Bryson DeChambeau starts the final day of the US Open 2024 on Sunday as the leader. The 30-year-old primarily has his strong performance on moving day to thank for that. After his rounds of 67 and 69 on the first two days of the tournament, DeChambeau played another round of 67 including six birdies (-7). In addition to a bogey on the fourth hole, the American made a tough double bogey on the 16th hole, but his excellent round was still enough to give him a three-shot lead over his three closest rivals Rory McIlroy, Matthieu Pavon and Patrick Cantley (-4). Against the background of DeChambeau’s persistent hip problems, this performance is particularly impressive. The pain even caused one of the most bizarre scenes at the US Open 2024, when the 30-year-old was treated by a physio during his round in the woods next to the tee on the eleventh hole. Despite the problems, DeChambeau impressed once again with the incredible length of his shots. The LIV golfer barely used his driver and even joked with the fans at times that they shouldn’t boo him while he once again ignored the driver from his bag as he teed off.
US Open 2024 – DeChambeau: “Trying to have boring golf”
THE MODERATOR: Bryson DeChambeau, 3-under 67. Six birdies in a row at Pinehurst in a U.S. Open. How does that sound?
BRYSON DeCHAMBEAU: Amazing. Made a lot of great putts today. I’ll tell you that. Pleased with how I struck it for the most part. Got to work on that just a little bit, but I feel pretty confident over the tee shots. Just going to say it, tomorrow it’s the same quote I’ve said all week: Trying to have boring golf. 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.
Q. A lot of fan support for you out there…
BRYSON DeCHAMBEAU: Yeah, it was amazing. I can’t thank them enough. It was a blessing. Man, they riled me up.
Q. As someone who feeds off that, how does it show itself in your play, feeding off of fans?
BRYSON DeCHAMBEAU: 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.
Q. After the shot you hit on 13 in there and were looking at a birdie putt, I don’t think you hit a putt for another 10 minutes. Obviously Ludvig was having some difficulties. What did you think about during that time and what’s the challenge of having to wait on a birdie putt like that?
BRYSON DeCHAMBEAU: I mean, it was possibly, besides 14, the next hole, the most difficult putt I’ve had all week from a downhill slider, late in the afternoon. It’s not perfect. Everybody has walked over it. Definitely trying to look and see how the ball was going to move. It was one of the most difficult putts I have had. So for me it is just looking at it, being focused, trying to stay focused for 10 minutes. Look, for the most part I was just trying to walk around and keep my body moving. But just looking at the putt, trying to hit it six inches outside the hole at seven-inch pace. That’s all I was trying to do on that putt. Barely missed it. I don’t really know. I was just kind of in my own world.
Q. Can you take us through the hip issue that you were having today and how much it impacted you, if any.
BRYSON DeCHAMBEAU: Yeah, it was tougher to get through on a couple shots. It’s okay. I’ve had it for a long time now. It’s just something that popped up. I’ve been playing a lot of good golf lately, and working on my house, trying to get my house finished, so I haven’t really had time to rest like I want to. The two weeks I had off after PGA, I was really grinding and focusing on some stuff there. I wasn’t really able to rest. 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. Ryan Overturf is here. Does a bunch of MAT on me, and he’s going to fix me right up.
Q. You’ve spoken about how much you enjoy YouTube golf and that side of it. What do you enjoy about tournament golf?
BRYSON DeCHAMBEAU: What I did on 14, making a putt and just knowing that I accomplished something under the gun, under a pressure situation. That’s my favorite thing about tournament golf. When that pressure is on and I execute like I know how I can, there’s no better feeling in the world.
Q. How much have you embraced the role of being the showman out there? So much energy, wonderful support from the fans. What has that come to mean to you?
BRYSON DeCHAMBEAU: I mean, it’s meant a lot to me. Just thinking back three years ago, the landscape was a lot different. I tried to show everybody who I was. I didn’t do it the right way and could have done a lot of things better. I’m lucky enough to have a great team around me to help me move in the right direction with the content that we’re producing, social media, and then also just a great perspective on life. Those combination of things have allowed me to not only have a new perspective but an opportunity to show myself in a different light and to entertain the fans out there on the golf course.
Q. In that regret you referenced, how much do you look back on that now with regret?
BRYSON DeCHAMBEAU: It’s not a regret. It’s a learning experience. I never regret anything in life. Do I not like what I did? Absolutely. But every moment that I live in this life, I’m always trying to learn from my mistakes. So could you have called it a mistake? Sure. You can call it a bunch of things. But for the most part, the most important piece of it all is that you’re growing and learning. You’re growing from those moments. That’s the best thing I can say to anyone out there that’s struggling essentially, to say, Hey, if you’re in a bad spot, get some good people around you, give yourself a new perspective on life, and get after it and show them who you truly are. No matter what situation you’re in, that’s one of the pieces of information that I’d give to anybody that’s struggling.
Q. You started talking about hitting it towards the middle of the green, but I wonder, the second shots on 13 and 14, did you intend to be that aggressive?
BRYSON DeCHAMBEAU: Don’t expose it, okay? (Chuckling). No, certainly on 13 I was going for the flag knowing the wind was off the right. It it went over to the left, totally fine. But I pushed it just a little bit and drew it back perfectly at the flag on 13. I knew that was in the realm of possibilities. Got a little lucky there. Then 14 I was trying to hit it more toward Ludvig’s ball. I hit a great shot, just didn’t start out with any draw spin and the wind pushed it right towards the flag. That’s kind of what you’re doing out here, is you’re trying to play conservative golf that gives you the opportunity to hit it close in some scenarios. That’s the best way I can describe it.
Q. I’ve heard you talk a lot about how good it is to have equipment that suits your personality, that you feel comfortable with. You’ve had a lot of success doing things your way. Have any players ever come to you and said, Bryson, I want to learn more about this, I’d like to try single length irons, I’d like to try a Crank driver because you’ve shown me different ways, or has it just been you doing it solo?
BRYSON DeCHAMBEAU: I’m always here to give information. I’m an open book. I’ve always said that. Even to any of the players. For the most part, people are doing their own things. They have their own contracts with their own equipment companies. That’s more power to them and whatever they’re comfortable with. I’m certainly comfortable with what I’m using right now. I’ve got great product in hands. Even the single length irons, I have been using LA Golf shafts, graphite golf shafts since 2018. Most people forget that fact. I have been playing graphite iron shafts for a long time now. The putter, as well. I have always kind of done things a little different. And I’m glad I’ve got a solid team around me that helps give me the right equipment so that under the gun I’m as comfortable as I possibly can be. On the driver side, it’s a recently discovered thing last year. I’ve said it online numerous times. I’ve talked to people about it. We’ll see if it makes an impact. I’m not here to decide the future of equipment in the game of golf, but I certainly do know what works for me and what will work for a lot of high ball speed players.