LOS ANGELES – Another men’s major championship, another LIV Golf player near the top of the leaderboard.
At the Masters it was Brooks Koepka, Phil Mickelson and Patrick Reed leading the charge for the upstart circuit led by Greg Norman and financially backed by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund. Koepka then won the PGA Championship, with Bryson DeChambeau just a few shots back. At this week’s 2023 U.S. Open at Los Angeles Country Club, DeChambeau is back in the mix once again.
The 2020 U.S. Open winner shot a 3-under 67 in the opening round at the exclusive club in Beverly Hills and walked off the course T-3 behind Rickie Fowler and Xander Schauffele, who each made major championship history with their efforts of 8-under 62.
“Pretty much how I thought it would play,” said DeChambeau of Thursday morning’s fair conditions. “The greens were definitely receptive, which was nice. I think they’re going to get a lot firmer. Obviously tomorrow afternoon is going to be firm. This afternoon is going to be firm, and the wind is picking up, so it’s not going to be too easy. Hopefully the wind isn’t present tomorrow. That’ll be a huge advantage for us in the early wave.”
U.S. Open: Leaderboard, tee times, hole-by-hole
“But you had to get after it today. If you didn’t, you’re going to be behind the 8-ball,” he continued. “Lucky enough to shoot a good score today.”
A #USOpen par save from @b_dechambeau.
pic.twitter.com/XkztYn6XcZ
— U.S. Open (USGA) (@usopengolf) June 15, 2023
The former bulked-up bomber is still no small fry but has slimmed down since he brought Winged Foot to its knees in 2020. Before his opening round, DeChambeau spent a considerable amount of time on the range Wednesday mashing drivers and working to replicate a swing feel he used to have.
“I’ve been hitting more golf balls than I would like to ever. It’s just, again, I’m trying to figure out what I did in 2018 that made it so repeatable, and I’m very close to figuring it out,” said DeChambeau. “Just going to a take a little bit more time, little bit more grinding, a little more thought. Got to come up with something unique that allows me to be super stable through impact like I was.”
Starting his round on the back, DeChambeau was even par through his opening nine holes before he caught fire on his second nine. He sandwiched two birdies around a bad bogey on the par-4 second hole and added two more on Nos. 6 and 10, a drivable par 4 and two-shot par 5, respectively.
“Yeah, certainly there’s the idea of laying up and having a nice wedge in there, but if you miss your wedge you’re in the stuff,” DeChambeau said of the risk-reward to go for the green on No. 6. “I think personally just being in the stuff right off the tee and chipping it up there hopefully close on the green and giving yourself a 20-footer for birdie, worst case scenario, is the best thing you can do every day. I’ve been going for it, and hopefully it pays off.”
DeChambeau fancies himself a big-brain thinker, and noted how every course has its own unique strategy that you can apply. He was able to exploit Winged Foot with his distance, which is still an advantage here at LACC, but the course requires more than just a long ball.
“This golf course you’ve got to be a great putter. You’ve got to have great iron play into the greens. You’ve got to be disciplined. It teases you wanting to go for certain shots in certain places, and you’ve got to be a great driver of the ball,” he said. “Everybody thinks the fairways are wide. No, no, no. If you pull it or push it it’s rolling out of the fairway. That’s how firm and fast they are and how much slope there is. You can say they’re wide fairways but realistically they’re like 25-yard fairways at best in some areas.”
DeChambeau struggled early in the year at the Masters with a missed cut and also in LIV Golf events, with finishes of T-23, T-44, T-16, T-26 and T-19 in the first five 48-player field tournaments of the season. Over the last two months, he finished T-5 in Tulsa and T-9 in Washington, D.C., as well as T-4 at last month’s PGA Championship.
“If I have what I had at the PGA, I’ll be contending (this week) for sure.”