Check out the prize money earned by each player this week at the 120th U.S. Open at Winged Foot Golf Club.
Bulked-up mad scientist Bryson DeChambeau can now add “major champion” to his list of titles.
DeChambeau was the lone player under par at the 120th U.S. Open, running away with his first major title at 6 under par thanks to a final-round 3-under 67 (the lone round under par on Sunday). Matthew Wolff finished second at even, followed by Louis Oosthuizen in third at 2 over, Harris English in fourth at 3 over and Xander Schauffele in fifth at 4 over.
The win earned the 27-year-old the $2.25 million top prize, making him the 83rd player in PGA Tour history to break the $20 million mark for on-course earnings. Check out how much money each player earned this week at the 120th U.S. Open at Winged Foot.
Bryson DeChambeau single-mindedness might have been the biggest factor in determining the U.S. Open winner at Winged Foot.
MAMARONECK, N.Y. — It shouldn’t be a surprise that a championship that prizes a metronomic style of golf — fairway, green, rinse, repeat — should fall to golf’s most metronomic player, but the U.S. Open victory of Bryson DeChambeau illuminated the extent to which modern power golf, and the tools with which it is played, have neutered what was once the most formidable test in the game.
In adopting a scientific approach to every aspect of his game, DeChambeau expects his carefully (some might say laboriously) calculated input to deliver a predictable output, which is an awfully high happiness bar to set in a sport that is hostage to the vagaries of chance, bounce and weather. Such a mindset would seem to guarantee frustration, and frustration is the very stress fracture that the U.S. Open is designed to locate, from which it will then prise a man open until it exposes every other weakness he didn’t think he had.
But that kind of U.S. Open is now a relic of a bygone era, one when courses were characters in the narrative and none evoked more fear than Winged Foot. Strategy is now dictated not by course architects but by player preference. The main peril DeChambeau faced at Winged Foot would come from a potential swing screw-up, not the USGA’s course set-up. Limit the former and the latter doesn’t matter. He did, and it didn’t.
Sunday’s final pairing was an intoxicating juxtaposition of style and temperament. Matthew Wolff carries himself with the cheery nonchalance of one blessed with youth, talent and good looks. His golf swing is all flailing limbs and shuffling feet, suggestive of a man trying to shake loose a wasp trapped in his pants. DeChambeau, on the other hand, has an almost endearing awkwardness to his personality, as though it too has been as carefully constructed as his swing. He squares up to the ball with all the fluidity of rigor mortis, as though waiting motionless for the wasp to exit his pants — to get crushed.
Eamon Lynch
Before the round, Wolff warmed up with just his caddie on the practice range. DeChambeau marched in trailed by an army of hangers-on and sporting more technical firepower than the Marines had at Khe Sanh. He ripped a succession of tee shots with a force and trajectory that might have unnerved pilots approaching Westchester County Airport. He was on the range after dark Saturday night, and he brought the same intense rigor to every shot during Sunday’s final round. DeChambeau is all about power, not pace, and studies his little guidebook (emblazoned with B.A.D.) as carefully as a condemned man reads a last-minute communique from the governor.
But for all the mockery he is subjected to (some of it deserved), it bears noting that while there are plenty of golfers on the PGA Tour more talented than DeChambeau, there isn’t one who can be bothered to outwork him. That reality will one day be altered — by life, relationships, family, physical frailty — but for now, he is the most single-minded man in golf.
He is also the most polarizing man in the game, which is an estimable achievement in the era of Patrick Reed. His occasional absence of self-awareness and hints of narcissism rankle fans. His contention that he is essentially reinventing the game doesn’t win popularity contests in the locker room, suggesting as it does that his peers aren’t smart enough to have done it themselves. But there’s truth there.
DeChambeau has reinvented the game, and his impact will only grow. He will prompt a reimagining of what constitutes a modern U.S. Open test. He will hasten a reckoning with untrammeled equipment advances. He will force a rethinking of PGA Tour marketing, which still cleaves to a vanilla presentation of players that doesn’t engage modern, fickle audiences. And he will revolutionize how future generations of aspiring Tour pros develop. He is, simply put, the most important player in golf. He was that even before he won at Winged Foot.
This was not the most thrilling of major championships, but then U.S. Opens are typically as repetitive as NASCAR races, as competitors try to dodge disasters and fans eagerly await a crash. Leaderboard charges seldom occur, at least not in an upward direction. This is a tournament in which standing still has long been celebrated as advancement, but what we witnessed from DeChambeau at Winged Foot represents real advancement, not all of which will or should sit easily with golf’s many constituencies.
Let it be the final indignity of the COVID era that the man who most animates golf fans claimed his seminal victory in front of a smattering of volunteers and officials, and had to celebrate via video call with his parents.
Just another way in which this U.S. Open — and this U.S. Open champion — is quite unlike the 119 that preceded it.
At Winged Foot on Sunday, Rory Sabbatini lined up a putt completely away from the hole and then watched his ball stop even farther away.
The U.S. Open greens at Winged Foot have been treacherous so far this year, and have already led to some embarrassing moments. … and one true meltdown which led to a golfer withdrawing on Saturday after he needed six putts to put the ball in from four feet out. (Seriously.)
The undulating greens have, at times, demanded golfers take unpredictable routes to the hole. (Zach Johnson did so to spectacular effect earlier in the tournament.)
All this is a long way of setting up what you’re about to see, which on first glance looks like a putt attempt by a golfer who has briefly lost his sense of direction and/or sense of sight.
This is Rory Sabbatini, on the green at Winged Foot, lining up completely away from the hole, hitting his putt … then having it stop dead even farther away than he was for the first putt.
The attempt failed so spectacularly that the announcer, etiquette be damned, burst into laughter. He apologized, but there was nothing to apologize for. This was objectively very funny.
Bryson DeChambeau was the lone player under par at the 120th U.S. Open, winning his first major championship at 6 under.
The quest for distance has now produced a major championship.
After adding 40 pounds of muscle, the bulked-up Bryson DeChambeau flexed his muscles and won the 120th U.S. Open with a strong performance on Sunday, claiming his first major title at 6 under for the tournament with a 3-under 67 in the final round at Winged Foot Golf Club in Mamaroneck, New York.
DeChambeau was the only player to finish the tournament under par and his Sunday 67 was the lone score under par in the final round.
Rising star Matthew Wolff, who held a two-shot lead entering the final round, fizzled throughout the finale en route to a dimming 5-over 75 and a second-place finish at even par.
After the two contenders made a pair of eagle putts on the par-5 9th hole, Wolff made the turn at 1 over, one shot back from DeChambeau, who turned at 2 under.
Wolff bogeyed No. 10 to go two down, then DeChambeau made birdie on No. 11 to go up three shots. The lucky breaks Wolff admittedly received on Saturday DeChambeau received on Sunday, specifically off the tee on the par-5 12th. DeChambeau’s drive landed in the rough and kicked out to the fairway. Wolff hit almost the exact same shot, different result, nestling down in the rough. Both players would make par on Nos. 12 and 13.
In fact, DeChambeau made par on his closing seven holes.
Wolff failed to go on a last-minute charge, making bogey on No. 14 and double on No. 16 for a disappointing finish to an impressive weeklong performance.
With the win, DeChambeau joined Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods as the only players to win the U.S. Open, U.S. Amateur and NCAA Div. I individual championship.
Matthew Wolff, just 21, will start the final round at Winged Foot with a two-shot lead over Bryson DeChambeau, four over Louis Oosthuizen.
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MAMARONECK, N.Y. — We knew these kids were going to be good. Probably really good. We just didn’t think they’d be this good, this fast.
Six weeks ago, Collin Morikawa made his PGA Championship debut at TPC Harding Park and won. The 23-year-old held off veteran Paul Casey and a pair of former world No. 1s, Dustin Johnson and Jason Day.
Matthew Wolff, 21, shot a Sunday 65 and tied for fourth that week while playing in his first career major. Morikawa may have missed the cut this week at the 2020 U.S. Open, but Wolff has taken up the slack here at Winged Foot Golf Club.
After starting the day at even-par in his U.S. Open debut, the bearded Californian lit up the West Course on Saturday afternoon, shooting a front-nine 30 and finishing with a 65 on a day when the average score was 73.6.
Wolff will start Sunday at 5 under (205) and begins the day with a two-shot lead over Bryson DeChambeau and a four-shot lead over Louis Oosthuizen.
Conventional wisdom holds that even a gifted player is not going to win in his first U.S. Open. After all, it has been 107 years since a golfer won a U.S. Open in his first appearance, and that golfer was Francis Ouimet, who triumphed as an amateur in 1913 at The Country Club in a playoff over Harry Vardon and Ted Ray.
But like Morikawa in August, Wolff is proving that he’s not your typical newcomer. He is mature, maintains perspective and has experience playing in high-profile events, so the spotlight doesn’t blind him or scare him. Wolff won an NCAA Individual Championship while starring at Oklahoma State and already has a victory on the PGA Tour at the 2019 3M Open.
Asked if winning a U.S. Open was the natural next step in his career, Wolff thought for a moment.
“I feel like I’m ready to win out here and win a major,” he said. “I’ve been feeling really good, really confident, and with my mindset right now, how I’m thinking about the game is really good. I really think that I can go out there and play really well.”
Matthew Wolff plays his shot from the 17th tee during the third round of the 120th U.S. Open Championship on Sept. 19, 2020, at Winged Foot Golf Club in Mamaroneck, New York. Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images
He certainly did that on Saturday. He hit a glorious approach on the very first hole from 155 yards to 14 feet, then made the birdie putt to move to 1 under. He made a 15-foot birdie putt on the fourth hole before going for the green on the 332-yard sixth. That shot found a greenside bunker, but Wolff’s sand shot stopped 5 feet from the cup to set up another birdie. His tee shot on the par-3 seventh stopped 13 feet from the flag to set up another birdie, and then on the par-5 ninth, he blasted a 377-yard drive for his fifth birdie of the day.
“If he plays the way he played today, catching him is going to be almost impossible,” said Xander Schauffele, who shot 70 and will begin Sunday at even par (210).
The list of things that the U.S. Open winner receives is impressive, including an invitation to the next five Masters, British Opens, PGA Championships and Tour Championships. There’s also a five-year exemption on the PGA Tour and a spot in the next 10 U.S. Opens. Oh yeah, and a check for $2.25 million.
Wolff is not going to think about those things tonight, however. He’s planning on dinner in his hotel room with his caddie, Nick Heinen, and wants to watch the Celtics play the Miami Heat.
“It is a major. It’s really important, and yes, it is really early in my career, but I feel like I have the game, like I said, to win,” Wolff said. “Collin won at 23, I’m 21, and I’m not saying that it’s going to happen, but I mean, I put myself in a really good spot, and obviously I’m feeling really good with my game, so I’m just going to keep on doing what I’m doing and whatever happens, happens.”
MAMARONECK, N.Y. – Saturdays at the U.S. Open are golf’s equivalent of a show trial in that competitors are presented an opportunity to mount a defense, but even casual onlookers know only a fortunate few will escape the gallows. So it was …
MAMARONECK, N.Y. — Saturdays at the U.S. Open are golf’s equivalent of a show trial in that competitors are presented an opportunity to mount a defense, but even casual onlookers know only a fortunate few will escape the gallows.
So it was appropriate that the final pairing in the third round featured the two most polarizing and oft-accused men in the game, ensuring that the most luckless person at Winged Foot would not be among the 62 players but rather in the ranks of the rules officials, one of whom would be summoned in the event of an issue.
Patrick Reed and Bryson DeChambeau could scarcely be more opposite in how they approach the game. DeChambeau surrounds himself with a retinue on the range, while Reed is shadowed only by his caddie.
DeChambeau boasts more sponsors than a NASCAR driver, while branding on the man who won the Masters in 2018 is as sparse as on a catholic priest.
DeChambeau revels in his new-found distance, launching missiles that cleared the fence at the back of the driving range, while Reed averaged 47 yards shorter in Friday’s second round.
DeChambeau swings with a scientific expectation that a predictable outcome should result from his carefully calibrated input, while Reed is all about scrambling and avoiding the consequences of his missteps.
One guy who demands precision, another with a gift for escaping prison. Neither archetype typically thrives in a U.S. Open environment. But then this is not a typical U.S. Open.
Patrick Reed reacts to his shot off the third tee as Bryson DeChambeau looks on during the third round of the 2020 U.S. Open on Saturday, Sept. 19, 2020, in Mamaroneck, New York. Photo by John Minchillo/Associated Press
The absence of spectators means that what would otherwise have been a coliseum of New York hecklers was instead about as noisy as a group of meditating librarians.
“It just makes it a touch easier for the guys at the top,” Rory McIlroy noted. “You’ve got Bryson and P-Reed out in the final group, and any other U.S. Open final grouping you’ve got those two guys, things are going to be said and tempers are going to flare. Even if those guys don’t have to deal with that today, it just makes it a little different and maybe a touch easier if you’re in those final few groups.”
In the PGA Championship at TPC Harding Park last month, Collin Morikawa had the luxury of playing for his first major victory without the huge crowd that amplifies every charge and pratfall on the Sundays that matter. He might well have won anyway even in that fan crucible, but their absence clearly didn’t hurt. Twenty-one-year-old Matt Wolff is a kid who—like Morikawa—enjoys crowds, but—like Morikawa—he will have the same hushed environment Sunday as he bids—like Morikawa—to capture major No. 1 in only start No. 2.
“It’s one variable you just don’t have to deal with,” McIlroy said.
Wolff leads by two shots with 18 gauntlets to be run.
Saturday night leaderboards at majors are often reminiscent of the shadiest street in a college town, where some wide-eyed youngster is having so much fun that he doesn’t even notice he’s surrounded by wily vultures who figure he’ll get mugged before reaching home safely.
Forty-six years ago at Winged Foot that kid was Tom Watson, who led entering the final round but ballooned to a 79 as one of the guys lurking in the shadows, Hale Irwin, eventually won. In ’06, Kenneth Ferrie played the role. He too stumbled, but Geoff Ogilvy (an old head on young shoulders) snatched the valuables before veterans Phil Mickelson and Colin Montgomerie.
Matthew Wolff putts on the ninth green alongside the clubhouse during the third round of the U.S. Open golf tournament at Winged Foot Golf Club. Photo by Brad Penner/USA TODAY Sports
As the sun sets on Winged Foot this Saturday night, there are men in the shadows who ought to concern young Master Wolff. Like McIlroy, the 2011 champion, who shot 68 in the third round. Or Louis Oosthuizen, who owns one major but who, with a little luck here and there, could have five. Or Hideki Matsuyama, who carries the hopes of a continent on his shoulders. Or Xander Schauffele, the pick of many this week. And of course, DeChambeau and P-Reed.
They’re all chasing, but they’re chasing a neophyte who hasn’t been here before. The hunters know it. So does the hunted. But this prey has one thing that will stand him in good stead: perspective. After his round, Wolff talked about a friend’s struggle with cancer, and how even on the cusp of achieving a lifelong dream of winning the U.S. Open, golf is far from the most important thing in his world. He may be the youngest man on that leaderboard, but he is far from being the least mature
So much of the professional golf calendar has been lost or juggled in 2020, and even the events that were salvaged have been conducted amid a disquieting vibe that is two parts gratitude, one part fear. The first real sense of normalcy has been provided by this Open as the USGA tightens the thumbscrews daily with all the tenderness of a medieval jailor. Sunday will be no different.
And even if there are no boisterous spectators to remind Wolff that he’s in a dogfight for a major, Winged Foot and the caliber of his pursuers certainly will.
From tee times to TV info, here’s everything you need to know for the final round of the 120th U.S. Open.
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It all comes down to this.
It’s the final round at the 120th U.S. Open at Winged Foot Golf Club in Mamaroneck, New York.
After a stunning 5-under 65, rising star Matthew Wolff holds a two-shot lead at 5 under over Bryson DeChambeau at 3 under. If Wolff were to win, he’d become the seventh-youngest champion in U.S. Open history. Louis Oosthuizen is in third at 1 under followed by Hideki Matsuyama, Xander Schauffele and Harris English all T-4 at even par.
From tee times to TV and streaming info, check out everything you need to know for the final round of the U.S. Open below.
Go to usopen.com, Peacock app or DirecTV. Peacock: 8-10 a.m. Featured groups: 8 a.m.-1:15 p.m. Featured holes: 8 a.m.-5 p.m. Featured groups: 1:15-6:30 p.m. U.S. Open 360 (practice range and putting green with interviews, news conferences, bunker cams, analysis and features): 9 a.m.-1:30 p.m.
Radio
PGA Tour Radio on SiriusXM: 9 a.m.-7:30 p.m.
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Winged Foot Golf Club and the USGA paid tribute to Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg on Saturday at the U.S. Open.
Winged Foot Golf Club and the USGA paid tribute to Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg on Saturday at the U.S. Open.
The American flag as well as the 120th U.S. Open flag out in front of the clubhouse in Mamaroneck, New York, were lowered to half staff for the third round.
On Friday, the world learned of Ginsburg’s death as Rosh Hashanah began — a holy time in the Jewish faith that has brought both comfort and special meaning to her death for some of her supporters.
Rosh Hashanah marks the start of the Jewish New Year.
“According to Jewish tradition, a person who dies on Rosh Hashanah, which began tonight, is a tzaddik, a person of great righteousness,” book critic Ruth Franklin tweeted soon after the news of Ginsburg’s death broke.
It’s not the only point of significance. Because Ginsburg died Friday evening, her death occurred around the time Shabbat, the Jewish Sabbath, began.
“If one dies on any Shabbat they are considered a Tzadik … more so when it’s on the new year,” Rabbi Andrea London of Beth Emet synagogue in Evanston, Illinois, told USA TODAY.
The upcoming week is Jewish High Holy Days, which lead up to Yom Kippur – a time when Jews focus their attention on repentance and reflection of action.
After a 4-over 74 on Friday, Alex Noren rebounded with a 3-under 67 to make the cut at the 2020 U.S. Open. He’ll enter Sunday at 3-over par.
After a 4-over-par 74 on Friday, Alex Noren made the U.S. Open cut on the number. He was an “angry man on the golf course,” he said, and focused on finding some peace when he teed off in less than ideal conditions Saturday.
Noren seemed to find some calm — and just as frustrated players around him struggled just to make pars. The 38-year-old Swede posted a 3-under 67 early in a blustery third round at Winged Foot Golf Club.
He’ll enter Sunday at 3 over for the tournament.
“Starting out, it felt like it was going to be the toughest day ever on a golf course, with pretty strong winds on the first like six, seven holes,” Noren said. “Then it got a little bit easier, but the pins are still tricked up. I putted my life out.”
Noren was the only player under par for much of the morning Saturday with the wind gusting and temperatures starting in the 40s.
The first five holes greeted most of the early part of the field with instant carnage, but Noren played the stretch in even-par. He nearly drove the sixth and made a 19-footer for birdie, then followed with another birdie at 7 to help make the turn in 34.
After some scrambling, Noren added a 14-footer for birdie at No. 15, then finished his round by hitting his approach shot to three feet at the difficult 18th.
All told, Noren somehow had just one bogey on his card despite hitting four fairways and nine greens all round. He knew exactly what to credit for making the best of it.
Sep 19, 2020; Mamaroneck, New York, USA; Flags lowered to half staff near the clubhouse honoring the passing of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg during the third round of the U.S. Open golf tournament at Winged Foot Golf Club – West. Brad Penner/USA TODAY Sports
“On the back, my putter was the best it’s ever been,” he said. “So I saved myself a lot of times, and then (had) a couple birdies as well.”
Noren wasn’t sure the 67 will vault him into contention, but he cautioned that Winged Foot doesn’t allow players to get away with mediocre shots.
“Yeah, (this is) the hardest course I’ve ever played,” he said. “Yesterday was some wind and this morning was some wind, but without the wind it’s still so demanding. It’s a good test.”
Patrick Cantlay had some pretty bad luck on Saturday during the third round of the 120th U.S. Open.
Golf is a brutal game. Especially during a U.S. Open at the famed Winged Foot Golf Club in Mamaroneck, New York.
But what did Patrick Cantlay do to deserve this?
During Saturday morning’s third round, the 28-year-old had a pitch shot to get on the green from just outside 20 yards. Cantlay, a two-time winner on the PGA Tour in search of his first major title, hit the flagstick and his ball took a massive kick right back at him, rolling down the slope a good 20 yards behind the spot from which he had hit his previous shot.
This is one of those shots you just have to see to believe.
Cantlay proceded to get up-and-down for bogey, ultimately signing for a second consecutive 6-over 76 to walk off the course 12 over, 16 shots behind leader Patrick Reed who had yet to tee off.
