When a championship comes down to the last shot the memories last a lifetime. So it was with the 2024 U.S. Open in the duel between Bryson DeChambeau and Rory McIlroy.
When a championship comes down to the last shot – no matter the sport – the memories last a lifetime. So it was with the 2024 U.S. Open in the epic duel between Bryson DeChambeau and Rory McIlroy. Two superstars who were both desperate to win major championships and put on a brilliant show in the process.
Both golfers had their moments of brilliance and failure in the final round of the national championship at the brutally difficult Pinehurst No. 2 on Sunday afternoon. McIlroy had won 4 of golf’s major championships but none since 2014. DeChambeau had won the 2020 U.S. Open, but he had left the PGA for the rival LIV Tour, and many had ridiculed him for the move.
McIlroy had started the final round three strokes behind DeChambeau, but he was intent on running down his rival from Grapevine, Texas. He birdied the first hole, but played rather indifferently on the majority of the front nine. He didn’t have many birdie opportunities until he reached the ninth hole when he birdied the par-3 hole and that began a dynamic stretch that could have – and should have – led to a victory from the powerful Northern Ireland native.
The birdie on nine started a stretch of four birdies in five holes. At one point in the round McIlroy had turned his three-stroke deficit into a two-stroke lead.
While McIlroy was surging, DeChambeau stopped dominating the course he had owned for the first three rounds of the tournament.
