, but McIlroy’s birdies on holes 9 and 10 knotted the score. On the 10th hole, DeChambeau made his own birdie to take back the lead.
DeChambeau bogeyed the 12th hole, putting McIlroy two ahead when he birdied Nos. 12 and 13.
“Upon rounding a corner and realizing I was a pair again, I vowed never to allow it to occur. I need to concentrate on figuring out how to accomplish this.” DeChambeau said. Even though he only hit one of the last eight fairways, he was still able to grind out pars thanks to McIlroy’s small misses on the last few holes.
In his streak of four birdies in five holes, McIlroy made three putts of 15 feet or longer; the other came on a 5-footer after he drove it through the green on the short 13th.
DeChambeau made a two-putt for a birdie to come within one after driving that hole. After McIlroy’s bogey on the 15th par-3 hole, when he blasted his tee shot over the green, he and DeChambeau were temporarily tied, but DeChambeau three-putted the same hole and missed a 4-foot par putt.
Following devastating defeats at the Los Angeles Country Club last year and St. Andrews in the 2022 Open, McIlroy made some short misses of his own that will probably haunt him.
McIlroy missed a four-foot par putt at the final green after three-putting the sixteenth. He also missed a 2.5-footer for par. Following his round, McIlroy avoided speaking with the media.
I was thinking to myself, “Man, if he makes par, I don’t know how I’m going to beat him,” after my tee shot on hole 18. I was just genuinely ignorant. The moans were heard then. Like I felt a rush of adrenaline. “Okay, you can do this,” I said. Those we DeChambeau’s words.
Yes, he did. Once more, DeChambeau is a significant winner.
