It only feels right that the reigning titleholder at the golf championship that, at least in theory, anyone can win is the player who leans into the role of the sport's most relatable everyman, Bryson DeChambeau.
And it only feels right that at the U.S. Open — a tournament built to humble and punish the best in the game as much as celebrate them — DeChambeau earned his title by hitting a shot that virtually no man can hit.
A plaque now sits outside the bunker on the 18th hole at Pinehurst No. 2, enshrining the spot where DeChambeau placed his name in the history books with what he called “the shot of my life” — a 55-yard blast from the sand to 4 feet with the trophy hanging in the balance on Sunday at last year’s Open.
Defense of the title begins Thursday at Oakmont, getting ready to host its record 10th U.S. Open and a course with a longtime reputation for being as difficult as they come.
All of which seems to suit the 31-year-old pro golfer/social media star just fine.
His first U.S. Open title came in 2020 at Winged Foot, the course best known for producing the 1974 “Massacre at Winged Foot” along with Phil Mickelson’s meltdown in the trees and trash cans more than 30 years later.
Then, last year, that bunker at Pinehurst.
What would golf’s everyman say to his millions of YouTube followers who someday might encounter their own version of the 50-yard bunker shot, widely recognized as one of the most difficult in the game, even under normal circumstances?
“The best piece of advice I give them is, just practice in weird, unique situations for maybe an hour a week, 20 minutes, whatever,” DeChambeau said. “But try to be different and don’t just hit the same stock shot every time.”
A history-making shot in a tournament that does not produce them
All the major championships have their own personalities.
The Masters produces roars through the pines during back-nine charges on Sunday.
The British Open is a brittle links-style test where players have to think differently about getting from Point A to Point B.
America’s golf championship has a reputation for forcing the best players to suffer like the rest of us.
As a result, the list of “greatest shots of all time” at the U.S. Open is a short one:
— Ben Hogan’s 1-iron on the 72nd hole that helped force a playoff at Merion in 1950.
— Arnold Palmer’s lash with driver to the first green at Cherry Hills in 1960.
— Jack Nicklaus’ 1-iron that hit the flagstick on No. 17 at Pebble Beach in 1972.
— Tom Watson’s chip from the rough on the same hole 10 years later to beat Nicklaus.
— Tiger Woods' 12-foot putt at Torrey Pines in 2008 to force a playoff he eventually won over Rocco Mediate.
And now, there is DeChambeau’s bunker shot.
“When he took this big swing, the amount of confidence that you have to have to hit it that close to the golf ball and not accidentally catch too much ball and send it on top of the clubhouse, it’s a very fine line," said NBC golf analyst Smylie Kaufman, whose biggest brush with pressure came when he played in the final group Sunday at the 2016 Masters.
“They work every single day, every week at these facets of the game in hopes they will have an opportunity to try it,” said Notah Begay, also of NBC. “I think one of the most overlooked things about professional golf is all the calculation that happens on the fly in evaluating certain shots, which way the grass is lying, where the ball’s going to land, and on top of all the normal things.”
A tournament for everyone could come down to Bryson, Rory, Scottie
Maybe the biggest irony is what the U.S. Open officially sells itself as, versus what always ends up happening.
More than 10,000 players signed up to qualify for the U.S. Open which is, officially, open to any professional, or amateur with a handicap of 0.4 or lower.
There will be good stories to tell among those who went through qualifying to make the 156-man field: a 17-year-old high schooler from Georgia, a dentist in Indiana who used to caddie at Oakmont.
The cold facts: The last man to run the gauntlet of local and sectional qualifying to win the title was Orville Moody in 1969. (Lucas Glover went through sectional qualifying only when he won in 2009.) By the time the sun starts going down on Sunday, the tournament almost certainly will come down to a handful of players who virtually all golf fans have heard of.
Though Scottie Scheffler is playing the best right now and Rory McIlroy recently won the Masters to complete the career Grand Slam, it’s plausible to think that DeChambeau captures the attention of more of those fans than anyone.
He recently surpassed 2 million subscribers on his YouTube channel.
He is making golf feel like everyman’s sport, posting videos in which he makes a hole-in-one with a wedge shot over his house, plays with off-the-rack clubs to see how they stack up and tries to beat a scratch golfer while playing left-handed.
All of it sounds nutty, but it all goes back to that piece of advice he offered when asked how to replicate the improbable under impossible circumstances — i.e., a 50-yard bunker shot with the U.S. Open on the line.
“Once you get a stock shot down and you’re comfortable with it, go have some fun,” DeChambeau said. “Do a chipping contest with your amateur friends and throw it in the bunker from 50 yards, or throw it in a bush and see if you can get out. Stuff to that extent has suited my game very well.”
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AP Sports Writer Ben Nuckols contributed to this report.
___ AP golf: https://apnews.com/hub/golf
Eddie Pells, The Associated Press
