OAKMONT, Pa. — Struggles with the putter, including a three-putt to begin the championship, and a few too many trips to the rough that was too penal, “even for a guy like me,” resulted in a rocky three-over 73 Thursday for defending champion Bryson DeChambeau in the first round of the U.S. Open.
The two-time champion wasn’t dialed in to the degree necessary at increasingly ornery Oakmont Country Club, and there was no hiding his disappointment on a day that only got warmer with the steam coming off the foreheads of frustrated players.
DeChambeau, 31, might have been among the most irked by the number of loose shots he executed when he had a chance to post something around par—or better.
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“Just didn’t get anything out of it,” said DeChambeau, who hit 13 of 18 greens in regulation but failed to take advantage. “I got to one under through eight, perfect drive on nine. And just this golf course can come up and get you pretty quick, and you just got to be on your game. And it got me and I wasn’t fully on my game. So I’m pretty disappointed with how I played, and it’s not too far off, you know, just got to get the putting a little bit more dialed, and I’ll be right there, because three over could have easily been two under today.”
Playing in his 10th U.S. Open, DeChambeau gained strokes with his long game and lost them on the greens thanks to three three-putts among other miscues. The 10th-ranked player in the world toured his final 10 holes in four over par, his struggles highlighted by a bogey at the ninth from the middle of the fairway (thanks to another three putt) and a sloppy bogey at the par-5 12th after blasting his second shot through the green into a thick lie.
Things you only hear at the U.S. Open.
A big bogey save by Bryson at the par-5 12th. pic.twitter.com/9B6Q7oCrR9
— U.S. Open (@usopengolf) June 12, 2025
That’s where the fun really began.
DeChambeau needed a 25-footer from the fringe to salvage bogey, the one time his putter bailed him out. Before that came three poor pitch shots, one that darted long and right and then two that he barely moved.
“I was on a 45-degree upslope [on the third shot] so there’s really not much I’m trying to do,” he said. “I’m hitting like a semi-half flop, and it came out like a jumper and just shot and knuckled right. I’m like, well, horrible decision, but life goes on. Yeah, just a horrible lie. It should have been a 7-iron. I should have just ran it up there instead of trying to get cute with it. That’s the U.S. Open for you. I’ve got to be more dialed in than what I was today.”
Meanwhile, he could attest that the rough was as nasty as advertised. The long-hitting California native, who tamed the rough-hewn Winged Foot in 2020 with his power game, struggled like every other mortal.
“The rough is incredibly penalizing. Even for a guy like me, I can’t get out of it some of the times, depending on the lie,” DeChambeau said. “It was tough. It was a brutal test of golf. But one that I’m excited for tomorrow. If I just tidy up a couple things and get some momentum going my way, we’ll see where it goes.”
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This article was originally published on golfdigest.com
