Bryson DeChambeau puts on a show but somehow fails at the PGA Championship

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — The putt that barely dropped into the 18th hole on the very last rotation. The tee shot hit a tree at number 16 but came back into the fairway. Chip-ins from the green, fist pumping in the air and fist bumping with the fans.

Bryson DeChambeau put on the kind of show and got the kind of breaks that make players larger than life and sometimes win them major titles, too. Yet when DeChambeau looked at the scoreboard for the last time Sunday at the PGA Championship, his name remained second.

DeChambeau’s final putt resulted in a birdie to cap a thrilling round of 7-under 64 – tied for best of the day – and put him at 20-under par. That was good enough to share the lead with Xander Schauffele and also share part of the major championship goals record.

Half an hour later, Schauffele birdied from virtually the same angle — his putt circled the cup before falling — to break the tie, break the scoring record, capture his first major and leave DeChambeau stuck on a middle finger itself.

Instead of all the fun he generated on Sunday, the lasting image of DeChambeau in this one might be of him standing, hands on hips, looking at the big board near the driving range and watching Schauffele’s winning putt enter. Once he landed, DeChambeau quickly turned and exited stage left, heading to the 18th to congratulate Schauffele.

The 2020 US Open remains his only major tournament, but no golf fan will soon forget the charge he put on, the fun he had with the fans and the exhilarating near miss in another shot heart in Valhalla.

The holes that everyone will remember from the final round were 16 and 18. On 16, DeChambeau was yelling “Fore!” when he hooked his tee shot deep into the woods left of the fairway. It flipped among the trees, then landed 221 yards from the hole in the fairway.

He pulled the 8-iron and placed the shot to 3 feet, taking a monster step forward, waving his arms, then leaning forward and putting his hands on his knees, urging the ball to do exactly what it did: land and stop for its simplest. birdie putt of the day.

Playing two groups ahead of Schauffele, DeChambeau needed a birdie at the 18th to tie things up and put some pressure on. He launched into an awkward lie into a bunker left of the fairway, but hit a 4-iron to the first rough shot near the green.

The chip stopped at 10 feet and the putt didn’t seem to have enough steam. On the very last lap, he fell. He pulled the ball out of the hole, threw his fist in the air, then punched the fans with his fist as he left the course and returned to the driving range.

It was his second dramatic act on the 18th. The day before, he had used a 6 iron 10 meters from the green to participate in an eagle which had put him two shots ahead. It was a preview of things to come, and DeChambeau delivered all the drama, even if it didn’t come with a title.

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