Why golf needs to grasp epic US Open finish - the game's biggest moment in LIV Golf era


It was golf’s biggest moment by far in the game’s new landscape and needs to be grasped. If not, a golden opportunity will have been lost to deliver a decade for the ages because an epic finish to the 124th US Open at Pinehurst was the exact reason why talks between the PGA Tour, DP World Tour and the Saudi Arabian Public Investment Fund began just over a year ago.
Make no mistake, the LIV Golf League is here to stay because, as those talks have been ongoing, all sorts of commercial deals have been announced by the Saudi-backed circuit, which, quite clearly, is PIF chief Yasir Al-Rumayyan’s pride and joy. LIV Golf disappearing and the old landscape being restored simply isn’t going to happen.
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Hide AdWhich is fine as long as the game’s best players are competing against each other more than four times per year, as, of course, has been the case since LIV Golf was launched in 2022, and, boy, did the season’s third major deliver due to that being the case in North Carolina on Sunday.


I’ll be honest here by admitting that, over the first three days, I didn’t really enjoy seeing good golf shots being punished because, quite frankly, I don’t think that should happen, as was the case when Rory McIlroy seemingly hit two crackers at the par-5 fifth in the final round only to walk off there with a bogey after his ball rolled all the way from the middle of the green into a sandy waste area and eventually stopping 50 feet away.
By the looks of things, though, lots of others were gripped by this particular event due to the margin for error being so slim and we all know, of course, that the USGA is always keen to try and set up borderline tests, which, on this occasion, produced a last day that was up there with the ‘Duel in the Sun’ at Turnberry in the 1977 Open and the ‘Tussle at Troon’ in the same event in 2016.
Let’s call this one the ‘Punch up at Pinehurst’, with DeChambeau delivering the knock-out blow as he produced a sensational 50-yard bunker shot to save par at the 72nd hole, leaving McIlroy with a bloody nose in the process after he’d looked to be on the verge of finally ending a ten-year major drought when suddenly finding himself with a two-shot lead coming down the stretch only to miss two putts inside three feet in dropping three shots in the final four holes. Ouch!
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Hide AdWe’ll get round to what impact that might have on him going forward, but, first and foremost, let’s give DeChambeau the credit he deserves for a second US Open success, which saw him join Bobby Jones, Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods as the only players to win the US Amateur Championship and multiple US Opens.
Let’s not beat about the bush here. DeChambeau was a muppet at times in the past, his ridiculous outbursts about a malfunctioning driver during the 2021 Open at Royal St George’s instantly springing to mind and also when he declared that he felt a personal par for him at Augusta National was 67 as opposed to 72 due to his big-hitting ability only to quickly find out otherwise.
Ever since first coming across him at the 2017 Walker Cup at Royal Lytham, I had never been a huge fan, but, along with many others it appears by the sounds of things, he’s now earned my respect due to the way he’s come out this year and actually shown what still matters most to him and that, of course, is major titles.
It was a brilliant moment at The Masters in April when he was pictured carrying a huge sign, almost cross-like, to move out of the way when he was in contention in the season’s opening major before getting himself in the mix once again in last month’s PGA Championship at Valhalla. That he came out on top on this occasion was more down to his brilliant short game than being able to hit it miles and there can be absolutely no denying now that DeChambeau has enormous pulling power in terms of getting eyeballs on golf.
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Hide AdHe absolutely milked this win to the limit and why not as he’s a proud and passionate American and winning his national Open is the ultimate achievement, though the cries of “USA, USA, USA” from some of the home fans as the closing circuit unfolded were, in my opinion at least, out of order because this, after all, wasn’t the Ryder Cup and majors are all about an individual, not teams and not tours.
As was the case when Brooks Koepka became the first LIV Golf player to win a major in last year’s PGA Championship, it was refreshing that DeChambeau didn’t seem interested in wanting to gloat about where he now plays the majority of his golf and, in truth, I honestly think that’s because he knows a divided game simply isn’t healthy for the sport in the long term.
So, hats off toDeChambeau for contributing enormously to the game’s marquee events so far this season and it’s certainly exciting that he’ll be heading to Scotland in a few weeks’ time to tee up in the 152 Open at Royal Troon, where, incidentally, the Americans will be bidding to make it seven major victories in a row in the men’s game.
As for McIlroy, only time will tell what damage those final few holes will do going forward, but, rather than be in the doom and gloom camp, I actually think it could be the catalyst for the Northern Irishman really starting to kick on again in majors. Yes, of course, the pressure got to him on this occasion, but let’s not overlook the fantastic final round he’d put together to give himself an opportunity to win in one of these events again.
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Hide AdHis all-round game is probably as good as it has ever been and, though he’ll be hurting like hell right now and understandably so, there’s no reason why McIlroy can’t turn this dose of disappointment into a joyous occasion for him on the Ayrshire coast then go again and again in these events over the next decade.
To everyone involved in those talks about golf’s future at the top level, please soak in Sunday and do everything you possibly can to give golf fans what they deserve.
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