Bryson DeChambeau Loving Every Minute of US Open

“It just gives me a spike in my adrenaline and allows me to focus more on delivering for the fans and for myself and for my family. It just inspires me,” Bryson DeChambeau said when asked about it after the third round of the US Open.

Whether it was fan excitement or just plain very good shots, Bryson DeChambeau played almost error-free golf in the third round of the US Open. At least according to the numbers on the scorecard. 

His prodigious drives averaged 344 yards. Averaged. That was 36 yards higher than the average of the field. No matter what anyone says, this is one reason so many people love to love DeChambeau. Everybody digs the long ball. Everybody digs golfers who get excited about their good play. 

For a long hitter, he hit a respectable 61% of greens in regulation. But perhaps more importantly, he averaged just 1.46 putts per hole and had only 25 putts.

Bryson DeChambeau skirted the edges of near disaster a time or two as well.

But he also made six birdies to vault into the lead, three shots ahead of his nearest competitors, Rory McIlroy, Matthieu Pavon, and Patrick Cantlay.

His first oopsie shot came at the 4th hole, where his second shot, which was from the edge of a waste bunker, missed the green. His chip left him 14 feet for par, and he was unable to make the putt.  Bogey. 

The second set of errors came late in the round, at the 16th, where his shot to the green mysteriously came up about 75 feet short of the putting surface. Either a bad club choice or a mishit.

His third shot approached the green, landed relatively close to the pin, and then decided to slide off the putting surface, as many shots did for many players on Saturday. It was wicked, really.

DeChambeau’s fourth shot landed just 6 feet from the hole. His fifth shot, a putt, he missed, leaving himself just about a foot from the hole. Unfortunately, it was a double bogey.

One issue that came up about halfway through his round was a problem with his hip. He called for a physical therapist, and one was brought out to the course at the turn to work on him.

“It's okay. I've had it for a long time now. It's just something that popped up,” he insisted. 

He expected his team to get his body in shape for the final round. 

“I've just been pushing myself a little bit, pushing the horse a bit. Consequently, that's going to happen. But I've got a great team around me to help fix some stuff up,” he added. “Ryan Overturf is here. Does a bunch of MAT ( Muscle Activation Therapy) on me, and he's going to fix me right up.”

His goal for Sunday was what he said his goal had been every day this week, boring golf.

“Tomorrow it's the same quote I've said all week: Middle of the greens never moves, so I am going to try and hit a lot of the greens, give myself some good looks on some holes and two-putt a lot,” he said. The quote came from Boo Weekley.

Despite DeChambeau’s goal, everyone knows that’s not how it’s going to turn out.

There will be bad bounces, bad lies, putts that hit spike marks, or other imperfections in the greens or the surrounding grass. There will be off-tempo swings, off-line putts as well as off-the-planet tee shots.   

DeChambeau will play with Matthieu Pavon on Sunday.

The last five tee times are:

• 1:26 p.m.: Aaron Rai, Tom Kim

• 1:37 p.m.: Corey Conners, Collin Morikawa

• 1:48 p.m.: Tony Finau, Tyrrell Hatton

• 1:59 p.m.: Ludvig Åberg, Hideki Matsuyama

• 2:10 p.m.: Patrick Cantlay, Rory McIlroy

• 2:21 p.m.: Matthieu Pavon, Bryson DeChambeau