U.S. Open 1 U.S. Open Championship 121st Record Book 2021 2 U.S. Open Bryson DeChambeau Wins the 2020 Championship Jack Nicklaus, Tiger Woods and now Bryson DeChambeau. when DeChambeau laid out his bold strategy, though some They are the three golfers who have captured an NCAA indi- critics derided his intentions. Winning at Winged Foot from vidual title, a U.S. Amateur and a U.S. Open. DeChambeau the rough, they said, couldn’t be done. joined that esteemed fraternity at Winged Foot Golf Club with a performance for the ages on what many consider one Then on Saturday night under floodlights on the practice of the game’s most demanding championship tests. facility following the third round, DeChambeau hit driver after driver, and 3-wood after 3-wood. He hit balls until just DeChambeau carded a final-round, 3-under-par 67 to earn past 8 p.m. when the rest of his competition was either eat- a decisive six-stroke victory over 54-hole leader and wun- ing dinner or setting their alarm clocks. derkind Matthew Wolff, who was vying to become the first U.S. Open rookie to win the title since 20-year-old amateur While he only found six fairways on Sunday, DeChambeau Francis Ouimet in 1913. put on an exquisite display of iron play and putting, hitting 11 of 18 greens and registering 27 putts. Starting the the final “It’s just an honor,” said DeChambeau, who also is the 12th round two strokes back of Wolff, DeChambeau tied the 2019 player to have won a U.S. Amateur and a U.S. Open. “I don’t NCAA champion when he rolled in a 14-foot birdie putt on know what else to say. It’s been a lot of hard work. Mr. the par-4 fourth and then took the lead for good when Wolff Nicklaus has been always awesome to me. Tiger has always failed to convert a 10-footer for par at the par-4 fifth. been great to me. I can’t say thank you enough to them for helping push me along to be a better person and a better It appeared Wolff was ready for a second-nine battle after he golfer, as well. To be in the likes of that company is special. matched DeChambeau’s 37-foot eagle on the par-5 ninth with I’ll forever appreciate that.” his own eagle from 10 feet to stay within a stroke. But on the second nine, Wolff began to wilt, coming home in 4-over 39 The West Course has a well-earned reputation for doling out to DeChambeau’s 1-under 34 that included seven consecutive punishment in its previous major-championship turns. Three pars from No. 12 for the former Southern Methodist star. of the four previous U.S. Opens held on the A.W. Tillinghast masterpiece in the post-World War II era produced over-par Wolff finished with a 75 to post solo second, while Louis winning scores, including the famous “Massacre at Winged Oosthuizen (281), Harris English (282) and Xander Schauffele Foot” in 1974 when Hale Irwin triumphed with a 7-over total (283) rounded out the top five. of 287. “If there’s anyone that I was worried about, it was him,” Sixty of the 61 competitors who completed the champion- Schauffele said of DeChambeau. “Everyone talked about ship on a chilly and breezy late-summer day battled the West hitting fairways out here. It’s not about hitting fairways. It’s Course to a draw – or much worse (75.03 stroke average). about hitting on the correct side of the hole and hitting it far DeChambeau, whose analytical, scientific approach to the so you can kind of hit a wedge instead of a 6-iron out of the game is accompanied by an aggressive “bomb-and-gouge” rough.” mentality, took on this bully with a full arsenal of brains and Wolff had hoped to complete one of the great stories in the brawn. annals of the U.S. Open. Sunday’s final round came exactly The 27-year-old from Clovis, Calif., became just the fourth 107 years to the day of Ouimet’s stunning 18-hole playoff vic- player in the championship’s past 100 years to be the only tory over British stalwarts Harry Vardon and Ted Ray at The player to better par in the final round and hoist the trophy. Country Club outside of Boston. Like Ouimet, this was Wolff’s The trio before him were World Golf Hall of Fame inductees first U.S. Open start, and just his second major since leav- Gene Sarazen (1922) and Byron Nelson (1939), and Jack Fleck, ing Oklahoma State and turning pro 16 months earlier. Wolff who denied Ben Hogan a fifth title in 1955 at The Olympic won last year’s 3M Open and tied for fourth in last month’s Club. PGA Championship to earn his exemption into this all-exempt field. DeChambeau is the only player in the six U.S. Opens contest- ed at Winged Foot to post all four rounds at par or better, Rounds of 66-74-65 put him in position to win, only to see and was the only competitor to finish in red figures for the it unravel in the final round. He isn’t the first 54-hole leader week (6-under 274). to suffer Sunday blues in the U.S. Open. Forty-six years ago, a 24-year-old Tom Watson carded a 79 at Winged Foot. “Surreal. It sounds amazing, but surreal,” said DeChambeau Kenneth Ferrie, who shared the lead with Phil Mickelson, shot of being a U.S. Open champion. “It’s been a lot of hard work. a 76 in 2006 at Winged Foot. Aaron Baddeley had an 80 at It’s one of those things that doesn’t really hit you. It’s not Oakmont in 2007 and Dustin Johnson shot an 82 at Pebble going to hit me until tonight.” Beach in 2010. Watson (1980) and Johnson (2016) would eventually capture U.S. Open titles. The seeds for this championship began early in the week U.S. Open 3 120th U.S. Open Championship Results Sept. 17-20, 2020 Winged Foot Golf Club (West Course) Mamaroneck, N.Y. Par: 35-35—70, Yardage: 7,477 • Entries: none, Purse: $12.5 million Rd.1 Rd.2 Rd.3 Final Pos. Pos. Pos. Pos. Player, Hometown Scores Money T14 2 2 1 Bryson DeChambeau, Clovis, Calif. 69-68-70-67-274 $2,250,000 T2 T7 1 2 Matthew Wolff, Agoura Hills, Calif. 66-74-65-75-280 $1,350,000 T5 T12 3 3 Louis Oosthuizen, South Africa 67-74-68-73-282 $861,457 T8 T3 T4 4 Harris English, Moultrie, Ga. 68-70-72-73-283 $603,903 T8 T7 T4 5 Xander Schauffele, San Diego, Calif. 68-72-70-74-284 $502,993 T71 T22 T21 T6 Dustin Johnson, Jupiter, Fla. 73-70-72-70-285 $424,040 T22 T28 T17 T6 Will Zalatoris, Plano, Texas 70-74-70-71-285 $424,040 T14 T17 T21 T8 Tony Finau, Salt Lake City, Utah 69-73-73-71-286 $302,236 1 T3 T17 T8 Justin Thomas, Louisville, Ky. 65-73-76-72-286 $302,236 T33 T17 T11 T8 Webb Simpson, Charlotte, N.C. 71-71-71-73-286 $302,236 T22 T28 T8 T8 Zach Johnson, Cedar Rapids, Iowa 70-74-68-74-286 $302,236 T5 T22 7 T8 Rory McIlroy, Northern Ireland 67-76-68-75-286 $302,236 T5 T22 T21 T13 Lee Westwood, England 67-76-72-72-287 $210,757 T33 T33 T17 T13 Adam Long, St. Louis, Mo. 71-74-69-73-287 $210,757 T2 1 T11 T13 Patrick Reed, Houston, Texas 66-70-77-74-287 $210,757 T33 T17 T8 T13 Viktor Hovland, Norway. 71-71-70-75-287 $210,757 T8 6 T27 T17 Jason Kokrak, Hudson, Ohio 68-71-77-72-288 $157,931 T119 T49 T21 T17 Paul Casey, England 76-70-69-73-288 $157,931 T33 T17 T11 T17 Lucas Glover, Jupiter, Fla. 71-71-71-75-288 $157,931 T57 T49 T11 T17 Alex Noren, Sweden 72-74-67-75-288 $157,931 T33 T7 T4 T17 Hideki Matsuyama, Japan 71-69-70-78-288 $157,931 T22 T33 T34 22 Sungjae Im, Republic of Korea 70-75-73-71-289 $129,407 T22 T28 T40 T23 Erik van Rooyen, South Africa 70-74-76-70-290 $101,797 T33 T33 T40 T23 Taylor Pendrith, Canada 71-74-75-70-290 $101,797 T14 T12 T31 T23 Jon Rahm, Spain 69-72-76-73-290 $101,797 T8 T7 T21 T23 Brendon Todd, Watkinsville, Ga. 68-72-75-75-290 $101,797 T2 T7 T11 T23 Thomas Pieters, Belgium 66-74-73-77-290 $101,797 T8 T12 T11 T23 Joaquin Niemann, Chile 68-73-72-77-290 $101,797 T8 T3 T8 T23 Rafa Cabrera Bello, Spain 68-70-74-78-290 $101,797 T71 T33 T31 30 Charles Howell III, Orlando, Fla. 73-72-72-74-291 $83,422 T57 T49 T40 T31 Lucas Herbert, Australia 72-74-74-72-292 $75,649 T33 T22 T27 T31 Renato Paratore, Italy 71-72-73-76-292 $75,649 T57 T12 T21 T31 Bubba Watson, Bagdad, Fla. 72-69-74-77-292 $75,649 T71 T28 T47 T34 Tyler Duncan, Columbus, Ind. 73-71-77-72-293 $64,024 T33 T12 T40 T34 Stephan Jaeger, Germany 71-70-79-73-293 $64,024 T33 T33 T40 T34 Romain Langasque, France 71-74-75-73-293 $64,024 T71 T22 T31 T34 Daniel Berger, Jupiter, Fla.