Bryson DeChambeau is one of the most box office golfers in the world. He draws crowds to the course and eyes to the television.
He won nine times on the PGA Tour, including a US Open title, before he controversially switched to the Saudi-funded LIV Golf League in 2022.
After initially struggling to find form, he won for the first time on the breakaway circuit in August 2023 at LIV Golf Greenbrier, the same event in which he shot a scintillating 58.
DeChambeau followed this up with another win in Chicago a month later, but this all acted as a build-up to the 2024 US Open at Pinehurst, where he won his second major title in a titanic battle with four-time major champion Rory McIlroy.
It was all the more important to DeChambeau to win this tournament a month after finishing second in another close-run thing to Xander Schauffele at the PGA Championship at Valhalla.
“I’m so happy I got that shot up and down on 18. Oh, man, I didn’t want to finish second again. PGA really stung. Xander played magnificent,” DeChambeau said after winning.
“I wanted to get this one done, especially at such a special place that means so much to me, SMU, my dad, what Payne meant to him, the 1000th USGA championship. Stack them on top. 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 (smiling).
“I don’t know what to think. It fully hasn’t sunk in yet. I just want everybody to enjoy it, as well. As much as it is heartbreaking for some people, it was heartbreak for me at the PGA. I really wanted this one. When I turned the corner and saw I was a couple back, I said, Nope, I’m not going to let that happen. I have to focus on figuring out how to make this happen.
