PINEHURST, United States: Bryson DeChambeau captured his second US Open title on Sunday, outlasting Rory McIlroy in a dramatic back-nine duel to win by a stroke at Pinehurst.
Overtaken by McIlroy with six holes remaining to play, DeChambeau kept his poise over the dome-shaped greens and sandy waste areas of Pinehurst to rally for the crown.
McIlroy, thwarted in a bid to end a 10-year major win drought, led by two strokes with five holes to play.
But the four-time major winner from Northern Ireland made bogeys on three of the last four holes to help hand the trophy to DeChambeau.
“I still can’t believe it,” said DeChambeau. “It’s unbelievable.”
DeChambeau, who also won the 2020 US Open, fired a one-over-par 71 to finish on six-under-par 274 while McIlroy shot 69 to stand on 275 after 72 holes.
The 30-year-old American became the second active player of Saudi-backed LIV Golf to win a major title after Brooks Koepka in the 2023 PGA Championship.
In a collapse mindful of Greg Norman’s epic 1996 last-round loss to Nick Faldo at the Masters, McIlroy missed par putts from 2.5 feet at the par-3 17th and just inside four feet at the par-4 18th — tension-packed bogeys that left McIlroy one behind.
DeChambeau found dirt and weeds left and a bunker at 18 but blasted his third shot to four feet and sank his pressure-packed putt for the victory.
“I was not great today but I got out of trouble really well and then, man, I can’t believe that up and down the last — that was All-World, probably the best shot of my life.”
Raising his arms in triumph, DeChambeau screamed and jumped for joy, then paid tribute to the late Payne Stewart, the 1999 US Open winner at Pinehurst who died only a few months later.
“That’s Payne right there, baby,” DeChambeau said into a television camera, pointing to a pin of Stewart on his cap.
Americans Tony Finau and Patrick Cantlay shared third on 276, two off the pace, with Finau firing a 67. France’s Matthieu Pavon was fifth on 277 after a 71, one stroke ahead of Japan’s Hideki Matsuyama, who fired a 70 to stand on 278.
DeChambeau answered bogeys at the fourth and 12th holes with birdies at the par-5 10th and par-4 13th to keep the pressure on McIlroy until he cracked.
“I felt like I was hitting the driver pretty well. It just wasn’t starting exactly where I wanted to hit to,” DeChambeau said.
“Ultimately on 13 I knew I had to make birdie there to give myself a chance, because Rory was going on a heater.
“He slipped up a couple on the way coming in and I just kept staying the course, focused on trying to do as many fairways as I could.”
McIlroy settled for his second US Open runner-up effort in a row and his 21st top-10 finish since he last won a major at the 2014 PGA Championship.
DeChambeau and McIlroy shared the lead at seven-under when the drama seemed to turn.
McIlroy sank a five-foot putt at 13 for his fourth birdie in five holes while DeChambeau found sand and weeds off the tee and made bogey at 12, a two-shot swing leaving McIlroy on eight-under and DeChambeau two back.
But DeChambeau birdied 13 from just outside 27 feet and McIlroy went over the green at the par-3 15th and missed a 31-foot par putt, leaving them deadlocked at the top again.
DeChambeau then suffered his first three-putt bogey of the tournament, lipping out a four-foot par putt at the par-3 15th to fall one back, only for McIlroy to botch his short putts at the end.
Pavon failed in his bid to become the second Frenchman to win a major title after Arnaud Massy at the 1907 British Open.
Sweden’s sixth-seeded Ludvig Aberg, who began five back, took a triple bogey at the second to fall back. He fired a 73 to share 12th on 281.
World number one Scottie Scheffler, the huge pre-tournament favorite, fired a two-over 72 to stand on eight-over 288 for what was only his second finish outside the top-10 this year.
“Didn’t play my best. A bit frustrating to end,” he said. “I definitely need to do some things better.”
DeChambeau outlasts McIlroy to win second US Open crown
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DeChambeau outlasts McIlroy to win second US Open crown
- The 30-year-old American became the second active player of Saudi-backed LIV Golf to win a major title after Brooks Koepka in the 2023 PGA Championship
Four share lead after first round of Aramco LIV Golf Singapore
- Jon Rahm, Bryson DeChambeau, Lee Westwood and Richard T. Lee all posted rounds of 4-under 67
- Rahm is coming off a great week in Hong Kong as the two-time reigning LIV Golf Individual Champion won his first tournament since 2024
SINGAPORE: Jon Rahm and Bryson DeChambeau routinely find themselves at the top of the LIV Golf leaderboard. Lee Westwood and Richard T. Lee, meanwhile, finished Thursday’s opening round at Aramco LIV Golf Singapore breaking new ground.
Rahm, DeChambeau, Westwood and Lee each posted a 4-under 67 to share the first-round lead on a demanding day at Sentosa’s Serapong course. They lead by one stroke over a group of seven players, with 10 other players another shot back.
For Rahm, winner of last week’s HSBC LIV Golf Hong Kong, this is the 14th time in his league career that the Legion XIII captain has owned at least a share of the lead after any round.
For Crushers GC captain DeChambeau, who has played two more seasons than Rahm, this is also his 14th time as a leader or co-leader. Last month, the two shared the lead entering the final round in Adelaide before Anthony Kim surged past them for the win.
While Westwood certainly has plenty of experience atop leaderboards, having won 44 times in his storied career, this is the first time he has held a share of the lead as an original LIV Golf member. He said it was a bit unexpected considering he just returned last week from a torn tendon in his left wrist, finishing T18 in Hong Kong in his first tournament start in six months. At age 52 — he turns 53 next month – he becomes the oldest LIV Golf player to claim a share of the lead.
“Seven weeks ago, I couldn’t hold the putter,” said the Majesticks Golf Club co-captain after his bogey-free round. “The specialist was worried that I’d torn the sheath in the wrist and I would need surgery to reconstruct it. To be sitting here, having a good week last week and then be leading this week is a very pleasant surprise.”
Lee spent much of LIV Golf Promotions in January atop the leaderboard, eventually winning in a dominant performance on the final 36-hole qualifier to earn his way into the league as an independent wildcard player. Now, in just his fourth start as an LIV Golf player, he becomes the first wildcard player to lead after any round, his 67 kick-started by a birdie on his opening hole when he holed out of a bunker.
Lee, the first Canadian player in league history, is determined to end the week setting another new standard. No wildcard player has yet finished inside the top 10 in any tournament.
“That could possibly change this week,” he said. “I’ve played this course so many times on the Asian Tour and I think I have a bit of an advantage on this course, knowing where the slopes are and where to miss it. I think it’s going to be a great week.”
Rahm is coming off a great week in Hong Kong as the two-time reigning LIV Golf Individual Champion won his first tournament since 2024. He birdied three of his first seven holes Thursday and finished with a flourish with two consecutive birdies.
He feasted off the par 5s in Hong Kong, making birdie or better on each of the two at Hong Kong Golf Club in every round. He continued that trend Thursday on with birdies on each of The Serapong’s three par 5s.
“I’m hitting it better off the tee, so it all starts with that on a par 5 where you’ve got to put it into play,” said Rahm, whose Legion XIII has a six-shot lead over DeChambeau’s Crushers on the team leaderboard.
“Once you’re in play, I’m long enough to have a comfortable number, usually, into the par 5s, and I think that’s been the main difference. It’s just everything so far this year is just a little bit better than it’s been in the past.”
DeChambeau, meanwhile, played his final 10 holes in 5 under, ending the round with three consecutive birdies. His only slip-up was a double bogey at the par-4 fifth when he found trouble out of a fairway bunker and then a greenside bunker.
He continues to chase the form that he showed in 2023 LIV Golf Greenbrier when he shot a league-record 12-under 58 to win the first of his three LIV Golf titles.
“Things just haven’t quite lined up yet,” he said. “It may just pop up with one golf shot. I don’t know. I’m one swing thought away. I’m really close is what I’m saying. I’m close to figuring out what that exact thing is, but I have to dial in my irons a little bit more.”
