Bryson DeChambeau wins U.S. Open, denying Rory McIlroy

DeChambeau outdueled Rory McIlroy in a battle of heavyweights that wasn’t decided until the final hole. McIlroy began the day three shots ahead and led by as many as two Sunday. But they traded blows, and DeChambeau turned in an adventurous par on the 18th hole to seal his win. A final-round 71 put him at 6-under-par 274 for the tournament, besting 155 other golfers as well as a punishing course that rewards few and crowns fewer.

The 72-hole tournament came down to the last hole. McIlroy missed a short par putt — 3 feet 9 inches — and closed the tournament with a bogey, his third over the final four holes. DeChambeau, meanwhile, recovered from an errant drive — his worst tee shot of the tournament — and then blasted out of a bunker to within four feet. “That was probably the best shot of my life,” he said during the trophy ceremony.

He stood over the par putt and never had a doubt.

“That’s Payne right there, baby,” an excited DeChambeau said shortly afterward, referring to Payne Stewart, a fellow SMU alum who captured the 1999 U.S. Open at Pinehurst with similar late heroics.

As DeChambeau was accepting the trophy on the 18th green, McIlroy was already in the parking lot, leaving the course and declining to discuss his round with reporters.

It was DeChambeau’s second U.S. Open win and, while it might not have perfectly matched the theatrics of Stewart’s battle with Phil Mickelson in 1999, there was no shortage of fireworks and suspense Sunday.

DeChambeau, 30, fended off one of the game’s great champions on one of the trickiest courses on the planet, scaling the bulging domed greens day after day. He hit mammoth drives and virtuoso iron shots. He was one of the top putters and successfully scrambled where others succumbed.

The tournament might forever be remembered for the back-nine battle between two of the game’s biggest stars: McIlroy, the beloved champion so eager to return to the top of the ladder, vs. DeChambeau, golf’s muscle-bound mad scientist who absconded from the PGA Tour two years ago to play for LIV Golf, the Saudi-backed rival circuit. In many ways, the two, both very much fan favorites on every course they play, had served as the opposing faces of the PGA Tour-LIV Golf feud, ramping up the drama and the stakes.

The duel effectively started before either teed off. At one point, barely a half-hour before their tee times, McIlroy and DeChambeau were alone on the range. DeChambeau was surrounded by high-tech equipment and no fewer than six members of his team. Two cameras were trained on every swing, which required constant study and discussion. At one point, he measured the face of his driver, didn’t like what he saw and swapped out clubheads — less than 20 minutes before his tee time.

McIlroy, meanwhile, stood alone with his caddie and a bag of balls, pulling them out one at a time. He took mighty cuts, sometimes not even waiting for the ball to land before reaching for another.

DeChambeau had been the one who was at ease all week, engaging with the crowd, looking anything but scared of a difficult course setup. McIlroy sent an early warning of what was to come: DeChambeau was on the tee box when the crowd around the first green roared, celebrating McIlroy’s first birdie of the day.

DeChambeau, the 2020 U.S. Open champion, had posted three straight rounds below par and carried a three-stroke lead into the final day. But his bogey on No. 4 opened a window for McIlroy. On the ninth, McIlroy buried a 15-foot putt for birdie, and one hole back, DeChambeau was in trouble. His drive on No. 8 went into the trees to the right of the fairway, and though he found a narrow chute, his approach shot went long and so did his chip from behind the green. But he didn’t blink, rolling in a tricky 11-footer to save par and preserve a narrow lead.

But damage was done, and suddenly, just one stroke separated two of the biggest stars in the game, setting the stage for a back-nine brawl. The U.S. Open started with 156 golfers, but at this point only two mattered.

Even those who began the day within sniffing distance of DeChambeau had faded. Patrick Cantlay, tied for second after 54 holes, kept threatening but finished with a final-round 70, leaving him at 4 under and two shots off the lead in a tie for third. (Tony Finau also finished at 4 under.) And Matthieu Pavon, who also started at 4 under, posted a final-round 71 and finished three shots back in fifth.

So the spotlight was focused on just two — both bombers, both fan favorites, both past champions. Certainly, McIlroy understood the pressure and the stakes. He won his first major at 22 at Congressional. He reeled off three more major wins over the next three years but then spent the past decade discussing his perennial letdowns, which included second-place finishes at the 2018 British Open, the 2022 Masters and last year’s U.S. Open. Trying to snap the streak, he tried to refocus this year, putting on blinders and approaching each major like a business trip.

It’s hard to account for foes like DeChambeau, though, who was a crowd favorite all week, high-fiving fans and playing to the boisterous gallery. On No. 10, McIlroy sank a 26-footer for a second straight birdie, taking a share of the lead, and the giants would trade blows down the stretch.

DeChambeau drives as far as anyone, though he struggles at times to find fairways. His irons, fortunately, kept him near the top of the leader board all week. While the tricky greens and tough conditions laid waste to golf royalty — Scottie Scheffler, the world’s top-ranked player, finished 8 over in a tie for 41st — DeChambeau treated it like a playground.

The crowd had fun, too. With the two playing one group apart, the roars felt like call and response, ensuring neither McIlroy nor DeChambeau needed to see the leader board to know the scores.

All of North Carolina might have heard the thunder when McIlroy sank another long birdie putt on No. 12, this one from 22 feet. Then, just moments after DeChambeau posted a bogey on the 12th, McIlroy drained his fifth birdie of the day at No. 13, giving him a two-stroke lead and prompting chants of “Ror-y! Ror-y!” to echo across the course.

A DeChambeau birdie on No. 13 followed by a McIlroy bogey on No. 15 meant the two were tied at 7 under. DeChambeau missed a three-foot par putt on No. 15 to drop back down. It was his only three-putt hole of the tournament.

McIlroy then watched his 3½-footer on No. 16 lip out, a second straight bogey that again tied the tournament at 6 under.

Following his bogey on No. 18, McIlroy was in the clubhouse first, watching on television as DeChambeau stepped into the bunker and then onto the green, where the beefy Texan sealed his second major title.

This story will be updated.