Grayson Jones watched as the ball crept closer and closer and closer. Jon Yarbrough took a peek, too. Then Scott Stallings, who smiled. Would it hit the flagstick Jones was holding?
No, it did not. Sadness. It missed just to the right.
But from some 370 yards away — ! — Bryson DeChambeau’s hit was still striking.
Or perhaps not, considering the source. This is old hat for one of the game’s longest hitters. This week, during the Open Championship at Royal Liverpool, DeChambeau ranked toward the top in driving distance, Strokes Gained: Driving and longest overall drive — the latter coming on his effort on the 367-yard, par-4 4th on Sunday during the final round.
Here’s the blow-by-blow:
DeChambeau hit.
Four seconds after contact, he shouted: “Fore.”
His ball struck in between the two bunkers that front the green — a gap of about five yards.
His ball rolled up the green, about 10 yards to the right of the hole, on the line where Jones was standing with the flagstick. Jones was the caddie for Zack Fischer, who was putting as part of the twosome ahead. The ball also slid to the left of Yarbrough, who was the caddie for Stallings.
DeChambeau’s ball finished just past the hole, and 27 feet, 4 inches to the right.
“This is special,” analyst Alison Whitaker said on the USA Network broadcast.
“Bryson DeChambeau,” analyst John Cook said, “with the group in front on the green at the 4th, takes a run at the green and right through the bunkers, right on the back end of the green. He thought the hole location was right there where the pin is.
“It didn’t matter for Bryson.”
Indeed. From there, DeChambeau converted, rolling in the putt for a two, the first eagle of the week on the 4th. He finished with a two-over 73, and a seven-over total, which could be labeled somewhat of a disappointment.
Heading into the week, he had been finding form, finishing tied for 11th, second, tied for ninth and tied for fifth across his past four LIV Golf tournaments; tied for fourth in May at the PGA Championship; and tied for 20th last month at the U.S Open.
“My game is back, and I’ve just got to tighten things up for next week and the week after, which that’s a major,” DeChambeau said at the start of the month, at LIV’s event in Spain.
“I want to win a major.”
