Bryson DeChambeau acted as if he didn’t need this U.S. Open to finish.
He watched his identify being engraved on the silver trophy for the second time. He stuffed it with grains of sand from the bunker the place he produced essentially the most memorable shot on the 72nd gap of a U.S. Open since Tiger Woods made his putt at Torrey Pines to drive a playoff.
After which he tried to share it with hundreds of followers whom he entertained over 4 days at Pinehurst No. 2, wanting them to the touch it and attempt to expertise the enjoyment he felt. Deep into the North Carolina night time, he was nonetheless signing autographs.
The leisure by no means stopped. He made a cameo when Johnson Wagner of Golf Channel was attempting to duplicate the shot, with DeChambeau doing the commentary after which letting Wagner hoist the trophy after hitting it shut.
And now he takes his abilities to Tennessee for the LIV Golf occasion that may be seen this weekend on The CW Community.
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The final large stage of the yr for him is subsequent month at Royal Troon for the British Open. Every week after that, 4 People might be going to Le Golf Nationwide exterior Paris for the Olympics. DeChambeau won’t be certainly one of them.
Even within the shine of a powerful victory, DeChambeau profitable the US Open for the second time was a reminder of the good divide in golf and the way little the very best gamers compete in opposition to one another.
“If I’m to be fairly frank, I hope we will determine issues out rapidly,” DeChambeau mentioned. “I hope this could bridge the hole between a divided recreation.”
Brooks Koepka was the primary LIV Golf participant to win a serious on the PGA Championship final yr, and alongside together with his runner-up end on the Masters, it was sufficient for him to be a logical alternative as a captain’s decide for the Ryder Cup.
The PGA Tour, which has suspended anybody defecting to LIV, doesn’t function the Ryder Cup. It does personal the Presidents Cup, and DeChambeau received’t be at Royal Montreal, both.
“All I wish to do is entertain and do my finest for the sport of golf, execute and supply some superior leisure for the followers. From no less than what I can inform, that’s what the followers need, and so they deserve that,” DeChambeau mentioned with no trace of animosity in his voice.
“You may say what’s occurred up to now, ‘You have been a part of the explanation,’” he mentioned.
That will get neglected at occasions, and Scottie Scheffler talked about as a lot in March when he mentioned the splintering in golf got here from the participant who took the Saudi cash to affix LIV.
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DeChambeau was among the many first, and his identify was on the antitrust lawsuit filed in opposition to the PGA Tour that was dismissed final yr when the PGA Tour and the Public Funding Fund of Saudi Arabia — which pays for LIV — agreed to attempt to strike a industrial deal.
These negotiations are ongoing, although there isn’t any indication LIV goes away. One of many largest hurdles is easy methods to reunite gamers who took the Saudi cash with those that didn’t. And that assumes LIV gamers even wish to come again.
There may be much less friction two years after LIV launched. However there are reminders, comparable to now, that who’s right here in the present day might be gone for a month, after which for the remainder of the yr.
“Let bygones be bygones and go determine it out,” DeChambeau mentioned. “Let’s work out this superb recreation that creates a lot positivity again to the place it belongs.”
DeChambeau has been a beast within the majors — a tie for sixth on the Masters, runner-up by one shot to Xander Schauffele within the PGA Championship, an emotional win over the putter-challenged Rory McIlroy within the U.S. Open. DeChambeau and Schauffele are the one gamers with high 10s in all three majors.
The 4 People from the highest 15 on the planet who certified for the Olympics are Masters champion Scottie Scheffler, Schauffele, Wyndham Clark and Collin Morikawa.
The Olympics makes use of the Official World Golf Rating to find out the 60-man discipline, and the OWGR doesn’t acknowledge LIV Golf due to its closed store (the identical 54 gamers all yr competing over 54 holes) and its simultaneous crew play.
The OWGR has not found out easy methods to measure such a league with two dozen open excursions around the globe, and LIV hasn’t provided an answer on its finish.
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This was DeChambeau’s alternative when he joined LIV in 2022. He has performed just one event exterior the majors and LIV occasions since then — the Saudi Worldwide — whereas compiling 5 high 10s within the 9 majors he has performed.
And so it’s on to Nashville, to London, to the British Open and to Spain, all accessible on The CW, none with the power that majors and even signature occasions just like the Memorial and Bay Hill present.
Past no matter LIV occasions he performs, DeChambeau has been connecting with overwhelming success by his YouTube channel.
“It retains me in that thoughts body of I’m an entertainer,” he mentioned. “Leveraging and permitting me to make the most of that platform has opened up a complete new side to skilled golf the place I feel it’s been just a little underutilized. There will be some optimistic progress within the recreation of golf with these interactions. It makes for some cool moments.”
The whole U.S. Open felt like a YouTube second for him. And now he has just a few stops earlier than bringing the present to Scotland at Royal Troon when golf feels entire once more.