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Paolo Uggetti, ESPN
PINEHURST, N.C. — The putt Bryson DeChambeau had to win the 2024 U.S. Open measured 3 feet, 11 inches long.
Its importance was obvious, but the importance of its length went beyond the mere moment. On the 18th hole, DeChambeau had pushed it left into the native zone. With trees in his way, all he could do was hit into the fairway bunker, 55 yards from the hole.
But as he had done all week, DeChambeau rushed. He stood up and hit “the bunker shot of my life” to 3 feet 11 inches. Like Payne Stewart’s putt at the 1999 U.S. Open, DeChambeau’s shot from the sand stop will be played again and again for years to come. Yet it’s rare that a tournament offers not just one of these unforgettable moments, but so much more.
Less than 30 minutes before DeChambeau’s signature up-and-down hole, Rory McIlroy stood on the 16th green with a one-shot lead and a short putt.
Two feet, 6 inches.
This year, McIlroy has made 496 putts within 3 feet. He had made them all. Then when the ball brushed the left side of the hole and didn’t go in, everything changed.
McIlroy held out his hand, asking the ball to stop, but it was almost as if he was asking himself to calm down. He had hit the putt too hard and suddenly, as DeChambeau stood behind him in the 16th fairway, the tournament was tied.
The four-time major winner appeared to overtake him, going up and down the bunker at the 17th for par and hitting his chip shot short of the green at the 18th from a distance that should have been automatic.
Three feet 9 inches.
This time the putt was hit too softly – it slid to the right and kissed the lip before rolling. What was, at one point, a 2-shot lead for McIlroy had turned into a 1-shot deficit. From the fairway behind him, DeChambeau could hear the moans. He thought he would need a birdie to win, but now a simple par would be enough.
“A dose of adrenaline took over me,” DeChambeau said after McIlroy’s bogey. “I said, ‘Okay, you can do it.'”
Inside the end zone a few minutes later, McIlroy stood and watched. With his hands on his hips and his hat almost on his head, all he could do was accept that he was no longer in control of his destiny as DeChambeau simply needed to make par with a putt similar to McIlroy’s .
Three feet 11 inches. DeChambeau poured it down the middle.
In the space of an hour, a tournament had been won and lost by the narrowest of margins. There were other shots that led to these putts – both good and bad. But at the end of the day, it felt like heartbreak and triumph were determined by just a few inches. It was as if the narratives surrounding McIlroy’s great drought and DeChambeau’s evolution had been solidified by a cocktail of skill, luck and destiny.
“I got a little lucky,” DeChambeau said of McIlroy’s missed putts. “Golf is a game of luck. You need a lot of luck to succeed.”
It is when these margins are highlighted, when players have no other choice than to recognize chance to view them favorably, that sport can often transform from simple entertainment into an epic. . This is what happened on Sunday at the US Open.
Pinehurst No. 2 set the stage perfectly. Its unique hole layout created dramatic juxtapositions between McIlroy and DeChambeau as they often crossed paths between shots. Although having them both in the final group would have increased the exciting nature of their duel, having them separated seemed to create a different kind of tension.
As DeChambeau walked to the first tee, a roar could be heard ahead on the first green. A fan on the porch let DeChambeau know what happened.
“Rory made a birdie first!”
When both players made the rounds, the tournament had solidified itself as a two-man race. At the intersection between the eighth green and the 10th tee, they met again. After McIlroy made a 15-foot putt for birdie on the ninth hole and walked to the 10th tee, DeChambeau had to back up a chip on the eighth green as fans chanted Rory’s name.
“Every now and then I could hear chants of ‘Rory, Rory,’ for what he was doing, so I knew what he was doing based on the roars,” DeChambeau said. “It was actually kind of fun because it let me know what I needed to do.”
Despite the “USA” chants that followed DeChambeau, there was no protagonist or antagonist in Sunday’s story, simply two compelling characters trying to navigate their way to victory. Stands like the one on the 13th green and 14th tee switched allegiances as they watched McIlroy and DeChambeau drive the 13th green. Both made birdie. And as McIlroy walked down the 14th fairway after his tee shot, he couldn’t help but glance at where DeChambeau’s ball had landed.
“Yeah, it’s Bryson’s prom, Rory,” one fan shouted. “Look at!”
At that point, McIlroy led by two shots with five holes to play. But when they crossed paths for the final time as McIlroy walked down the 16th fairway while DeChambeau chased down a birdie putt on the 15th, it was all connected again. DeChambeau’s three-putt bogey on 15 appeared to hand control back to McIlroy. Then, McIlroy made his par putts on 16 and 18.
Two feet, 6 inches. Three feet 9 inches.
“Rory is one of the best to ever play the game,” DeChambeau said. “He’ll win several more major championships. There’s no doubt about that. I think the fire in him will continue to grow.”
While DeChambeau basked in glory, McIlroy’s agony played out differently than in previous majors. When he failed at the St. Andrews Open in 2022 and the US Open at LACC last year, McIlroy allowed himself to show disappointment, but also hope.
While DeChambeau basked in glory, McIlroy’s agony played out differently than in previous majors. When he failed at St. Andrews in 2022 and the LACC last year, McIlroy allowed himself to show disappointment but also show hope.
“When I finally win this next major, it’s going to be really, really nice,” McIlroy said at last year’s US Open. “I would spend 100 Sundays like this to get my hands on another major championship.”
This time, any optimism seemed to have evaporated in the warm North Carolina air.
McIlroy walked out of the clubhouse, refused to speak to the media and only said goodbye to his team before getting into his courtesy car. The sign in front of his reserved parking space spelled out a cruel reminder: 2011 US Open champion. Thirteen years ago.
By the time DeChambeau held the silver trophy in his hands, savoring his victory, McIlroy had already left the Pinehurst property, hoping that the distance and silence would make him forget his failure once again.