Bryson DeChambeaus planned U.S. Open strategy | Golf News

Defending champion Bryson DeChambeau strutted into the 2025 U.S. Open at Oakmont Country Club exuding confidence. He vowed to show a “fearlessly,” strategy, significantly wielding his driver that had beforehand pushed him to two U.S. Open victories.

However, DeChambeau’s daring techniques unraveled spectacularly by the second spherical, lacking the cut following a guidelines kerfuffle and in the end falling far back from the pack — a stark reminder of Oakmont’s uncompromising problem.

In a riveting pre-tournament remark, DeChambeau hinted at his aggressive recreation plan. “It depends… how many drivers I will hit depends on how I’m hitting it,” he remarked. I’m hitting it fairly properly proper now… hopefully I haven’t got to hit that a lot.”

“Can I be fearless on this golf course? Well, yeah… It’s not like every single gap is Winged Foot… You cannot just bomb it on every single gap… I’m going to be as fearless as I can presumably be on the market; I do know that.”

Alas, his audacity didn’t hold up against Oakmont’s first-day onslaught. DeChambeau carded a disheartening 3-over-par 73, aligning him with top players like world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler and Rory McIlroy, who also stumbled.

Afterwards, he voiced his vexation, conceding the course’s innate difficulty: “This golf course can come up and get you fairly fast… it received me, and I wasn’t absolutely on my recreation,” DeChambeau admitted, adding that with sharper putting, he believed he’d still have a shot at the title.

The pressure mounted early for DeChambeau when an odd incident on the fourth hole nearly resulted in a stroke penalty. His initial drive veered off into the spectator path, followed by an incorrect relief procedure with his caddie – he incorrectly “positioned” the ball rather than dropping it, leading to a sharp rules official stepping in.

DeChambeau acknowledged his mistake, confessing he said to himself, “That was dumb,” but still managed to make par. Yet, it was Oakmont’s formidable situations that posed the better problem.

The course’s infamous tough and slick greens took their toll, subduing the rivals; a mere ten golfers remained under par following the opening spherical.

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The second spherical did not offer any reprieve, as continued points with strategy play and placing added to his difficulties.

As the projected cut tightened to +7, DeChambeau discovered himself outdoors the margins at +10, marking an surprising downturn for the present U.S. Open victor.

Oakmont now provides DeChambeau to the record of prior champions confounded by its stern structure, his earlier bravado about enjoying fearlessly turning into a lesson in course management and modesty.