US Open 2024 – DeChambeau: “That bunker shot was the shot of my life”

Bryson DeChambeau beat Rory McIlroy in a dramatic final on the last day of the US Open 2024 and celebrates the second major victory of his career. A decisive moment in the triumph was DeChambeau’s dream bunker shot on the 18th, which he converted with a subsequent putt to win. In the press conference after the round, the 30-year-old spoke about the victory, his personal history and time of suffering and his rival in the final, Rory McIlroy.

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US Open 2024 – DeChambeau: “I didn’t want to finish second again”

THE MODERATOR: Please join me in welcoming the champion of the 124th U.S. Open, Bryson DeChambeau. A few reactions to what just took place.

BRYSON DeCHAMBEAU: I’m so happy I got that shot up-and-down on 18 (laughter). Oh, man, I didn’t want to finish second again. PGA really stung. Xander played magnificent.

I wanted to get this one done, especially at such a special place that means so much to me, SMU, my dad, what Payne meant to him, 1000th USGA championship. Stack them on top.

That bunker shot was the shot of my life. I’ll forever be thankful that I’ve got longer wedges so I can hit it farther, get it up there next to the hole (smiling).

I don’t know what to think. It fully hasn’t sunk in yet. I just want everybody to enjoy it, as well. As much as it is heartbreaking for some people, it was heartbreak for me at the PGA. I really wanted this one.

When I turned the corner and saw I was a couple back, I said, Nope, I’m not going to let that happen. I have to focus on figuring out how to make this happen.

I was a little lucky. Rory didn’t make a couple putts that he could have coming in. I had an amazing up-and-down on the last. I don’t know what else to say.

It’s a dream come true.

Q. Can you talk about the lie on 18. When you came up to the root, what was going through your mind?

BRYSON DeCHAMBEAU: I was actually concerned I might hurt myself getting out of that. I was trying to get TIO relief, but didn’t have anything in my way, unfortunately.

I was trying to run it left of that bunker, run it up the green, give myself a 2-putt. I had no backswing. At a certain point in time, I’m just like, okay, I have to hack it; hopefully it will go down the line, but it didn’t. It cut and it went into the bunker, one of the worst places I could have been. But G-Bo just said, Bryson, just get it up-and-down. That’s all you’ve got to do. You’ve done this plenty of times before. I’ve seen some crazy shots from you from 50 yards out of a bunker. I said, you’re right; I need a 55-degree, let’s do it.

Q. Can you describe your emotions the last four holes, the roars?

BRYSON DeCHAMBEAU: I hit a good putt on 15, 16. 17, I hit a good putt, even though it was short. I thought it was faster. 15 really stung. I had an easy putt. I was trying to get for it a little bit, got a little aggressive, hit it three feet by. That’s something you don’t do on major championship Sunday. I just consequently misread it, under-read it, lipped out on the edge.

But righted the ship. Hit a great drive. Hit a great second shot in there. Iron play was fantastic today. Thought I made it.

All I was focused on was myself. Every once in a while I could hear “Rory, Rory” chants, for what he was doing, so I knew what he did based on the roars. That was actually kind of fun because it gave me the knowledge of what I had to do.

Every time I got over the ball, Just focus. You’ve done this before. You can do it again. In the back of my mind, my dad pushing me. Payne was in the back of my mind, as well. I wanted to do it for them.

Q. The way you interact with the fans is kind of unique. Do you think we need more players like you in professional golf?

BRYSON DeCHAMBEAU: I hope so. I mean, my mission is to continue to expand the game, grow the game globally, domestically. YouTube has really helped me accomplish some of that. Consequently I think people have seen who I am on YouTube, which has been fantastic, ’cause then I get to play off of it. It just feeds itself out here.

They just say things that make me interact and engage. When is the next junior club set coming out? Another video of the junior club set. I’m just able to play off of that.

It’s direct conversations to people that truly engage with what I’m doing. It’s such an awesome, awesome platform for me to show who I truly am.

Those fans out there really helped push me out there today. Even when stuff wasn’t going well, I’m just looking on the screen back there, I have nothing there, no business even trying to go for that. But you know me; I don’t play boring golf.

Again, even though I hit it in the bunker, the fans are still chanting my name. So inspired me to get that one up-and-down.

US Open 2024 – DeChambeau: “I dug myself out of a pretty deep hole”

Q. Earlier this week you mentioned that since your dad has passed, you feel like you’ve grown a lot as a person. How specifically do you feel like you’ve grown?

BRYSON DeCHAMBEAU: I would say first and foremost I respect and understand people’s opinions. I mean, I was knocked pretty hard down in 2022 for numerous reason, numerous scenarios, numerous things. I had some great friends and great people around me tell me, Keep going, keep pushing.

So I dug myself out of a pretty deep hole. Golf swing wasn’t doing well. Ball striking was terrible. Putting wasn’t great. I had Paul, who’s on the Crushers, Paul Casey, Anirban Lahiri and Charles Howell continuing to push me in the right direction. That was actually a massive help to help get me in the right mind frame from such a low point in my life.

People said continuously, Dude, you’re good. Don’t worry about it. You got a lot of great life to live. There’s a lot more to life than golf.

So how I’ve grown, I’ve realized that there’s a lot more to life than just golf. Treating others, yourself first and foremost, respecting yourself, is super important to being able to treat others with respect, as well.

That’s one of the big things that I’ve learned. I’m not perfect. I’m human. Everyone’s human. Certainly those low moments have helped establish a new mind frame of who I am, what’s expected, what I can do and what I want to do in my life.

To answer your question quite frankly, what have I learned? Having the right people around you.

Q. How would you respond to people who would say that your sort of demonstrative responses and celebrations out there are an act or a schtick?

BRYSON DeCHAMBEAU: No, that’s my passion. I mean, Tiger was an idol of mine, is an idol of mine. He’s my hero still, the way he reacted on the golf course. Payne, the way he did. Numerous others that have inspired generations that are now here have allowed that to be unique and cool.

From my perspective, I’m just passionate. I really care about doing well out here and showing the fans a side of me that was locked up for so long.

Q. Towards the end it was really you versus Rory. You were not in the same group. How much were you able to keep track of where he’s at? Do you even really want to know?

BRYSON DeCHAMBEAU: Yeah, I had to know. I mean, I had to know what I had to get done in that iron shot I hit on 17. I was trying to birdie that hole. 18, I was going to try and birdie the hole on 18, obviously, if I hit a good drive, but pulled it.

But I knew where Rory was.

After my tee shot, I was up there going, Man, if he makes par, I don’t know how I’m going to beat him. I just really didn’t know. Then I heard the moans. Like a shot of adrenaline got in me. I said, Okay, you can do this.

So I was listening the whole entire time. Even on 13, when they were chanting “Rory” after he made birdie on 13, I knew I had to drive the green. I knew I had to make birdie on that hole.

It was going to be tough. My driving wasn’t fantastic today. I got to go fix that, work on that. Man, I played some good golf even with the chanting. There was a lot of, “Go USA,” “go Europe.” It was quite a fun battle between us today.

Q. You’re someone that tries to kind of solve this equation or puzzle out there. When you get the random breaks, how do you deal with all the variables?

BRYSON DeCHAMBEAU: I go back to being a kid. So when I was a kid, I used to throw golf balls in the worst lies outside of the fairway and just learned to hit out of the worst situations to see what I could do.

That sparked a lot of my creativity. But then I’d go back and work on the mechanics really hard.

I had this unique childhood experience in golf of working on really quirky, weird things, then also working super hard on the mechanics, trying to be as machinelike as possible.

I feel like that combination allows — it just pretty much shows what I did today. In certain situations where I have no control over what’s going to happen, you got to just figure out how to will it and get it done. That creativity gets sparked.

When the greens are not perfectly flat, they’re not glass, there’s some little bumps and whatnot, being imaginative, seeing how the ball is going to curve over the edge, really getting into it in your mind is what I focus on.

So there a bit of creativity in me, even though I try to be mechanical.

Q. You mentioned some of the people surrounding you recently have helped dig you out of a dark place. Who are those people and how have they influenced you?

BRYSON DeCHAMBEAU: Oh, man. Obviously my agent, Brett Falkoff; Connor Olson, my manager. They’ve taken me and put me into a good place. I have AKA, my guys I put around me, Hudson Molthan, Hogan Molthan, Shayler, Mario Clemens, my best friend since college; Blake Jones, I talk to him all the time. Those are the people that stuck.

I’m sure I’m forgetting a couple. Adam Hurley, who’s been — he actually saw my first U.S. Open win pretty much when I met him. There’s many others that have stuck with me, been there in really tough moments.

Even Dana Dahlquist has been very instrumental and helpful and Sportsbox AI this week, gathering really cool data. I feel like I’ve put myself around positive people that have encouraged me in a positive, cool direction. I couldn’t be more excited for the future. The future is going to be fun.

Q. Doesn’t feel like too much hyperbole to feel like this is one of the great U.S. Opens in history —

BRYSON DeCHAMBEAU: Wow.

Q. As someone who loves history, what would that mean to you if it were remembered as such?

BRYSON DeCHAMBEAU: Thankful. Just thankful. Thankful that I was a part of it. Thankful that I accomplished something I’ve always wanted to accomplish as a kid. Gratitude and thanks.

Q. What do you think you’ll remember most from the last two hours of it?

BRYSON DeCHAMBEAU: Probably my caddie telling me you can do it on 18 out of that bunker. Greg telling me, You got this shot. I’ve seen way harder shots pulled off from you.

Q. What were the unique things that you did, whether it be from an equipment side or strategy side, to prepare for Pinehurst versus, say, Valhalla or Winged Foot?

BRYSON DeCHAMBEAU: Funny enough, nothing. Literally I have the same equipment. Besides my 3-wood, actually I found a Crank 3-wood that works fantastic for me. It helped me hit it on the green in 13 and a couple other places. I’m actually happy I just got 14 clubs in my bag now, if I’m being honest with you. I’ve been playing with like 12 or 13 for the past year.

I didn’t change much, to be honest. I’ve got a high ball flight, and I use it to my advantage when I can.

Q. Do you think this week is a transformative week for you, your popularity, maybe the way golf will move forward now?

BRYSON DeCHAMBEAU: If I’m to be quite frank, I hope we can figure things out quickly. I hope this can bridge the gap between a divided game.

All I want to do is entertain and do my best for the game of golf, execute and provide some awesome entertainment for the fans. From at least what I can tell, that’s what the fans want, and they deserve that.

You can say what’s happened in the past, you know, you were part of the reason… Let bygones be bygones and go figure it out. Let’s figure out this amazing game that creates so much positivity back to where it belongs.

Q. Greg came to you in a difficult time in his life. How did you both help each other? How has he specifically helped make you a better player and man?

BRYSON DeCHAMBEAU: Oh, man. Yeah, I was struggling. I didn’t know where my game was. I had no idea what was going on.

Greg was in a place where he was starting a business, Evergreen. He was in a place where he didn’t know what was going to go on. Some family stuff happened. It was just a weird moment for him and for me.

I guess it was fate. The two lives that were in some despair got brought together to make each other better. I feel like that’s what’s happened.

He gave me a chance. I said, I don’t know what I’m going to give you. I don’t know what game I have. You may hate what I have, and I might not like the way you caddie.

He’s very mellow, somebody that I’ve never — I’ve had a lot of A-type personalities. They’ve worked great; I’ve done very well. But he’s been a special human being for me in my life, getting me to realize what life is about. It’s not just all about golf.

He works hard. He’s a diligent worker. Brings the best out of me.

Q. Ultimately so many parts of your game, you are so specific from your equipment to the salty balls, of course. I’m just very curious to know, and you’ve posted videos on this, how clutch your fist pump training came into play here in this tournament?

BRYSON DeCHAMBEAU: Oh, man.

Q. It was used. I just got to know.

BRYSON DeCHAMBEAU: I worked hard on it. That last celebration, I don’t think I did that one on that video (laughter). That’s a funny question.

It was a funny video. I don’t practice or train. If anything, on my YouTube channel, I give some pretty pure emotional reactions whenever we do something cool. It kind of keeps me in the flow of it where I’m always trying to do my best for the camera. It keeps me in that mind frame of I’m an entertainer.

Leveraging and allowing me to utilize that platform has opened up a whole new aspect to professional golf where I think it’s been a little underutilized. There can be some positive growth in the game of golf with those interactions.

It makes for some cool moments. I think YouTube has really helped me achieve some of those things. Not achieve, but understand how to express yourself to the fullest of who you are.

Some people on YouTube aren’t as expressive as others. I know a bunch of them. They react accordingly. For whatever reason, YouTube just brought it all out of me.

Q. Can you explain what happened with your driver on the range this afternoon, what effect that had for you?

BRYSON DeCHAMBEAU: I probably shouldn’t have changed the heads. I was trying to get a fresh head in there. It had a good curvature on the face, but it was a little bit lower loft. For whatever reason, those lower lofted heads have been missing right. Consequently I missed it right all day. A bit frustrating, but the face that I was using for the past three days was just starting to get flat. It was a nine-and-a-half-inch curvature. I won’t go over that. Essentially the face was starting to get a little flat. I wanted to get a fresh head in.

I was driving it well on the range. On the golf course nerves got to me a little bit. I wasn’t as comfortable with it. Probably needed to work it in more, more than just hitting five balls with it.

“Rory is one of the best to ever play” – DeChambeau about Rival McIlroy

Q. I know you didn’t see his round, but can you empathize with what Rory is feeling right now?

BRYSON DeCHAMBEAU: Yeah, Rory is one of the best to ever play. Being able to fight against a great like that is pretty special. For him to miss that putt, I’d never wish it on anybody. It just happened to play out that way.

He’ll win multiple more major championships. There’s no doubt. I think that fire in him is going to continue to grow. I have nothing but respect for how he plays the game of golf because, to be honest, when he was climbing up the leaderboard, he was two ahead, I was like, Uh-oh, uh-oh. But luckily things went my way today.

Q. Does Greg have any veto power at all? Are there any examples of him talking you out of something? How good are you with that? How much does that impact the way things have transpired for you since he’s been on your bag?

BRYSON DeCHAMBEAU: Sometimes I wish he’d speak up more. Sometimes I wish he’d speak less.

Does he have veto power? No. I mean, we just have a conversation about what’s the best decision for both of us. You don’t have veto power (laughter).

But we have a pure conversation about what’s going to be the best situation. We make the decision together. Whatever the result is, sometimes I’m like, Dang it, G-Bo, why didn’t we think of this? And it’s not his fault; it’s our fault together. When we win together, we win together. If we fail together, we fail together. That’s the mindset I take into it. It’s not a binary thing. It’s a connected, work-through-it-together sort of thing.

Q. I was looking at your photos from Winged Foot today, and you had a glass of chocolate milk up there with you. You said that was going to be your celebration. What are you hoping your celebration is for this one?

BRYSON DeCHAMBEAU: Oh, yeah, look, I’m not going to get into what could happen tonight (smiling). Chocolate milk will be one thing. There will be a lot of other stuff, too. There’s some sand in here, so we got to clean it out first, though (smiling).

Q. You like to do things your own way. But the money clip in the back left pocket, that was one I’ve never seen before. Is that something you do?

BRYSON DeCHAMBEAU: To be honest, it just felt comfortable there. I don’t know why. I guess — I’m not going to say that. You guys could imagine what I could have said there.

It’s just a comfortable place to put it. I usually put it on my belt, but the belt is too thick. Then I’m like, I’ll put it in my pocket, my left-hand pocket. But then my glove is in there, and it gets stuck. I don’t have anything in my left back pocket besides my Sharpie. It was the most convenient place to put it. I’ve done it for the last couple U.S. Opens, honestly.

Q. After winning the U.S. Open the last time, the game took a dip, you struggled for that time early on LIV. What was the low point and what was the turning point?

BRYSON DeCHAMBEAU: For me personally? Low point was after the Masters 2022. My hand got broke. It was broke, and I had to go to have surgery. I didn’t know if I was ever going to play golf. I thought there was a chance I would play high, competitive golf again, not knowing how it would affect my game and my speed and everything. Certainly going into surgery was probably the lowest, then waiting eight weeks, not knowing if I was going to be able to grip a club with the same effort and feel the same and all that, and then struggling with my game. That whole four- or five-month period was pretty rough. There were some definite low moments. Made me rethink a lot of things in life.

Where it turned the corner was a week before Greenbrier last year. I put a driver in play and a shaft combination with LA Golf, Crank head, iron shafts I’ve used for a long time. That whole combination setup just flipped the switch in me. I went and shot 61, 58 on the weekend. I’m like, Okay, Bryson’s here again. How do I turn this into major championship golf now?

So right around that time frame is when things switched. I focused a lot of my energy on how to get another major title.

Q. You obviously, like Rory, had a bit of a wait between winning majors. You had some near misses as well. How does that affect a player mentally both on and off the court, knowing you’ve got that hanging over you?

BRYSON DeCHAMBEAU: I’m sure it will fuel Rory’s fire even more. He’s a strong-minded individual.

For me, it was knowing how good my game is, how great of a place it’s in, and just continuing to execute knowing the statistics would eventually fall my way. Still hope. Golf, it’s a game of luck. There’s a lot of luck that has to happen and go your way out there.

I knew if I could give my 100% effort on every single shot, I’d give myself a good chance this week, just like I did at the PGA, just like I did at the Masters.

Rory is going to do it. I’d love to have a lot more battles with him. It would be a lot of fun. But, yeah, Rory’s going to do it at some point.

Q. The routing of this course, you mentioned you could hear the cheers and the groans, but it also allows you to see what’s going on with the group ahead of you. How much were you looking at Rory, his shots?

BRYSON DeCHAMBEAU: Yeah, pretty much trying to see where he was almost on every hole from 13 on in. I even saw on 10 where he made birdie. I’m like, Oh, man, he’s gunning, he’s going for it. So I had to put my foot on the pedal and push down pretty hard, as well.

So it definitely pushed me. Seeing him ahead allowed me to focus a little bit more.

THE MODERATOR: Thank you for the time, Bryson. Again, congratulations.

BRYSON DeCHAMBEAU: Thank you. Appreciate it.