DeChambeau’s triumph and McIlroy’s heartbreak determined by inches

Credit to Author: Paolo Uggetti| Date: Tue, 18 Jun 2024 07:39:03 EST

Take a look at the important stats and facts from Bryson DeChambeau’s epic U.S. Open win over Rory McIlroy. (0:52)

PINEHURST, N.C. — The putt that Bryson DeChambeau had to win the 2024 U.S. Open was 3 feet, 11 inches long.

Its importance was obvious, but the significance of its length went beyond the single moment. On the 18th hole, DeChambeau had driven it left into the native area. With trees in his way, all he could do was punch out into the fairway bunker, 55 yards short from the hole.

But as he had done all week, DeChambeau scrambled. He stepped up and hit “the bunker shot of my life” to 3 feet, 11 inches. Like Payne Stewart’s putt in the 1999 U.S. Open, DeChambeau’s shot from the sand save is one that will be played over and over for years to come. Yet it’s rare when a tournament offers up not just one of those unforgettable moments but more.

Less than 30 minutes before DeChambeau’s iconic up-and-down hole, Rory McIlroy had stood on the 16th green with a 1-stroke lead and a short par putt.

Two feet, 6 inches.

This year, McIlroy has had 496 putts inside 3 feet. He had made all of them. So when the ball grazed the left side of the hole and did not go in, everything changed.

McIlroy held out his hand, asking the ball to stop, yet it was almost as if he was asking himself to calm down. He had hit the putt too firmly, and suddenly, as DeChambeau stood in the 16th fairway behind him, the tournament was tied.

The four-time major winner appeared to move past it, getting up and down from the bunker on 17 for par and hitting his chip shot short of the green on 18 to a distance that should have been automatic.

Three feet, 9 inches.

This time, the putt was hit too softly — it slid right and kissed the lip before rolling out. What was, at one point, a 2-stroke lead for McIlroy had turned into a 1-stroke deficit. From the fairway behind him, DeChambeau could hear the groans. He thought he would need a birdie to win, but now simply a par would suffice.

“A shot of adrenaline got in me,” DeChambeau said after McIlroy bogeyed. “I said, ‘OK, you can do this.'”

Inside the scoring area a few minutes later, McIlroy stood and watched. With his hands on his hips and his hat nearly off his head, all he could do was accept that he no longer controlled his fate as DeChambeau simply needed to make a par with a putt that was similar to McIlroy’s miss.

Three feet, 11 inches. DeChambeau poured it in the center.

In the span of an hour, a tournament had been won and lost by the slimmest of margins. There were other shots — good and bad — that led to those putts. But by the end of the day, it felt as if heartbreak and triumph had been determined by just a few inches. It was as if the narratives surrounding McIlroy’s major drought and DeChambeau’s evolution had been solidified by a cocktail of skill, luck and fate.
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