Bryson DeChambeau battles hip injury, up 3 shots at US Open

PINEHURST, N.C. — Standing on the 13th tee in the third round of the 124th U.S. Open at No. 2 Pinehurst on Saturday, Bryson DeChambeau told his caddy, Gregory Bodine, “I would love to go to that green.”

Someone in the gallery shouted, “Yeah, you should!” »

DeChambeau thought better of it and told the fans before hitting a long iron: “Don’t boo me, I’m sorry.”

They were just cheering for DeChambeau, the LIV Golf League captain who has won the hearts of golf fans with his on-course high-fives and YouTube videos. With a powerful combination of length off the tee and skill on the greens, DeChambeau opened a 4-shot lead on the back nine before carding a 3-under 67 for a 3-shot advantage heading into the final round of Sunday.

As much a showman as a golfer, DeChambeau loved every minute of it.

“Yeah, it was amazing,” he said. “I can’t thank them enough. It was a blessing. Man, they pissed me off. It just gives me an adrenaline rush and allows me to focus more on performing for the fans, for myself and for my family it just inspires me.”

Matthieu Pavon, who is trying to become the first French golfer to win the US Open, is 3 shots back after posting a 1-under 69. So is Rory McIlroy, who is trying to end a nearly 10-year drought without major incident. championship victory, and Patrick Cantlay, who is trying to win his first. They shot 69 and 70 respectively in the third round to stay in the race.

It was DeChambeau’s first 54-hole lead in a major championship. This is only the second time he will play in the final pairing of the final round of a major tournament. At the 2020 US Open, he trailed Matthew Wolff by 2 and shot a 3-under 67 to win his first major championship.

With two holes to play on Saturday, it looked like the other contenders might get closer. After DeChambeau made a 9-foot birdie at No. 14, he missed the 16th and made his first double-bogey of the tournament to fall to 6 under, 2 ahead of Pavon, McIlroy and Cantlay.

Undeterred, DeChambeau hit his tee shot on the par-3 17th to 11½ feet and made another birdie to get back to 3 in front. It was his 23rd one-putt of the tournament. He made an easy par on the 18th.

It wasn’t the only tragedy. On the ninth hole, DeChambeau asked a USGA official to bring in his physical therapist. He suffered from tightness in his right hip; he lay on the ground in the woods and stretched before hitting his tee shot on #11.

“Yeah, it was harder to make some shots,” DeChambeau said. “It’s okay. I’ve had it for a long time now. It’s just something that came up. I just pushed myself a little bit, pushing the horse a little bit. Therefore, it’s going to happen. But I have I have a great team around me to help me fix some things.”

When DeChambeau earned his first major championship victory at the 2020 US Open at Winged Foot Golf Club in New York, he swung his driver as hard and fast as he could – tight fairways be damned. DeChambeau’s strategy seemed foolhardy to others, but after 72 holes he was the only golfer with red numbers and escaped with a 6-shot victory over Wolff.

A lot has changed for DeChambeau in the four years since. He is now a well-paid captain in the LIV Golf League and has tinkered with his body as much as his clubs, going from bigger and stronger to slimmer.

DeChambeau’s biggest transformation might have happened between his ears. When he arrived at Pinehurst No. 2 this week, he vowed to play “boring golf” in his quest for a second major championship, knowing that the masterpiece’s vast native areas and fiendish green complexes by architect Donald Ross in the dunes of North Carolina would do it. Don’t give him the chance to grab it and tear it apart.

That’s what DeChambeau did over the first 54 holes. He hit 12 of 14 fairways en route to a 3-under 67 in the first round. He was more inconsistent off the tee in the second round, but only needed 27 putts for a 1-under 69. On Saturday, he gained more than 3 strokes on the field in putting.

DeChambeau will continue this same game plan until the final round.

“I’m just going to say it, tomorrow, it’s the same quote I’ve been saying all week: Try to have boring golf,” DeChambeau said. “The middle of the greens never moves, so I’m going to try to hit a lot of greens, give myself a good view on some holes and make a lot of two-putts.”

McIlroy will enter the final round of the US Open ranked in the top 10 for the sixth consecutive year, the longest streak since Ben Hogan did it 12 times in a row from 1940 to 1956, according to the Bureau of Elias sports.

McIlroy was just 1 shot behind DeChambeau after making a 9½-foot birdie at No. 12. But after making another birdie at the 14th, he made bogeys on the two par-3s, Nos. 15 and 17, after hitting his tee shots. in the bunkers at the edge of the green.

“The last few holes are playing very, very difficult,” McIlroy said. “Even at 17, it’s downwind, but with that cut pin in the front, it’s hard to get that ball close, and even at 18, where that hole is. Whatever happens, I I feel like I have 2 shots, 3 shots, 4 shots, I have a great chance for tomorrow.”

Swede Ludvig Aberg, who started the third round with a one-shot lead, posted a 3-over 73 and is tied for fifth with Hideki Matsuyama at 2 under. Aberg, who had been methodical in hitting the fairways and greens over the first two rounds, was undone by a triple bogey 7 at the par-4 13th.

Aberg, a former Texas Tech star, is looking to become the first player to win the U.S. Open on debut since Francis Ouimet in 1913.

Tony Finau also made a triple bogey 7 at number 13. He finished 2-over 72 and is tied with England’s Tyrrell Hatton for seventh at 1 under.

Only eight players were under par after 54 holes, as Pinehurst No. 2 continued to brown and firm up in the searing heat.

World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler, who was 5 points after 36 holes and made the cut on the number, struggled for the third straight round and posted a 1-over 71. He is tied for 42nd at 6 points .

Scheffler, who had won in five of his last eight starts, has never had four consecutive rounds above par in a tournament as a professional.

“Golf is a mental torture chamber sometimes, especially at the U.S. Open,” Scheffler said.