PINEHURST: Bryson DeCha­mbeau captured his second US Open title on Sunday, but it was an epic late collapse by a gutted Rory McIlroy that will be remembered from the thrilling showdown at Pinehurst.

Overtaken by McIlroy with six holes remaining to play, DeCha­mbeau kept his poise over the dome-shaped greens and sandy waste areas of Pinehurst to rally for the crown.

McIlroy, thwarted in a bid to end a 10-year major win drought, led by two strokes with five holes to play.

But the four-time major winner from Northern Ireland made bogeys on three of the last four holes — two on short par putts at 16 and 18 — to help hand DeChambeau the trophy.

DeChambeau, who also won the 2020 US Open, fired a one-over-par 71 to finish on six-under-par 274 while McIlroy shot 69 to stand on 275 after 72 holes.

In addition to taking the $4.3 million winner’s prize from a record $21.5 million purse, DeCh­ambeau will jump from 38th to 10th in the next world rankings and have five more years of starts in all majors.

In a collapse mindful of Greg Norman’s epic 1996 last-round loss to Nick Faldo at the Masters, McIlroy missed par putts from 2.5 feet at the par-4 16th and just inside four feet at the par-4 18th — tension-packed bogeys that left McIlroy one behind in the thriller.DeChambeau found dirt and weeds left and a bunker at 18 but blasted his third shot to four feet and sank his pressure-packed putt for the victory.

The 30-year-old Ame­rican became the second active player of Saudi-backed LIV Golf to win a major title after Brooks Koepka in the 2023 PGA Championship.

It was the sixth consecutive win by an American in a major since Spain’s Jon Rahm took last year’s Masters.

Americans Tony Finau and Patrick Cantlay shared third on 276, two off the pace, with Finau firing a 67.

France’s Matthieu Pavon was fifth on 277 after a 71, one stroke ahead of Japan’s Hideki Matsuyama, who fired a 70 to stand on 278.

DeChambeau answ­ered bogeys at the fourth and 12th holes with birdies at the par-5 10th and par-4 13th to keep the pressure on McIlroy until he cracked.

McIlroy settled for his second US Open runner-up effort in a row and his 21st top-10 finish since last winning a major at the 2014 PGA Championship.

DeChambeau suffered his first three-putt bogey of the tournament, lipping out a four-foot par putt at the par-3 15th to fall one back, only for McIlroy to botch his short putts, his only misses of the day inside five feet.

World number one Scottie Scheffler, the huge pre-tournament favourite, fired a two-over 72 to stand on eight-over 288 for what was only his second finish outside the top-10 this year.

Published in Dawn, June 20th, 2024