US Open 2024: Bryson DeChambeau can’t stop quoting this Ryder Cup folk hero (it works) | Golf News and Tour Information

Discipline is a word we hear constantly from competitors ahead of this week’s U.S. Open, especially when it comes to approach shots into Pinehurst’s upside-down grain bowl greens. °2. There are some flags you just can’t go to this week, no matter how attractive you are or how desperately you need a birdie. The center of the green is always position A.

Bryson DeChambeau has figured that mission out so far, helping him to a 67-69 start that puts him at four under for the championship, a score that’s growing more appealing by the minute as the course continues to strengthen in scorching North Carolina. heat Friday afternoon. In two rounds, DeChambeau has hit 25 of 36 regulation greens (currently T-13th in the field) and gained more than a stroke and a half on approach (currently 11th in the field).

His iron play wasn’t as precise Friday, but thanks to a hot putter, DeChambeau still managed a second straight round under par. A reminder that he needs to be a little sharper on Saturday and stick to his game plan: center of green, center of green, center of green. He mentioned it Tuesday during his pre-tournament press conference, citing a popular Ryder Cup hero in passing.

“Pinehurst is no joke. It’s a striker’s paradise,” DeChambeau said earlier this week. “You have to hit it in the middle of the greens. And that’s a Boo Weekley quote, but the center of the green never moves, so I’m going to try to focus on that this week.”

Clearly, he’s been focused on this up until now, so much so that he’s repeated the Boo Weekley quote every time he has a camera or microphone in his face, almost as if constantly reminding himself that this was part of his strategy this week. For a guy who would love to rip the driver and shoot every pin and shoot every birdie putt in the center of the hole, this makes sense. A great way to keep yourself from veering off course is to continually tell yourself to stay the course.

That’s likely why DeChambeau mentioned Weekley’s quote again in a post-round interview after his first-round 67 on Thursday. And then Again after Friday’s 69. Did this guy literally just hang out with Weekley or something?

“I always try to play to the center of the green most of the time,” he said. “I’m sure you see I’m not really going after the flags for the most part, I’m trying to hit them 20 feet, make a 20 footer. My long putting game has to be good this week, and that going to be the goal Boo Weekley, center of the greens and stop.

Not counting Wednesday, when DeChambeau did not do an interview, he is now 3 of 3 to repeat Weekley’s name and his quote in the center of the greens. Obviously, it works.

It also worked very well for Weekley throughout his PGA Tour career. Weekley is your favorite ball striker’s favorite ball striker, consistently ranking in the top 25 in greens in regulation percentage in his era. In 2011, he finished first on the PGA Tour in this statistical category. He finished fifth the following year and sixth the year after that.

Simply put, he knows what he’s talking about when it comes to his approach to the game, so much so that one of the sport’s best players in 2024 can’t stop quoting him during one of the biggest events of the year . If that doesn’t cement Boo’s folk hero status, we don’t know what will.

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