Bryson DeChambeau is many things but boring typically isn’t one of them.
Yet DeChambeau announced Tuesday that he endeavors to play “boring golf” this week in the 124th U.S. Open at Pinehurst Resort’s No. 2 course.
“If I get my irons in a place where I’m hitting it in the middle of the greens and just playing boring golf, that’s the goal for me this week is try to play as boring a golf as possible,” DeChambeau said.
That sounds a bit strange coming from a man who created headlines everywhere earlier in his career with his long-drive prowess and aggressive play. Now, the 2020 U.S. Open champion wants to play it safe this weekend.
“Looking forward to a tough test of golf out here. Pinehurst is no joke,” DeChambeau said. “You have to hit it in the middle of the greens. And this is a Boo Weekley quote, but the center of the green never moves, so I’ll try to focus on that this week.”
DeChambeau, 30, wasn’t alone in his plan to play it close to the vest.
“Obviously embracing what I would have called boring back in the day,” Rory McIlroy said Tuesday of his approach for the tournament. “Explosive isn’t going to win this golf tournament. It’s more of a methodical building of a score. … It’s more of a reframing of a mindset.”
DeChambeau was on the same wavelength as McIlroy.
“It stinks hitting a 6-iron off the tee compared to a driver, but sometimes you’ve got to do it and you’ve got to make the right decision for shooting the lowest score out here,” DeChambeau said. “There’s numerous holes like 3, I’d love to go for that green every single day, and I may go for it. I don’t know, you never know with me. Certainly on the tee box if it’s downwind, I’ll give it a go probably.”
DeChambeau gave it a go last week before finishing one stroke behind winner Xander Schauffele at the PGA Championship. He will compete against many of his former PGA Tour rivals again this week, after posting four top-10 finishes in eight LIV Golf tournaments this season.
“I’m looking forward to a great challenge this week,” DeChambeau said. “It’s a lot of boring golf. It’s definitely different than Valhalla, but I’ll try to do my best to show the crowd some fun drives and some hopefully long-made putts.”
–Field Level Media