Shriners Open: wild day leaves Bryson DeChambeau in tough spot

Bryson DeChambeau had an up and down round on Saturday at the Shriners Hospitals for Children Open. Now, he needs a miracle on Sunday.

Bryson DeChambeau was seen as the prohibitive favorite at the Shriners Hospitals for Children Open this week in Las Vegas. And things started in a positive direction for the recent winner of the U.S. Open.

DeChambeau was lights out in round one. He shot a 9-under par 62, a round that included a stretch of five straight birdies and birdies on seven out of eight holes.

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In round two, DeChambeau had two eagles and a birdie, but was only able to shoot a 4-under par 67. Still, he was just one shot behind the leaders with 36 holes to play in an event where DeChambeau has won before. He seemed to be in a very solid spot heading to the weekend.

However, things went south for DeChambeau on Saturday. It started almost from the beginning of Saturday’s round.

DeChambeau parred the first hole but on the second, his approach shot ended up in a bunker. DeChambeau pitched out to the fairway, then got on the green in four, but was more than 40 feet from the hold. It took him two putts to get down from there, resulting in a double bogey.

He would bounce back by running in a long birdie putt on the third hole, getting back to 1-over for his round. However, things went bad from there.

On the fourth hole, after a 382-yard drive, DeChambeau hit a terrible approach shot, leaving himself 32 feet for par. He missed that putt, then missed a six-foot par putt, resulting in a bogey. DeChambeau was 2-over on the day at that point.

Then, on the par-3 fifth hole, DeChambeau found another bunker. He was unable to get up and down, resulting in another bogey.

On the sixth hole, DeChambeau hit his ball way right and was forced to take a penalty. His third shot landed in the fairway and his fourth got him to the green. From there, it was two putts for a double bogey and DeChambeau was 5-over par.

But the recent major winner did not give up on his round. In fact, he turned in around quickly and in a big way.

The turnaround started with a birdie at the par-3 eighth hole. Another followed at the par-5 ninth. Then birdies came at both the 10th and 11th holes. Suddenly, DeChambeau was back to 1-over par on his round.

He would par the 12th hole before another birdie, this one on the par-5 13th hole, got him back to even par for the day.

The roller coaster continued on 15th, as DeChambeau bogeyed, slipping back to 1-over par on his round. But he followed that with a birdie on the par-5 16th hole, and he was back to even on the day.

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A par on the 17th followed before DeChambeau closed with a par on the 18th hole. After all of the up and down of the day, DeChambeau finished at even par.

However, he finds himself well behind the leaders with 18 holes to play. If DeChambeau is to rally and fulfill his promise of winning this week, he’s going to need something truly special to happen on Sunday.

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