With a final-round 67, Bryson DeChambeau claimed his maiden major championship title at the U.S. Open.
DeChambeau finished his four rounds at Winged Foot Golf Club on 6-under par, six shots clear of runner-up Matthew Wolff.
In the process, the California native joined Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods as the only players in history to win the NCAA Individual title, the U.S. Amateur, and the U.S. Open.
The victory earned DeChambeau $2,250,000, 600 FedExCup points, and 100 Official World Golf Rankings points.
Afterwards, an excited DeChambeau met with the media to discuss his first career major victory. Here are a few pulls from the back and forth.
This week’s 3 Questions for the Winner is powered by The Titleist Store at Amazon.
The Moment
It’s going to be hard to reflect on right now, but that moment when you putted in on 18 and you put your hands in the air, what was going through your mind?
BRYSON DeCHAMBEAU: I did it. I did it. As difficult as this golf course was presented, I played it beautifully.
Even through the rough, I was still able to manage my game and hit it to correct sides of the greens, except on 14 today, and kept plugging away. My putting was immaculate today. My speed control, incredible. That’s why we worked so hard on my speed control. You see me out there on the greens with the device trying to control my speed.
It’s just something that allows me and gives me comfort to know that on this green, or these speeds of greens, you know, it’s going to be repeatable. It’s going to be this. It’s going to be that. It’s going to be comfort in knowing how far I can take it back and go through.
So many times I relied on science, and it worked every single time.
Multi-Dimensional Player
There’s so much talk about the driving and the distance and whatnot, but you did shoot the best score today by three, I believe. Do you feel like you’re proving, with a victory in a Major like this, on a golf course like this, even more so that you’re not just a one-dimensional player?
BRYSON DeCHAMBEAU: No, I think I’ve got a lot of creativity. Phil said it to me earlier this week. He said, in 2006, I had the best short game week of my life, and that really stuck out to me for some reason because I just knew that, if I did hit it in the rough, I’m going to have to get it up and down quite a bit.
So I made sure that I needed to practice those shots coming into the week, and I did that beautifully, and I felt super comfortable out of the rough no matter the situation.
I mean, a perfect example was No. 14, uphill lie, just hit it off the top of the face, came out dead and rolled down there to ten feet, and I made it. That was huge. If I don’t make that and he makes his, you know, we’ve got a fight.
So, yeah, I think that answered your question. I don’t know. I’m just kind of rambling a little bit.
Getting Even Bigger
Just for the record, what is your current height and weight?
BRYSON DeCHAMBEAU: 6’1″, 230 to 235, depending on if I’ve eaten steak or not.
Do you want to be bigger when you get to Augusta?
DeCHAMBEAU: Yeah.
What would you say is your like — what are you shooting for?
DeCHAMBEAU: I think I can get to 245. It’s going to be a lot of working out. I don’t think it’s possible — it may be, I don’t know. It’s just I’ve gained so much so quickly in a year.
They always say, when you work out, you gain your 30 pounds or whatever it is, and then after that, each year, you half it. So you can go 15. If you keep working out every day, you keep halving it. And then eventually there comes a point where you can’t gain much more.
But I still feel like I can get up there if you work hard enough.
What’s your answer to people who say it can’t be healthy for the body?
DeCHAMBEAU: I am talking to a doctor. I got all my blood sample tests, everything back a couple weeks ago. Everything is fine so far. We’re going to keep monitoring it and making sure I’m as healthy as possible because I do want to live for a long time.
Credit: PGA Tour Media, Fastscripts, Getty Images
