LOUISVILLE, Ky. – The putt that barely fell into the 18th hole on the very last rotation. The tee shot that hit a tree on No. 16 but careened back into the fairway. The chip-ins from off the green, the fist pumps in the air and the fist bumps with the fans.
Bryson DeChambeau put on the kind of show, and got the sort of breaks, that make players larger than life and sometimes win them major titles, too. Yet somehow, when DeChambeau looked up at the final scoreboard at the PGA Championship on Sunday, his name was stuck in second.
DeChambeau’s last putt trickled in for a birdie to close a thrill-a-minute round of 7-under 64 — tied for best of the day — and put him at 20-under par. It was good enough to share the lead with Xander Schauffele and also share a piece of the major-championship scoring record.
A half-hour later Schauffele made birdie from virtually the same angle — his putt lipped halfway around the cup before falling in — to break the tie, break the scoring record, capture his first major and leave DeChambeau stuck on one major himself.
Warming up for a potential playoff, DeChambeau stood with his hands on his hips, stared at the big board near the driving range and watched Schauffele’s putt go in, then turned to his left and briskly walked away.
The 2020 U.S. Open remains his only major, but no golf fans will soon forget the charge he put on, the fun he had with the fans, and the exhilarating near-miss in yet another heart-stopper at Valhalla.
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