A couple of points to clear up. First, I was wrong about Ludvig Aberg -- he is currently in a tie for 9th, seven strokes out of the lead. Second, Pinehurst has done a great job of identifying great players. Check out this leaderboard:
1. B. DeChambeau: -7 (64 holes)
2. R. McIlroy (NIR): -6 (65)
3. P. Cantlay: -5 (65)
4. T. Finau: -3 (67)
One of those golfers will win the National Open, and they are all worthy champions.
DeChambeau ended up in a bunker on the par-4 11th, and he now faces a 10-footer to save par.
ReplyDeleteDeChambeau makes the putt, and he remains in the lead at 7 under with seven holes to play.
ReplyDeleteBut then McIlroy holes a long birdie putt on 12 -- it looked like it was about 35 feet -- and he moves into a tie for the lead at 7 under.
ReplyDeleteT1. R. McIlroy (NIR): -7 (66 holes)
ReplyDeleteT1. B. DeChambeau: -7 (65)
3. P. Cantlay: -5 (65)
McIlroy is three under for the day. DeChambeau is even for the day. McIlroy is making the birdie putts he missed on Sunday at L.A. Country Club last year.
ReplyDeleteCantlay, who is playing with McIlroy, bogeys the 12th and falls back to 4 under. It's pretty much down to DeChambeau and McIlroy.
ReplyDeleteThe 13th hole is playing as a 316-yard par 4. McIlroy pulls out a driver and whacks the ball over the green. Cantlay also drives through the green. They will be chipping for eagle.
ReplyDeleteDeChambeau misses the 12th fairway, and cannot reach the green in two. His third shot is a pitch that leaves him about 30 feet short of his par.
ReplyDeleteOn 13, Cantlay gets up and down for a birdie that moves him to 5 under.
ReplyDeleteNow McIlroy can take control of the tournament with a five-footer on 13. He makes it. McIlroy is now 4 under for the day and 8 under for the tournament. Meanwhile, DeChambeau does not save par on 12. He's 1 over for the day and 6 under for the tournament.
ReplyDelete1. R. McIlroy (NIR): -8 (67 holes)
ReplyDelete2. B. DeChambeau: -6 (66)
3. P. Cantlay: -5 (67)
Now DeChambeau hits his drive on the par-4 13. He uses a fairway metal and stops the ball on the green about 30 feet from the hole. He will have that for an eagle. And now McIlroy hooks his drive on 14, missing the fairway.
ReplyDeleteI was too cynical about this tournament on Friday. This is really great stuff. McIlroy has shown that I was wrong, and that a great golfer can make a charge on this course.
ReplyDeleteDeChambeau's eagle putt is 28 feet, 6 inches. NBC gives him an 8 percent chance of making it. He had it right online, but it dies six inches from the cup. He taps in for a birdie and moves back to 7 under.
ReplyDeleteOn 14, Rory had a good lie in the pine straw, and his second shot lands just on the edge of the green.
ReplyDeleteMcIlroy gets up and down from the side of the 14th green.
ReplyDelete1. R. McIlroy (NIR): -8 (68)
2. B. DeChambeau: -7 (67)
3. P. Cantlay: -5 (68)
I have to give McIlroy a lot of credit. DeChambeau had a three-shot lead at the beginning of the day, and I did not think anyone else could catch him at 7-under. If McIlroy pars out, he will have a 4-under par 66.
ReplyDeleteDeChambeau misses the fairway on 14, but he reaches the green with his second shot. He's probably about 50 feet from the hole. Meanwhile, Rory can't stop his ball on the par-3 15th, and his ball rolls to a waste area behind the green.
ReplyDeleteDeChambeau pars the 14th, and remains one shot behind McIlroy.
ReplyDeleteFrom the waste area on 15, McIlroy could not stop the ball close to the hole. He has a long putt for par.
ReplyDeleteMcIlroy cannot make a 31-footer for par.
ReplyDeleteMcIlroy taps in for bogey:
ReplyDeleteT1. R. McIlroy (NIR): -7 (69 holes)
T1. B. DeChambeau: -7 (68)
3. P. Cantlay: -5 (69)
DeChambeau's drive on 15 holds on the green, and he will be putting for birdie.
ReplyDeleteCantlay and McIlroy tee off on the 540-yd par 4 16th. Cantlay's drive is perfect. As is McIlroy's.
ReplyDeleteDeChambeau's birdie putt on 15 runs about six feet past the hole.
ReplyDeleteDeChambeau was only four feet past the hole, and the folks on NBC said the par putt was "straight in." But DeChambeau misses the putt, and McIlroy is now one shot ahead.
ReplyDeleteThat was DeChambeau's first three-putt of the tournament.
DeleteMcIlroy's shot on 16 lands safely on the green, and he now has one hand on the trophy.
ReplyDeleteDeChambeau is not only one shot behind, he also has to face a long drive on 16. He has been missing almost every fairway. If he misses the fairway here, it means an almost-certain bogey.
ReplyDeleteFor only the 5th time in 13 drives today, DeChambeau lands the ball in the fairway.
ReplyDeleteCantlay bogeys the 16th to fall back to 4 under, and that's it for him.
ReplyDeleteUnbelievable. McIlroy's birdie putt goes about 3 feet past the hole, and then he misses the par putt coming back. So he loses a vital stroke and keeps the Americans alive.
ReplyDeleteT1. R. McIlroy (NIR): -6 (70)
T1. B. DeChambeau: -6 (69)
3. P. Cantlay: -4 (70)
McIlroy and Cantlay move to the 220-yd par 3 17th. Cantlay's shot rolls through the green. And then McIlroy rolls into a greenside bunker.
ReplyDeleteWhat a tournament! This is the best U.S. Open in many years.
ReplyDeleteTo be fair to you, though, GoHeath, it was a drag on Friday. You were right then. But you were right about Sunday and the close, too.
DeleteTony Finau birdies the last hole to tie Cantlay at 4 under.
ReplyDeleteNBC tells us that no one has made DeChambeau's birdie putt on 16 all day. He gives it a great run, but it just misses. Meanwhile, McIlroy hits a great bunker shot on 17 to within about 3 feet.
ReplyDeleteDeChambeau pars 16.
ReplyDeleteMcIlroy pars 17.
ReplyDeleteT1. R. McIlroy (NIR): -6 (71 holes)
T1. B. DeChambeau: -6 (70)
T3. T. Finau: -4 (72)
T3. P. Cantlay: -4 (71)
With the short par-4 13th, and par 3's on 15 and 17, the U.S.G.A. managed to avoid that sense of just one long par 4 after another. Now McIlroy is at the 18th, which should be (and is) a long par 4, and he pulls his drive, missing the fairway to the left. Meanwhile, DeChambeau hits an excellent tee shot on 17, and he will have a birdie chance.
ReplyDeleteBACK AND FORTH WE GO!
ReplyDeleteOn 18, McIlroy's lie is OK, but there is a clump of wiregrass right in front of his ball.
ReplyDeleteOnly 4 men have birdied 17 today, but DeChambeau has an 18-footer that would give him the lead.
ReplyDeleteMike Tirico points out that Payne Stewart birdied 17 to take the lead in 1999, but DeChambeau's putt dies about a foot from the hole.
ReplyDeleteMcIlroy hacks at the ball, but his second shot lands in a swale just short of the green.
ReplyDeleteOn 18, a 449-yard par 4, DeChambeau hooks a drive that lands in a waste area left of the fairway. McIlroy hits a great pitch shot, and he will have about 4 foot left for a 68 and a final total of 274.
ReplyDeleteCantlay pars the 18th, and he finishes with a 276 that ties him with Finau. McIlroy and DeChambeau are now the only contenders left.
ReplyDeleteFor the second time in three holes, McIlroy misses a short par putt. This one was three feet, nine inches long. He taps in for bogey, and now DeChambeau has a one-shot lead.
ReplyDeleteBut DeChambeau's ball is near a root, and he's having to crouch under a magnolia tree. This second shot will be very awkward.
ReplyDeleteDeChambeau's second shot is awkward, and it lands in a bunker about 25 yards from the green. But his bunker shot is brilliant, rolling to within four feet and leaving him with an uphill putt for the title.
ReplyDeleteActually, ESPN reported that this bunker shot was from about 55 yards, which makes it much more impressive.
DeleteWith chants of U! S! A! going through the crowd, DeChambeau goes up to the putt -- and RAMS IT IN! He finishes with a 71 for the day, and 274 for the week, and he beats Rory McIlroy by one shot to win the 2024 U.S. Open.
ReplyDeleteSince Tiger's epic win in a playoff back in 2008, there have only been a few great U.S. Opens. Justin Rose's win at Merion in 2013 and Jordan Spieth's win at Chambers Bay in 2015 are the two most memorable. But I think this tournament was better than either of those, and is therefore the best U.S. Open in 16 years.
ReplyDeleteDeChambeau adds this title to his 2020 U.S. Open, and he now has two majors on his resume -- tying him with Scottie Scheffler, who has two Masters, and Justin Thomas (who has two PGA's).
ReplyDeleteThat effectively completes the golf season in the United States, and now next month's British Open is all that's left.
ReplyDeleteWe just really started with the summer heat in Kentucky, and so now I have a month to look forward to live footage of cooler weather.
DeleteSince his win in the 2014 PGA, Rory McIlroy has 21 top ten finishes in majors, but no titles. This is the second year in a row that he has come in second at the U.S. Open.
ReplyDeleteThanks for this. I checked my phone late last night to see who had actually one, but I didn't see one shot of the back nine yesterday afternoon. So I really appreciate your chronicling it here.
ReplyDelete