News

DeChambeau holds straight to claim U.S. Open title

Published

6 years ago

Sep 20, 2020

Although the rounds came out of order, let the record show that Bryson DeChambeau did record a 70, a 69, a 68, and, on the most important of days, a Sunday 67. He was the only player to shoot under par on day four, and the only player to finish under par for the week.

His six-shot victory was not a dominant one, but it was the next best thing: impressive. DeChambeau balanced strategy and sinew to perfection, decoding the challenges and opportunities offered by the West Course at Winged Foot, and he claimed his first major title just four days after his 27th birthday.

For nine holes on Sunday, DeChambeau was in a battle with pairing competitor Matthew Wolff. First #BigBangTheory, and then #RipDog, posted eagle at the par-five 9th, thanks to identical driver-pitching wedge combos. They went to the back nine at 5 under and 4 under, respectively. At 10, Wolff’s iron turned over just enough to miss the green and leave him the most awkward of stances. He made bogey, and the lead was doubled. The eagle at nine turned out to be Wolff’s only hole below par all day, and he would drop three more shots on the way in. Wolff finished the week at even-par, a number that many projected to win after Friday’s round.

DeChambeau simply gave no openings to anyone on this final day. His final birdie came at the 11th after his approach failed to release and finished on the fringe. Undeterred, he putted from the fairway, as he had all week, and the sphere found the bottom of the tin can. DeChambeau didn’t hit many fairways this week, but he didn’t need to. Clubhead speed and short approach shots conquered the rough, and the Calixan (a blend of Californian and Texan) played the course as if it were just another Fortnite stream on Twitch (where you might find him tonight).

The two, non-player topics to hold our attention all week are absence of fans and distance gains. Would the oohs and ahhhs, and possible interruptions, of galleries have impacted this week’s result? No question. Some golfers feed off the electricity, while others wilt. No doubt a chorus of “You da man” and “Big Bang Theory” would have caused some influence, at some juncture.

Next, what about distance? Remember 1997, when Augusta did its level best to Tiger-proof the golf course? DeChambeau is only 73 inches tall. What happens when a 75- or an 80-inch golfer adds the mass that he did? All facets of the distance conversation amount to one of many discussions to be had. Anyone see how well he putted? How well he chipped and pitched? How well he decoded slopes of greens? The puzzle was there for the taking, and one golfer solved it.

Cheers, kudos, Hogan hats off to the champion!

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Ronald Montesano

Ronald Montesano writes for GolfWRX.com from western New York. He dabbles in coaching golf and teaching Spanish, in addition to scribbling columns on all aspects of golf, from apparel to architecture, from equipment to travel. Follow Ronald on Twitter at @buffalogolfer.

19 Comments

Barbara Barrett

Sep 22, 2020 at 1:20 pm

Congratulations to Bryson from a fan since your beginning on the tour. I admire your intellectual approach and your work habits. I wish you continued success!!! Don’t let the jealous comments get you! You are always a gentleman and I’m proud to cheer for you!!!

Reply Report comment
Maximillian

Sep 21, 2020 at 1:27 pm

Good for Bryson. It’s not easy to be nicknamed “The Scientist” in a country that stands anti-science. It’s not easy to be considered intellectual in a country that pushes against education and critical thinking. He balances the science with great feel – see his variety of iron shots, short game and putting.

One place he did “dominate” – I thought he was the only player in the field who didn’t let Winged Foot get under his skin.

Reply Report comment
Joe

Sep 21, 2020 at 12:33 pm

Can’t watch him play. Totally forced and unnatural. Doesn’t look like he enjoys the game at all.

Reply Report comment
- Rich
  
  Sep 21, 2020 at 1:00 pm
  
  Yeah, all that winning can be a distraction.
  
  Reply Report comment
Mark

Sep 21, 2020 at 11:50 am

Easy to bag a win when you cheat!
Putter anchors against the left forearm – perhaps not strictly illegal but against the spirit of the rules! R&A / USGA – please fix that one in the next Rules update! – eg: No part of any club may extend 6” beyond the wrist.
Also Rules Officials – Why don’t you penalise a guy that regularity takes more than 2 minutes over a putt?
One good thing to come out of the 2020 US OPEN – Now they’ll definitely roll back the ball (at long last!)

Reply Report comment
Jim Taylor

Sep 21, 2020 at 8:41 am

As a television spectator, I do not at all miss the galleries, the hospitality tents, the concession stands and the attendant Porta Potties. Wingedfoot is such an amazing course and facility and it presented itself so much better without Bobba Booey and Mashed Potatoes there to muck things up.

I have often been highly critical of the USGA for how they have, at times, set up and managed course conditions throughout their premier tournament, but this time they demonstrated that they capable of doing things right.

Much will be made of Bryson’s bomb and gouge victory only because he physically personifies the bomb and gouge golfer to a greater extent than say a Dustin Johnson or a Roy McIlroy, but the USGA absolutely must restrain itself from interfering through some senseless technological “rollback”. If they don’t, they will render themselves obsolete. “Making Golf Great Again” in this fashion, is a really bad idea.

Reply Report comment
William Davis

Sep 21, 2020 at 6:29 am

I found it very uncomfortable viewing – the slowness, the mannerisms, the violence. But that’s just me. It is his life and good luck to him.

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MhtLion

Sep 21, 2020 at 12:40 am

Kudos to BDC for the hard-work, innovative thinking, and the courage to try new ideas! Bryson is definitely not a run of cookie-cutter golfer. I have no doubt BDC will inspire many next-generation golfers.

Reply Report comment
Bob

Sep 20, 2020 at 9:02 pm

Terrible writing. Not dominant! Are you smoking tar? He was 6 strokes clear of the field and The ONLY professional golfer on planet earth under par for the tournament. If I heard correctly on radio he picked up 8 strokes on the field today. Basically every other hole Bryson gained a stroke over the next guy. That is not only dominant that is incredible! Amazing! Historic! This was the toughest us open maybe ever with technology and analytics having maxed human performance and Bryson said nah! Hold my protein shake while I take this trophy. If this was tiger in his prime you would have wet the bed and claimed it was the single greatest moment in golf. Get a grip and get better writers. Maybe you should join Faldo In wine and cheese lounge and you can regale each other with the length of brysons wedges. Which are are longer than yours.

Reply Report comment
- Ronald Montesano
  
  Sep 20, 2020 at 10:37 pm
  
  Hello, Bob. Thank you for checking in. You’re calling the writing “terrible” because of one split hair? That’s quite ephemeral of you.
  
  Did you notice that Bryson was one clear of Matthew when they sawed off the skin on nine with eagles? Also, fawns and faroles aside, Wolff’s performance has no impact on Bryson’s dominance. Dominant is a word reserved for someone who plows a field under from start to finish. Bryson didn’t do that. He chipped away, little by little, and stuck to his plan.
  
  Don’t you agree with me now?
  
  Reply Report comment
  - MhtLion
    
    Sep 21, 2020 at 12:44 am
    
    I agree that BDC was impressive. Dominant? A bit tricky. I think he was dominant in the last 9 holes.
    
    Reply Report comment
Hyperbolic Anabolics

Sep 20, 2020 at 8:51 pm

BAD isn’t natty though. Look at the Hawaiian Islands around that man’s pie hole.

Reply Report comment
- Ronald Montesano
  
  Sep 20, 2020 at 10:39 pm
  
  Thank you for the geography lesson. Natty Golf on Instagram?
  
  Reply Report comment
jeff

Sep 20, 2020 at 8:10 pm

I smile thinking about all the haters out there having an aneurism today. The bulging eyeballs and spittle coming from their lips as they mutter to themselves and whoever will listen; “It’s just not the way the game was meant to play”

Reply Report comment
- Ronald Montesano
  
  Sep 20, 2020 at 10:40 pm
  
  I’m confident that Allan Robertson, Babe Didrickson, Joanne Carner, Ted Ray, Laura Davies, Frank Stranahan, Ben Hogan, and many more, made the genteel heeled ones quiver in their cups, as Bryson did today. Golf evolves, humans evolve. I’m with you, bruh.
  
  Reply Report comment
Miamistomp

Sep 20, 2020 at 8:09 pm

how was that not dominant- Wolff looked like a deer caught in the headlightswhen the chips were down and Bryson never deviated from his plan

Reply Report comment
- Ronald Montesano
  
  Sep 20, 2020 at 10:42 pm
  
  See what I wrote to Bob above. I blended your comment with his in my mind, so your answer is up their, labeled fawns and faroles. Tournament not decided until final nine holes. You can’t call that dominant. Tiger in 2000 was dominant. US Opens are rarely “dominated.”
  
  Reply Report comment
Rich

Sep 20, 2020 at 7:28 pm

Well, the Genius did it again, this time at a major. Not only that, his success can be directly attributed to his modern, innovative thinking. The only player under par for the day, the only player under par for tournament, and 6 shots clear of the field. He absolutely crushed the idea that you can’t bomb-and-gouge your way to a US Open win. And if he can do that to Winged Foot, imagine what’s in store for Augusta in November.

BDC was my inspiration to try single-length irons 4 years ago (Wishon Sterling). I’ve never gone back, and iron play has gone from my weakest area to being as strong as every other part of my game. Thanks, Bryson! (And Tom Wishon, too!)

Reply Report comment
- Ronald Montesano
  
  Sep 20, 2020 at 10:45 pm
  
  I don’t think that he will have the same advantage at Augusta. His advantage was strength out of the rough. Augusta doesn’t have rough like WF.
  
  Also, Augusta’s greens don’t feed like Winged Foot’s did. I bet the members ask Hanse to change the greens to non-feeder. Or, they will ask for hole locations that don’t allow true feeding, as the green jackets do each spring.
  
  He was brilliant, wasn’t he? He bided his time. He didn’t rush. Reminded me of Koepka in his prime.
  
  Reply Report comment

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News

2026 PGA Championship betting odds

Published

1 day ago

May 12, 2026

Gianni Magliocco

Scottie Scheffler leads the betting ahead of the second major championship of the year, with the World Number One a +345 favorite to get his hands on a second PGA Championship.

Rory McIlroy who won the Masters back in April is a +800 shot to complete half of the calendar slam at Aronimink Golf Club this week, while Jordan Spieth can be backed at +5900 to become a career grand slam winner.

Here is the full betting board for the 2026 PGA Championship courtesy of DraftKings.

Scottie Scheffler +345 – (Check 0ut his WITB here)

Rory McIlroy +800 – (Check out his WITB here)

Jon Rahm +1300
Cameron Young +1500
Bryson DeChambeau +1700
Xander Schauffele +1850
Matt Fitzpatrick +1950
Ludvig Aberg +2000
Tommy Fleetwood +2600
Collin Morikawa +3500
Brooks Koepka +3900
Justin Rose +4300
Russell Henley +4600
Si Woo Kim +4700
Justin Thomas +4800
Robert MacIntyre +5300
Patrick Cantlay +5300
Viktor Hovland +5400
Tyrrell Hatton +5500
Jordan Spieth +5900
Sam Burns +6000
Hideki Matsuyama +6200
Adam Scott +6400
Rickie Fowler +7000
Chris Gotterup +7400
Patrick Reed +7400
Min Woo Lee +7800
Ben Griffin +8000
Sepp Straka +8400
Shane Lowry +9000
Akshay Bhatia +9200
Maverick McNealy +9200
Joaquin Niemann +9200
Jake Knapp +9200
Jason Day +9600
Kurt Kitayama +10000
J.J. Spaun +10000
Harris English +10500
Nicolai Hojgaard +11000
Gary Woodland +11000
David Puig +11000
Michael Thorbjornsen +12000
Jacob Bridgeman +12000
Keegan Bradley +12500
Corey Conners +14000
Alex Fitzpatrick +15000
Sungjae Im +15500
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Harry Hall +15500
Alex Noren +16000
Thomas Detry +16500
Marco Penge +16500
Kristoffer Reitan +17000
Alex Smalley +17000
Wyndham Clark +17500
Sam Stevens +17500
Keith Mitchell +17500
Daniel Berger +18500
Ryan Gerard +20000
Nick Taylor +20000
Rasmus Hojgaard +21000
Dustin Johnson +21000
Pierceson Coody +23000
Aaron Rai +24000
Jordan Smith +24000
Angel Ayora +24000
Bud Cauley +25000
Matt McCarty +26000
Jayden Schaper +26000
Brian Harman +27000
Taylor Pendrith +27000
Ryan Fox +27000
J.T. Poston +27000
Cameron Smith +29000
Ryo Hisatsune +29000
Michael Kim +29000
Max Homa +29000
Denny McCarthy +29000
Tom McKibbin +30000
Rico Hoey +32000
Matt Wallace +32500
Ricky Castillo +33000
Haotong Li +33000
Michael Brennan +34000
Max Greyserman +36000
Stephan Jaeger +37500
Christiaan Bezuidenhout +37500
Rasmus Neergaard-Petersen +39000
Aldrich Potgieter +40000
Andrew Novak +42000
Patrick Rodgers +42500
Daniel Hillier +42500
Max McGreevy +46000
Billy Horschel +48000
Chris Kirk +48000
Ian Holt +49000
Casey Jarvis +49000
William Mouw +50000
Steven Fisk +50000
John Parry +50000
Nico Echavarria +52500
Garrick Higgo +52500
John Keefer+55000
Matthias Schmid +57500
Austin Smotherman +57500
Sami Valimaki +60000
Andrew Putnam +60000
Lucas Glover +62500
Daniel Brown +62500
Jhonattan Vegas +75000
Emiliano Grillo +80000
Mikael Lindberg +85000
Adrien Saddier +100000
Bernd Wiesberger +100000
Elvis Smylie +110000
Stewart Cink +130000
Kota Kaneko +130000
David Lipsky +150000
Chandler Blanchet +150000
Andy Sullivan +150000
Joe Highsmith +180000
Adam Schenk +200000
Travis Smyth +200000
Davis Riley +225000
Martin Kaymer +400000
Brian Campbell +400000
Padraig Harrington +450000
Kazuki Higa +450000
Jordan Gumberg +450000
Ryan Vermeer +500000
Austin Hurt +500000
Tyler Collet +500000
Timothy Wiseman +500000
Shaun Micheel +500000
Y.E. Yang +500000
Michael Block+500000
Mark Geddes+500000
Luke Donald+500000
Bryce Fisher+500000
Jimmy Walker +500000
Jason Dufner +500000
Jesse Droemer +500000
Jared Jones +500000
Garrett Sapp +500000
Francisco Bide +500000
Zach Haynes +500000
Paul McClure+500000
Derek Berg +500000
Chris Gabriele +500000
Braden Shattuck +500000
Ben Polland +500000
Ben Kern +50000

Tour Photo Galleries

Photos from the 2026 PGA Championship

Published

2 days ago

May 11, 2026

GolfWRX Staff

GolfWRX is on site for the second major of 2026: The PGA Championship from Aronimink in Newtown Square, Pennsylvania.

The tournament’s location, just outside Philadelphia, and its status as a major championship mean GolfWRXers are in for a treat: WITBs from a strong field, custom gear celebrating the PGA Championship, and the rich culture of the City of Brotherly Love — we have noted a relative absence of cheesesteak-themed items thus far this week, but most of the rest of the usual suspects are well represented.

Check out links to all our photos below.