All eyes on DeChambeau and McIlroy ahead of US Open final round

Paolo Uggetti, ESPNJJune 15, 2024, 11:00 p.m. ET

PINEHURST, N.C. – Rory McIlroy doesn't mind admitting it: If there's a leaderboard on his periphery on the golf course, he's going to look at it.

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So as he made his way through the back nine at No. 2 Pinehurst on Saturday during the third round, he couldn't help but take a look and imagine what was happening. passed behind him. By the time McIlroy reached the 18th green, Bryson DeChambeau, who had started this day at 4 under, was suddenly at 8 under.

McIlroy tried to concentrate. He tracked down his long birdie putt that would likely put him in the final group with DeChambeau if he fell, gave it his best roll and started walking after it. But unlike the putt he made Thursday for birdie at the 18th, this one missed.

As he entered the scoring room and headed toward the maintenance area, McIlroy still thought his deficit was 4 shots. He entered a makeshift tent for an interview with Sky Sports. By the time he came out, he had seen what had happened: DeChambeau had made a double bogey on the 15th hole. The lead was now 2 shots. It wasn't over yet. After holding his general press conference, he was informed by a member of the media:

“Bryson birdied the 17th.”

“He did?” » asked McIlroy.

The lead is back to 3.

The swings at Pinehurst #2 are a feature, not a bug.

If a normal PGA Tour course allows players to race for birdies, while a place surrounded by thick rough terrain and trees like Valhalla turns the world's best players into one-dimensional machines, what No. 2 Pinehurst has done this week is to force the competitors to know when to brake suddenly.

“I think there are holes where you have to be aggressive. There are holes where you have to be conservative,” McIlroy said after his round of 71. “There are hole locations that you can take on and hit wedges nearby There are hole locations you can hit I need to stay away.

Bryson DeChambeau holds a 3-shot lead heading into the final round. Alex Slitz/Getty Images

The pushes and pulls of the golf course on Saturday made every hole and every shot feel monumentally important. Players like Tony Finau and Ludvigberg, who found themselves tied for the lead at times throughout the day, discovered how one bad shot can derail a round. Both made a triple bogey on 13 and are now well behind DeChambeau.

Others, like Matthieu Pavon and Patrick Cantlay, limited the damage and stayed the course. Pavon and Cantlay shot 1 under and even par, respectively, to tie McIlroy at 4 under heading into the final round.

“You feel like you’re flying a little bit sometimes, your game, everything’s happening,” Pavon said. “And then at some point you're missing a green, [you] can see a bogey, and then all of a sudden it starts to feel more difficult in your mind and in your game.”

McIlroy himself, who started at 3 under, jumped to 6 under twice during his round, only to drop back to 4 under at the end of the day. His conservative approach to the 12th hole (hitting 3-wood instead of the driver) gave him perfect vision to bring the ball within 10 feet for a birdie. Conversely, his aggressiveness on the 14th hole, where he hit driver 351 yards, allowed him to have a wedge that he put less than 2 feet from the hole.

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On the other hand, an aggressive shot on the par-5 fifth hole left him with a tough back-and-forth for the birdie he missed, giving him a par on the easiest hole on the course. Later in his round, he tried to get closer to the flags at 15 and 17 (both par 3s), resulting in two costly bogeys.

“I love the test that Pinehurst presents,” McIlroy said. “You have to concentrate on every shot. That's what a US Open should be like.”

Watching other players struggle further highlighted the kind of trick DeChambeau put on. As this unfolded, it seemed like a fever dream. Birdies on the fifth hole and seventh put DeChambeau at 5 under. Although he was gaining ground on second lap leader Aberg, he continued to stretch and claw at the back. After completing the turn, he asked his fitness coach to stretch him because he was suffering from a hip problem.

Although DeChambeau said the issue sometimes doesn't allow him to completely make a shot, it didn't appear to affect him Saturday. On the back nine, his drives went 348, 359, 335, 333, 344 and 341 yards.

Yet what put DeChambeau at the top of the leaderboard isn't necessarily his powerful driving. On holes 13 and 14, DeChambeau hit drives into the waste zone (the first occurred after he hit the iron off the tee and asked fans not to boo him for it), but he remained aggressive , hitting both approach shots within 10 feet of the hole.

Rory McIlroy has a chance to end his major drought – if he can catch Bryson DeChambeau. Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images

“That's kind of what you're doing here, you're trying to play conservative golf that gives you the opportunity to get closer in certain scenarios,” DeChambeau said. “That’s the best way I can describe it.”

Given the way DeChambeau has been putting this week (fourth in strokes gained: putting), all the 2020 US Open winner had to do is put it on the green. For three straight days, No. 2 Pinehurst showed what a complete player DeChambeau has become — he's the only one to score in the 60s in all three rounds — as well as how much he enjoys being in the spotlight.

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“That’s my favorite thing about tournament golf,” DeChambeau said. “When that pressure is on and I execute the way I know how I can, there’s no better feeling in the world.”

McIlroy may be showing more restraint, even though he'll have to chase DeChambeau on Sunday, but he's been here before. If anyone knows the danger of trying to force things as much as the danger of not being aggressive at all (see: the Old Course in 2022, the LACC in 2023), it's him.

“I'm excited about it,” McIlroy said of trying once again to win his first major in more than 10 years. “I hope that tomorrow I will produce the golf necessary to do better.”

All eyes will be on McIlroy and DeChambeau and, while they play in different pairs, there will also be plenty of watching from the scoreboard. But the fact that this course highlighted what makes them two elite players is another reminder of the real duel to come.

“At the end of the day, it’s me against the golf course,” said Pavon, who will be paired with DeChambeau. “My only goal every time I show up is to try to beat the golf course.”

This week, more than most, is much easier said than done.

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