The moment we’ve all been waiting for has arrived. Bryson DeChambeau is a major champion. Let’s discuss.

120th U.S. Open

It was moderately windy and cool at Winged Foot Golf Club on Sunday. But while temperatures ranged from the low 40s to the low 60s, Bryson DeChambeau turned up the heat. Starting two shots behind leader Matthew Wolff, Bryson shot the best round of the day by three strokes. All facets of his game were rock solid. He ended up winning by six. U.S. Open Results

We’ve poked fun at how Bryson has discussed and marketed his recent physical transformation, but his results speak for themselves. He has had nine top-10 finishes, including two victories, since late February, and his distance gains have taken the golf world by storm. On a difficult day at Winged Foot, Bryson was the only man in the field to break 70. In fact, no one else in the 54-hole top 10 shot lower than 73. He left no doubt as to who was the best player in the field, and his Sunday performance put an emphatic stamp of approval on his aggressive, attacking strategy at Winged Foot. The win moves Bryson to No. 5 in the Official World Golf Ranking, but it’s hard not to see him going higher very soon.

Athletic Brewing

Much like the chocolate milk Bryson drank during his press conference, we’re choosing a non-alcoholic option from Athletic Brewing this week. Athletic’s beers are low in calories so you won’t feel like a Thicc Boi. Plus, Athletic ships free nationwide, so you can get their brews wherever you live.

Use code FriedEggFall20 at checkout for 20% off! Beer me!

The BIG takeaway

On Sunday at Winged Foot, Bryson DeChambeau didn’t just dominate the field; he dominated the golf course. Many thought Winged Foot’s narrow fairways and deep rough would mitigate the advantage of distance off the tee, but the setup actually appeared to enhance it. Of the 61 players who made the cut, only 11 hit 50% of their fairways or more. Bryson found a total of 23 fairways over four days, the lowest ever by a U.S. Open champion.

If you’ve listened to or read anything from The Fried Egg before, you’re not surprised by any of this. Distance has always been an asset, but advances in equipment technology—and setup decisions made in response to them—have made driving the ball a long way disproportionately important in the elite game. Year after year, the USGA has failed to address the issue. So it’s oddly appropriate that Bryson did what he did at the USGA’s own marquee championship.

Of course, we don’t want to take anything away from the brilliance of either Bryson’s play or Winged Foot itself. The West Course sparkled this weekend, and we thoroughly enjoyed watching the best golfers in the world play some of the best greens in the world. It’s always a treat when majors go to Mamaroneck, New York, and we can’t wait for the next trip to “The Foot.”

Other U.S. Open notes

Sunday was a rough one for Matthew Wolff. He looked comfortable on the front nine, even after a couple of bogeys. But it was his bogey on the 10th hole that seemed to send him spiraling. Still, he ended up solo second in his second career major championship. (He was T-4 in his first.) Matthew Wolff is going to be around for a long time, and days like this are great learning experiences for him.

Aside from Bryson, the player who impressed us most on Sunday was Will Zalatoris. His 71 was the fifth lowest score of the day and moved him to T-6 on the final leaderboard. Somehow this man still doesn’t have PGA Tour status. So we can only assume that he will continue to dominate the Korn Ferry Tour while he tries to make the most of a few starts in alternate-field PGA Tour events. We may have to wait until next fall to see Zalatoris full-time on the big stage.

Xander Schauffele notched another major championship top 10, the seventh of his career. In 13 appearances at majors, he has finished worse than T-20 only five times.

Quick Hooks

2018 Women’s Open champion Georgia Hall won the LPGA’s Cambia Portland Open on Sunday. Hall outlasted Ashleigh Buhai in a playoff to secure the title. Results

Jim Furyk is now two for two on the PGA Tour Champions. He beat Jerry Kelly with a birdie on the first playoff hole to win the PURE Insurance Championship at Pebble Beach this weekend. Results

Golf Digest’s Joel Beall has an excellent piece on the implications of this week’s bomb-and-gouge display at Winged Foot. Full Article

The Latest from The Fried Egg

A U.S. Open of chocolate milk, thicc rough, and a Thicc Boi

Andy and Brendan pour themselves a glass of chocolate milk and sidle up to the microphone to react to a dominant Sunday performance by Bryson DeChambeau. They talk extensively about the “validation” of his decision to get thicc and chase distance. They discuss how Winged Foot played into this style, and what could be changed to mitigate that style dominating so consistently at the game’s biggest championships. They praise the work put in that has so quickly made him a major contender but also discuss whether this will hasten any changes to how these majors are set up and how the game is regulated. Other topics covered are the disappointment of Rory’s start, the contention that Faldo is now better than Azinger, how Winged Foot was shot for TV, Matthew Wolff’s day, and how the USGA feels about this specific championship and WF going forward. They’re also sure to hit on Danny Lee’s meltdown, make a Bryson-Bubba comp, Zatch’s outfit, and a host of other inanities. Listen on iTunes, Stitcher, and Spotify.