How Bryce DeChambeau Won the 2024 U.S. Open

Bryson DeChambeau won his second U.S. Open after a remarkable performance on the 18th hole of the final round and a few shocking missed putts from Rory McIlroy

Bryson DeChambeau came up clutch in the 2024 U.S. Open, winning the tournament by a single stroke after an incredible bunker shot on the 18 hole. He outlasted the second-ranked golfer in the world Rory McIlroy, who held a two-stroke lead with just a couple of holes remaining before a few missed puts and untimely bogies caused him to fall down the leaderboard. While the internet had fun trolling McIlroy, he played extremely well and it took a tremendous performance from DeChambau for him to win the tournament. Let’s break down Bryce DeChamnbeau’s performance during the 2024 U.S. Open and see how he was able to secure his second career Major championship.

Overall Performance

Bryson DeChambeau won this year’s U.S. Open after finishing six strokes under par, one stroke better than runner-up Rory McIlroy. He was great in the first two rounds, finishing round one with a score of 67 and then finishing round two with a score of 69. He continued to play well in round three, shooting a 67 once again, but he struggled a little bit in the final round, shooting a 71, which was his worst round of the tournament. Despite struggling a bit in the final round, DeChambeau was still able to come through in clutch moments and he had some insane shots to secure the victory. 

While raw stroke totals are used for scoring in golf, this stat ignores a lot of important factors that you must consider when evaluating a golfer’s performance. We can measure a golfer’s performance in different areas using a stat called strokes gained, which takes into account, shot length, hole length, and lie type, to produce a positive or negative score. Negative scores indicate areas for improvement, while positive scores indicate the golfer performed well. DeChambeau led the U.S. Open in strokes gained, indicating that he truly performed at an extremely high level across the entire tournament.

Driving

Bryson DeChambeau is well known for his aggressive playstyle off the tea and he drove the ball at a high level during the 2024 U.S. Open. DeChambeau ranked fourth in this tournament in strokes gained off the tee, with a mark of +1.12. Interestingly, he wasn’t that accurate on drives, as just 58.9% of his drives reached the fairway. However, he made up for this with his distance as his drives traveled 318.9 yards on average, the third-best mark in the tournament

Approach

While he was really good at driving the ball, he was also amazing in the approach game. During the entire tournament, his approach shots from the fairway and intermediate rough between 50 and 250 yards were 33.4 feet from the pin on average. Also, he hit the green at least two strokes under par 65.3% of the time. His top ten ranking in fairway proximity and green in regulation allowed him to rank 9th in strokes gained on approach shots.

Short Game

The one area where DeChambeau wasn’t quite elite was the short game. He wasn’t bad in this area at all, producing quite well on and around the green, but he wasn’t quite as dominant in this area as he was on approach shots and drives. During the 2024 U.S. Open, he holed in 59.4% of his shots around the green up to 50 yards out within two strokes or less. He also ranked top twenty in strokes gained on putts and around the green. Like I said earlier, he wasn’t at the top of the tournament in short-game metrics, but he was still very good in this area and this combined with his strong approach and driving metrics show that he was playing at a ridiculously high level.

Insane final hole

Before we wrap things up, I wanted to highlight DeChambeau’s performance on the 18th hole of the final round, because what he did on this hole was absolutely insane.

For context, heading into this hole, he was tied with Rory McIlroy for the lead at six under par. A birdie would likely win the tournament and a par would likely force an 18-hole playoff the next day. A bogey, which would’ve been brutal, would likely lose him the tournament, so there was a ton of pressure.

DeChambeau kicked off the hole by hitting a drive into the rough to the left of the fairway which put him in a brutal position hitting under a tree. Before his next shot, McIlroy missed a short put and finished the hole with a bogey, putting him in second place at five under par and giving DeChambeau a chance to win if he reaches par.

This seemed unlikely when he hit the ball from the rough into a bunker, leaving him with a 55-yard shot from the sand. He would have to get up and down and sink a putt to win the tournament. The more likely scenario is he gets on the green and two putts to force a playoff. Well, DeChambeau didn’t settle for a bogey, as he hit a ridiculous shot from the bunker to set up about a four-foot putt, which he drained to reach par and secure the second U.S. Open victory of his young career.

Bryson DeChambeau was amazing during the 2024 U.S. Open, combining elite driving with excellent approach shots and a very strong short game. He wasn’t always accurate on drives and his short game wasn’t quite as good as his driving, but he was very good in pretty much every area. That’s what it takes to beat a golfer like Rory McIlroy, who had an excellent tournament in his own right and would’ve won had he made a few short putts at the end of the final round. Shout out to DeChambeau for a terrific performance and a clutch finish to claim another major championship.