Open Becomes The DeChambeau Show

VILLAGE OF PINEHURST, N.C. -- It has seemed for a long time that Bryson DeChambeau's mission in life is to see how hard a human being can swing a golf club. That has come at a cost. He has "two hips that are not fantastic," a result of labrum tears, and he had to have himself worked on by a physical therapist during Saturday's third round of the 2024 U.S. Open. The therapy took place in the woods adjacent to the 10th fairway at Pinehurst No. 2. A few minutes later, on the 11th tee, DeChambeau launched a 347-yard drive.

That's one of the benefits of having developed a swing that generates ball speeds of 185 to 190 miles per hour. And on Saturday, DeChambeau's combination of power and precision -- and putting -- dominated the proceedings at the Open, and produced a 3-under-par 67. That gave him a 54-hole total of 203, and a relatively firm grip on first place going into Sunday's final round.

Rory McIlroy and Matthieu Pavon both shot 69s, and they are tied for second, at 206, along with Patrick Cantlay, who shot 70. Ludvig Aberg, who turned professional barely more than a year ago, but has already risen to No. 6 in the Official World Golf Rankings, started the round with the lead. He looked like the main challenger to DeChambeau for much of the day, but a triple bogey in the middle of the back nine set him back. He had to settle for a 73 and is tied for fifth at 208 with Hideki Matsuyama, who had a 70.

The co-star in The DeChambeau Show on Saturday was the venerable Pinehurst No. 2 course. As anyone who has been paying attention knows, the spectre of Pinehurst's sandscapes, wire-grass and domed greens has loomed over the players in the field since the tournament started on Thursday, or more likely, since they arrived at the course and started their practice rounds. No. 2 has taken a toll on everyone, including DeChambeau. He fell victim to one of the course's notorious false fronts Saturday, and suffered a double-bogey 6 at the 16th hole, which chopped his lead from four strokes to two.

Undaunted, the birdied the next hole, the 180-yard, par-3 17th, which bumped his lead back up to three.

DeChambeau, who won the U.S. Open in 2020, is one of the LIV Tour mutineers. So he hasn't been seen on TV or in the news all that much lately, but he's been very good in the big events this year, finishing sixth at Augusta in the Masters, and second at the PGA Championship, one shot behind first-time major winner Xander Schauffelle. was one stroke behind Aberg when the round began, tied with Cantlay and Thomas Detry, and he went a little backwards, with a bogey at the fourth hole, before he started to move up the leaderboard. Just as he would do at the end of the round, he followed the bogey at the fourth with a birdie on the next hole, the 583-yard, par-5 fifth. He made his next birdie at the seventh and made two more at the 630-yard, par-5 10th and the 480-yard, par-4 11th, which got him to 3 under for the day and 7 under for the tournament.

When he and Aberg arrived at 13th tee, the 30-year-old DeChambeau was two ahead of his 24-year-old challenger. The 13th, which measured 368 yards Saturday, was the second-shortest hole on the course, but it played a large role in the day's drama. DeChambeau was tempted to hit his driver -- and try to drive the green. That was certainly what the spectators wanted, but he chose to hit an iron off the tee and lay up. He then hit one of his worst shots of the day, missing the fairway and winding up in a bunker. But from there, he hit what might have been his best shot of the day, a wedge that just cleared the bunker fronting the green and stopped 6 feet from the cup.

He didn't make the putt -- one of the few putts under 15 feet that he missed Saturday -- but he made par. Aberg made a triple-bogey 7. Suddenly, he was five shots behind. Tony Fenau, who was also 5 under when he came to the 13th, had a similar disaster, playing Annie Annie Over with the turtble-back green and walking to the next tee 2 under par. Finau ended the day tied for seventh at 209, after signing for a 72.

Having failed to take advantage of his birdie chance at the 13th, DeChambeau hit another approach close at the much longer 14th (461 yards), and he made that one to go 8 under. McIlroy birdied the 12th, escaped the 13th with a par and, like DeChambeau, he birdied the 14th, which promoted him to solo second at 6 under (2 under for the day). But a couple of wayward iron shots cost him bogeys at the 15th and 17th, and dropped him back into the tie for second at minus 4.

Although he gets credit for having won only one major, that 2020 U.S. Open, DeChambeau did win the 2015 NCAA Championship to cap off his junior year at SMU, and he won the U.S. Amateur two months later. That made him just the fifth player to win the NCAA and the U.S. Am in the same year, and he is one of only three players to have won the NCAA, U.S. Am and U.S. Open. Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods are the other two names on that list.

The two Minnesotans who survived the cut at the Open both struggled Saturday. Frankie Capan is the former MGA Player of the Year (2020) from North Oaks who looks as though he's going to play his way up from the Korn Ferry Tour onto the PGA Tour for 2025. The top 30 on the KF Points List at the end of the year will move up, and Capan is currently No. 12 on both the money list ($213,704) and the points list (670). But on Saturday, he had two bogeys and two doubles on the front nine, and was 8 over par for the day after 11 holes. He played the last seven holes in 2 under and salvaged a 76, but he dropped 26 places into a tie for 47th at 217. And Pinehurst inflicted three doubles and a triple on Gunnar Broin, the former Minnesota State PGA Boys Junior champ from Minnetonka who just completed his eligibility at the University of Kansas. He wound up with an 81.

If it's any consolation, Broin is among the leaders in the Driving Distance stat at the Open. DeChambeau isn't No. 1, by the way. McIlroy is, with an average distance of 338.8 yards. DeChambeau is No. 2, with 337.8 per drive. Broin is No. 8 out of the 74 players who made the cut, with an average of 323.2.


2024 U.S. Open

At Pinehurst No. 2

Par 70, 7,569 yards

Village of Pinehurst, N.C.

Third-round results

1. Bryson DeChambeau 67-69-67--203

T2. Patrick Cantlay 65-71-70--206

T2. Rory McIlroy 65-72-69--206

T2. Matthieu Pavon 67-70-69--206

T5. Ludvig Aberg 66-69-73--208

T5. Hideki Matsuyama 72-66-70--208

T7. Tony Finau 68-69-72--209

T7. Tyrrell Hatton 68-71-70--209

T9. Tom Kim 71-68-71--210

T9. Collin Morikawa 70-74-66--210

T9. Corey Conners 69-70-71--210

T12. Xander Schauffele 70-69-72--211

T12. Sergio Garcia 69-71-71--211

T12. Taylor Pendrith 71-70-70--211

T12. Aaron Rai 69-74-68--211

T42. Scottie Scheffler 71-74-71--216

T47. Frankie Capan 71-70-76--217

T72. Gunnar Broin (a) 75-68-81--224

Missed cut -- 145

Tiger Woods 74-73--147

Erik Van Rooyen 76-72--148

Tom Hoge 75-73--148