PINEHURST – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – Bryson DeChambeau parred the final three holes to complete a 1-over-par 71, and that was enough for a one-shot victory at the U.S. Open in North Carolina, winning the championship for the second time in five years.
DeChambeau, who began the day with a three-shot lead, finished at 6-under 274, benefitting from Rory McIlroy’s late putting failures.
McIlroy, who gained the lead on the back side, bogeyed the last hole by missing a par putt from about 4 feet. Then DeChambeau, playing in the last group, clinched it with a par putt after blasting out of a greenside bunker on his third shot.
DeChambeau became the second former Southern Methodist University golfer to win a U.S. Open at Pinehurst No. 2, with this title coming 25 years after Payne Stewart’s memorable championship.
McIlroy’s 69 was tainted by bogeys on three of the last four holes, and he finished as the U.S. Open runner-up for the second year in a row. McIlroy, who won the 2011 U.S. Open, was trying to secure his fifth major championship and his first since 2014.