Bryson DeChambeau showed his true class when asked shortly after his US Open win what he thought about Rory McIlroy and the dejected feelings he would be going through, after an agonising final few holes at Pinehurst.
The world No. 10 won his second major title by a single stroke on the final hole, after McIlroy had bogeyed three of the final four. The Northern Ireland star’s wait for a fifth major now extends to over a decade and he quickly left the course as DeChambeau started his celebrations.
LIV Golf rebel DeChambeau carded a one-over 71 round to finish the week six-under, one better than McIlroy, who opted against undergoing media duties after watching the 30-year-old snatch victory when the tournament appeared to be heading towards a playoff.
McIlroy missed two simple putts from inside three feet over the last three holes, including 26 inches for par on the 72nd, but still had a chance of a decider being forced when DeChambeau went into the daunting rough on his final drive.
The American’s second shot went into the bunker, but a superb sand save landed within four feet of the hole, which he rolled home to capitalise on a crushing collapse from McIlroy.
But DeChambeau was full of kind words in the immediate aftermath of the tournament. When asked if he could empathise with how McIlroy would be feeling, he replied: “Yeah. Rory is one of the best to ever play and being able to fight against a great like that is pretty special.
“For him to miss that put, I never would have wished it on anybody. It just happened to play out that way… he will win multiple more major championships. There is no doubt. I think that fire in him is going to continue to grow and I have nothing but respect for how he plays the game of golf.
“Because to be honest, when he was climbing up the leaderboard and he was two ahead I was like: ‘Uh oh, uh oh’. But luckily things went my way.”
McIlroy’s last major success came at the 2014 US PGA, but the closest he has come to breaking that duck has been at the US Open. Last year he came in one shot behind Wyndham Clark and his putting woes returned again at the worst possible time for another cruel near-miss in North Carolina.
A year ago, when McIlroy took second place at the US Open in Los Angeles, he said: “When I do finally win this next major, it’s going to be really, really sweet. I would go through 100 Sundays like this to get my hands on another major championship.”