Bryson DeChambeau WINS US Open after Rory McIlroy throws it away on the closing stretch at Pinehurst
Bryson DeChambeau then won the US Open Rory McIlroy choked on the last extraordinary, historic day at Pinehurst.
DeChambeau brilliantly saved par from a fairway bunker on the 72nd hole, but a devastated McIlroy wonders how his best chance to end a decade-long wait for a fifth major title slipped through his fingers .
Thirteen years after winning his first US Open and first major at Congress – and 3,599 days since winning the 2014 US PGA – McIlroy looked ready to finally get back into the winner’s circle when he led by two shots with five holes to play.
However, the Northern Irishman astonishingly missed par by 21 feet on the 16th and by less than four feet on the 18th, suffering another heartbreaking loss.
Commenting for Sky Sports, six-time major winner Sir Nick Faldo said: “That will haunt Rory for the rest of his life, those two misses.”
Bryson DeChambeau celebrates after winning his second US Open title in North Carolina
DeChambeau poses with the trophy at Pinehurst after a historic final day at the US Open
McIlroy started the day three shots behind DeChambeau and made the ideal start with a birdie from 6 feet on the first and found himself just a shot behind when DeChambeau made the fourth bogey.
McIlroy was then unlucky to drop a shot at the par-five fifth after what looked like an excellent approach ran off the sloping green into one of the native areas.
From a bad lie, McIlroy chipped into the bunker in front of him and barely managed to hole a 6-foot par putt.
McIlroy closed the gap again with a birdie from 16 feet on the ninth, but DeChambeau kept his nose in front with par from a similar distance on the eighth.
A long-range birdie at the par-five 10th moved McIlroy into a share of the lead, with Cantlay following behind to remain one behind his Ryder Cup rival.
DeChambeau also birdied the 10th to regain the lead and did well to save par on the next after encountering problems off the tee and sand with his approach.
Another long birdie putt at the 12th put McIlroy back alongside DeChambeau at seven under par and when Cantlay dropped a shot on the same hole it looked like a two-horse race.
The tee at the par-four 13th had been moved forward to entice players to drive the green and McIlroy’s tee shot bounced favorably into the back grandstand and landed about twenty feet from the putting surface.
DeChambeau had his fears, but eventually managed to win the US Open for the second time
McIlroy, meanwhile, looked devastated by losing the tournament in shocking fashion
From there he chipped to five feet and after DeChambeau made the 12th bogey on another wayward tee shot, McIlroy calmly made his fourth birdie in the space of five holes to open a two-shot lead.
That lead didn’t last long, though: DeChambeau drove the green on the 13th to post a two-putt birdie and McIlroy made bogey on the 15th for the third day in a row after failing to get up and down go from over the green.
DeChambeau tried to avoid trouble on the same hole after safely finding the green, but he also carded a bogey with a clumsy three-putt from 30 feet.
That gave McIlroy a one-stroke lead, but he lost it immediately after astonishingly missing from within a meter – for the first time all season after 496 successful putts – for par on the 16th.
DeChambeau narrowly missed birdie putts at the 16th and 17th, but McIlroy missed another short par putt at the 18th and DeChambeau sealed the victory in style, hitting a stunning bunker shot from 55 yards and holding his nerve to make the par- putt into a remarkable victory.
McIlroy watched from the scoring room as DeChambeau escaped a terrible lie to the left of the fairway – a tree in his backswing, a root in front of the golf ball – and hit it into the bunker.
He skillfully blasted a shot from the soft sand that rolled over the crisp green to set up the winning putt.
