If you didn’t catch the final round of the 124th U.S. Open yesterday, you missed one of the most exciting days professional golf has seen in a very, very long time. To set the stage, the U.S. Open is notorious for being held at an already difficult course, made harder by the USGA. The members of the United States Golf Association are the ones in charge of making the course play a certain way during the Open, often growing the rough out to absurd lengths and drying out the greens to make them play much faster. This week, at Pinehurst #2, they didn’t have to worry about the rough. Off the sides of the fairways at Pinehurst is sand littered with various types of shrubs and bushes that can create a host of problems for players. Normally, when a player misses the fairway at the U.S. Open, they are resigned to their next shot being buried in six-inch rough, not this week. With virtually no long grass, what’s unique about the native areas at Pinehurst is players can either get very lucky with a clean lie and virtually no interference, or they could be right behind a clump of wiregrass leaving them virtually no shot. That flip of the coin along with lightning-fast greens was what made the tournament, in my opinion, so exciting.
The final round started with Bryson DeChambeau holding the 54-hole lead by three strokes. As the round carried on, his lead dwindled ultimately opening the door for Rory McIlroy to try and claim his first major championship in a decade. But before we dive into the drama that ensued, we must set the table as to why this final round carried such drama.
Bryson DeChambeau is one of the prominent faces of LIV golf. LIV Golf is a Saudi-backed golf league founded in 2022, that many believe was/is a sportswashing tactic used by the Saudis to deflect from their alleged involvement in 9/11. The PIF (Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia) immediately went after the PGA Tours biggest players like Dustin Johnson, Phil Mickelson, Brooks Koepka and, the now 2024 U.S. Open Champion, Bryson DeChambeau. Their tactic was to throw so much money at these players they couldn’t say no, and it worked on pretty much everyone. Johnson got a reported $125,000,000, not to be overshadowed by Mickelsons reported $200,000,000 for simply joining the league. Over the span of a couple months, more and more PGA players made the switch. Some players said they did it to grow the game, some did it because they said they look forward to playing less (LIV tournaments are 3 days compared to 4 days on the PGA Tour), but Pat Perez was one of the first to be truthful and admit he did it for the massive payday.
One of the loudest opposers of LIV was Rory McIlroy, who didn’t mince words when saying he “hates LIV”. Rory talked the talk by reportedly turning down a nearly $750,000,000 offer from LIV. Rory’s hatred more came from the division LIV created in the game of golf rather than the background of its investors. He also resented the fact that players who joined LIV said they were doing it to grow the game when Rory believed it was for the money. Either way, he was and continues to be, the face of ‘anti-LIV’. When I refer to division, the PGA Tour told all players that if they decided to join LIV, they would be barred from any future tournaments held by the tour. This means the PGA Tour would be competing without some of its biggest stars for a majority of the season. This does not, however, include the Masters or the U.S. Open because those events are USGA events and do not adhere to the PGA Tours policies. Therefore, a few times a year we are reminded how good the PGA Tour used to be before the introduction of LIV. Now there was an agreement between the PIF and the PGA Tour that the two would come together and work out a way to merge the two, but those talks have stalled for the time being.
Now, back to the tournament. As the final two groups (McIlroy and DeChambeau’s) began the back nine, it was becoming clear this would be a two-horse race to the finish. In 2014, McIlroy’s career had a trajectory towards joining the greats like Woods, Nicklaus and Snead. He had won four majors in three years, including a U.S. Open in 2011. But his last major came at the PGA Championship in 2014 and since then it has been nothing but major heartbreak. Year after year after year Rory finds himself in contention at majors but just cannot cross the finish line. He has finished inside the top-10 at Augusta six times since 2015 including a runner-up finish in 2022. His major victories have become an afterthought as now everyone wants to know, “has he lost the ability to win the big one?”
With just a handful of holes left to play and birdies hard to come by, McIlroy held a two-stroke lead and had his hands on the trophy. But these things are brutally difficult to win, and Rory proved that. On the 16th green, McIlroy had a two-and-a-half-footer for par to protect his lead (now one stroke). McIlroy was 496 for 496 this season on putts inside three feet, a streak that came to an end as he missed his putt which tied up the tournament. Fluke? Maybe. Pressure from trying to win a major championship and end a decade-long drought causing the miss? Likely. Likely because McIlory was faced with a similar 3’9″ putt on 18 for par that would essentially send the tournament to a playoff. Again, he missed. Gut-wrenching for anyone watching who has ever stood over a putt that meant something and missed, it was truly unfathomable. It was the equivalent of a team attempting to kneel the ball out and take the game to overtime but fumbling and the defense returning it for a game winning touchdown. It was the Minneapolis Miracle; Rory was the Saints. Bryson hadn’t won the tournament quite yet though. Having had difficulty all day with his driver, DeChambeau pounded his drive left which ended up under a tree against a root. He was left with nothing but a punch-out that landed him in a bunker around 55 yards from the pin. He needed to pull off an up-and-down that ranked 10/10 on the difficulty meter. The crowd rejoiced as he stuck it just inside four feet, giving himself a par putt to win his second U.S. Open. He jarred it and the celebration ensued. DeChambeau danced around the green for a few moments before settling the crowd down so his playing partner, Mathieu Pavon, could make his final putt. NBC coverage cut to an utterly distraught McIlroy who could only shake his head before bee-lining it off the grounds to his jet a few miles away.
Bryson was elated and wanted everyone to be a part of the celebration. He carried around the trophy so any and every spectator in arms reach could feel its steel. I am sure his cheekbones are sore today from the smile he could not wipe from his face. It was a far cry from the subtle celebration when he won back in 2020 when fans were not allowed to attend due to covid restrictions. Bryson made up for the lack of excitement in 2020 tenfold yesterday.
Among other things, one of the biggest criticisms of McIlroy is how he handled the loss. Before Bryson could get his hands on the trophy, McIlroy was in his club issued courtesy car peeling out of the gravel lot just 0utside the clubhouse. It is customary for players to speak with media after a tournament round (especially a major), but McIlroy wanted none of it. McIlroy’s private jet was in the air as Bryson was giving his acceptance speech. In turn, this has probably spurred writers to cut a little deeper in their analysis of McIlroy today. Media members are often sensitive to these types of things, using the line “I have a job to do too, ya’ know?”
Should McIlroy have taken a minute or two to give a comment on the tournament? Yes. Even if it was to say, “no comment” he should have stuck around to avoid the media firestorm that would ensue thereafter. After DeChambeau lost the PGA Championship to Xander Schauffle on the final hole a month ago, Bryson showed great sportsmanship by congratulating Xander on his win. Rory showed less grace yesterday. I understand McIlroy wanting to get as far away from the 18th green as possible, but this was not a good look for him on many different accounts. With the whole LIV vs. PGA Tour battle, Rory and the Tour have aligned and formed as a union. His actions represent that of the PGA Tour, and yesterday’s reaction was that of a sore loser. The PGA Tour has a very fragile reputation right now in part due to poor leadership from Jay Monahan, the Tour’s commissioner. Rory storming away from Pinehurst didn’t exactly help that view.
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