AUGUSTA, GEORGIA | There was an extended moment early Sunday afternoon when Bryson DeChambeau might have had one arm in the green jacket.
It was still early, two holes into the final round, but DeChambeau had gone from two behind third-round leader Rory McIlroy to one ahead and it was difficult not to think back to DeChambeau’s U.S. Open victory at Pinehurst – at McIlroy’s expense – last June.
“Great. Feeling awesome. Felt in control,” DeChambeau said of the moment.
Then came a three-putt bogey at the short par-4 third and another bogey at the par-3 fourth and suddenly he was playing from behind again.
“If I just had somewhat of good iron play this week, it would have been a lot different outcome.”
Bryson DeChambeau
And DeChambeau knew what he was up against.
He had struggled with his iron play all week and through an extended warm-up session prior to the final round, DeChambeau was chasing something he never caught.
“If I just had somewhat of good iron play this week, it would have been a lot different outcome. But could have, should have, would haves. You've got to do it out here,” said DeChambeau, whose final-round 75 left him tied for fifth.
DeChambeau hit just 59 percent of his greens through the week, ranking T40 among the 53 players who made the cut. It was a testament to DeChambeau’s putting – his 108 putts tied him with Tom Hoge for fewest in the field – that he remained among the leaders.
The player who obsesses over technology and every detail of his approach to the game, DeChambeau was perplexed by his inconsistency. He hit too many iron shots off the heel of the club and it cost him.
DeChambeau was already five strokes behind McIlroy when his Masters effectively ended when he hit his 9-iron approach shot into the water at the 11th hole, leading to a double bogey.
“I just tried to hit a draw in there and it started five degrees left and I'm like, you've got to be kidding me,” DeChambeau said.
At the par-5 15th, DeChambeau found the water again, short of the green.
“There's a lot to take away from this week, a lot to learn, a lot to be proud of, a lot to be pissed about,” DeChambeau said.
Paired with McIlroy on Sunday, what felt like a potential battle of personalities and styles never fully materialized. When they walked off the third green tied, both were greeted like prize fighters entering the ring as they made the climb to the fourth tee.
By the time they finished the par-3, McIlroy was three clear of DeChambeau after consecutive two-stroke swings on the third and fourth holes.
There wasn’t much chitchat between the two.
“Didn't talk to me once all day,” DeChambeau said.
Asked if he tried to initate a conversation with McIlroy during the round, DeChambeau said, “He wouldn’t talk to me.”
Still, when McIlroy flared an easy wedge shot into the creek at the par-5 13th hole, leading to a potentially devastating double bogey, DeChambeau felt for him.
“I wanted to cry for him. I mean, as a professional, you just know to hit it in the middle of the green, and I can't believe he went for it, or must have just flared it,” DeChambeau said.
“But I've hit bad shots in my career, too, and it happens.”
Ron Green Jr.