2024 U.S. Open Debrief – Bryson DeChambeau’s Triumph, Rory’s Heartbreak, Pinehurst No. 2 & More!

The First Cut crew puts a bow on the 2024 U.S. Open on CBSSN.

(0:00) Intro + Bryson DeChambeau vs. Rory McIlroy
(10:35) Bryson DeChambeau: Villain turned Fan Favorite, 2x U.S. Open Champion
(19:55) Rory McIlroy: Where do we go from here?
(30:45) Patrick Cantlay, Tony Finau, the Golf Course and other notables form the week
(39:14) Looking ahead to the Open Championship.

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#golf #pgatour #golfoncbs #firstcutpodcast #usopengolf #GolfDFS #golfpicks #dailyfantasysports #PGADFS #usopen #pinehurst

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ABOUT THE SHOW: The First Cut brings you everything you need to know in the world of professional golf. Nearly every day Rick Gehman, Kyle Porter, Mark Immelman, Greg DuCharme, Sia Nejad and Patrick McDonald bring you the best analysis in the game. From DFS to betting previews, interviews and recaps… everything golf is on the table when you listen to The First Cut.

welcome to the first cup podcast live on CBS Sports Network for a recap of an instant classic a major championship that will go down in our brains and in the history books Patrick McDonald is here Patrick have you recovered yet are you on the road to recovery I I’m glad we’re doing this the day after got to sleep on it got to digest it a little bit chew on it a little bit I do have to apologize to the people of Minnesota because I tweeted out the 27 yard field goal attempt by Blair Walsh in the 2015 NFC wild card game that’s the only thing I can really compare it to what happened late Sunday at the US Open but uh I’m excited to be here I’m excited to get the Intel from KP following those couple final groups and should be a good one yeah Kyle Porter is here in KP you experienced it uh much closer than than most you were out there on the grounds for what we’ve described as just unbelievably filled W with tension what were those final five or six holes feeling like well yeah I was just telling you guys first of all good to be here I’ve been following the show for a long time glad to finally be back on it uh it it was the so so the moment that stands out I was just telling you guys is we’re standing on behind 17 green 18 tck the great thing about P one of the great things about Pine hers which I thought was just extraordinary I thought it was amazing but you have all these little corridors all these little nooks and crannies where guys will be either teeing off or walking down a fairway and the the guy or the group ahead of you or behind you you’ll you’ll be passing each other you can always see each other you’re never really out of out of line of sight unless somebody like five groups ahead or four groups ahead or something like that so Bryson and Rory could see each other for most of the back night which I think was added a layer of I think that’s what made it tense and made it more dramatic so you’re standing on behind 17 green by 18 T box Bryson hits his shot into the 17th green really really good shot and Rory’s watching the whole thing I mean I’m standing probably 20 feet away from him and he’s just watching the entire thing unfold because he didn’t want to hit while Bryson hting and you know that whole deal and that was the most tense I’ve ever felt at a major championship I think it I think it was comparable this was a different thing but when spe dumped two in the water on 12 at the 2016 Masters that was like wild and tense as well but this was a t this was a tension of I don’t know what how this is going to go and you could say that about Bryson you could say that about Rory you could say that about everybody in a 10 the air felt heavy it was it was silent but yet it was still loud if that makes sense it was just it was one of the Wilder maybe the that was my 26th Major Rick and that was probably the most tense a back nine has ever felt um and then 18 was obvious 18 was kind of chaotic but that moment on 17 and Bryson’s hitting in they’re tied Rory’s about to te off on 18 was that’s the one that I’ll remember uh from this golf tournament I was uncomfortable watching it on TV so just being there or being involved in it would be a lot different you know we’ve got a lot to get through but that that’s kp’s uh analysis of it let’s hear what Bryson D Shambo had to say as much as it is heartbreak for some people I mean you know it was heartbreak for me at the PGA and I really wanted this one and I turned the corner and saw was a couple back and I said nope I’m not going to let that happen I need to focus on figuring out how to make this make this happen and um I was a little lucky Rory didn’t uh make a couple putts that he could have coming in and I had an amazing up and down in the last I don’t know what else to say it’s um it’s a dream come true Rory missed a couple of putts that he could have made and I had an unbelievable up and down on 18 Patrick that is simplifying it in my opinion but that that is technically what happened yeah yeah I I guess in the history books that that’ll be one uh one layer of the entire story but I I look at those last five holes right Rory mroy he opens up a two-stroke lead after that Birdie on the 13th and a lot mostly everything is going to be made of those putts on 16 and 18 18 was a devilish left to wrer down the hill it really snapped across the hole wasn’t a great stroke still but uh kind of more uh I gave him more grace for that one obviously than the one on on 16 but you look at his ball striking down the stretch he hit one of three Fairways he hit one of five Greens in regulation when he he opened up that two-stroke lead I thought the shot into 15 was a bit peculiar I think when you go around Pinehurst number two and I’m sure KP can talk about it the Miss primarily is short it feels like you always have a great chance to get up and down if you’re short of the green he he hits a seven iron somewhat flighted for Rory macroy lands it past pin High Rolls uh past the green into the the wire grass and ultimately doesn’t get up and down and then you add in you know the kick in the kick in the stomach there on 16 as well he misses the green left on 17 has a great up and down there and then misses it left on 18 as well and so I think uh obviously A lot’s going to be made of the putting from Rory maroy as well but the ball striking kind of abandoned him too down the stretch when when he really needed it yeah the the highlights or the low lights in this case they will be the two missed putts late in this rounds but the other side of the story here KP is you know Bryson D shambo’s in no great spot either coming up 18 there’s still a chance he puts a square on the card himself and we get into a two hey maybe three-way playoff it’s as this thing is unfolding and the bunker shot from 55 or so yards that Bryson had uh he described as like a three out of 100 shot an all timer and to pull that out in that moment is just unbelievable yeah three out of 100 but then Johnson Wagner as the chipping yibs did it on his first try so I don’t I don’t know uh there there’s so many different directions to go with all this Bryson hit it horribly on Sunday I mean horrible like he he hit five Fairways and one he drove the green on 13 so I call it six Fairways right and and only one guy was worse than that I thought what he shot 71 right is that yeah because he started at seven under and finished it at six he could shot 76 with the way he hit it off the te I mean he’s fiddling with driver changing out driver heads right before his round which is a very Bryson hilarious crazy thing to do and then it just doesn’t go very well I was I was amazed at he him and Rory both both of their short games throughout the week were very good Bryson two two other shots I wanted to talk about his e down on eth I don’t know if you guys saw that he he was long on eight just like Rory was long on 15 got up and down I was standing right behind him when he got up and down you couldn’t even see like like it was the Green from where we were was about I level with with me I mean it was it was it was an unbelievable shot just to keep it on the green and to get up and down from there is a joke it’s it was his short game was so so good and then the other one obviously to talk about is go ahead no sorry I was just gonna say the short game kind of held it together KP and that was where I mean he said in that quote there I I just he almost willed it right he said something like uh I said that’s not going to happen again and I’ve got to figure out a way yeah which he he did I think he gets a ton of credit for if what he finished uh parar parar I think no par bogie parar par so he played his last four and one over but also this to me felt like the one that Rory more than any of the others that he’s that Rory has lost the one that he gave away like he had a two and a half footer he had a four-f footer You could argue well he made a he doesn’t usually make all those 22 Footers well he did and then he gave away the easy one right and so I I think Rory lost it more than Bryson won it which is not to take away from Bryson Bryson was awesome throughout the entire week the other one I wanted to bring up is Rory into five he HS a second into five three more yards four more yards and he’s putting for eagle and probably makes birdie there and instead he makes bogy and at the time I would I I bookmarked it and and I thought that that could be a big one and it turned out that it was you know and and that uh I don’t think it was unlucky people were like oh bad break it’s like no he didn’t hit the shot he almost did it was really really close uh but he didn’t so it was just the the whole day and we just so rarely get this uh Rick is the the back and forth the um the the I rivalry is is probably too much I don’t know that Bry wor Rivals but just the back and forth tension you get Phil Stenson you get Brooks ROM kind of at the Masters last year you you have some moments of it but it’s so rare to have two super duper stars like that two multi-time major winners really dueling uh for 18 holes even though they weren’t the in the same pairing um that to me was it was just it created an awesome awesome US Open yeah for H for having it uh come down to literally the last uh stroke of a club is always exciting as well we’ve got a lot more to do we’re going to dive into Bryson and Rory and where we go next from here but but we’re going to do that on the first cup podcast after this quick break welcome back to the first cup podcast live on CBS Sports Network and gentlemen after an unbelievable US Open we’ve got a lot to get into and we’re going to start with the champion he is our most recent Champion Patrick but he’s not the newest because this is the second US Open crown for Bryson he has made his mark on the game of golf specifically in major championships this year we’ll talk about the stuff outside the ropes here in just a second but the inside the ropes stuff has been nothing short of Splendid yeah he’s he’s been Stellar he’s been a top five player in the world so far this year you could argue a top three player perhaps the major championship results with the top 10 finish at the Masters after holding uh the first round lead there and the runner up finish at the PGA Championship as well falling one short to Xander Schley and uh I I mean it it’s just so impressive the levels he’s willing to dive into it right the number of stones he he’s willing to turn over you think about all the different iterations of Bryson to Shambo I mean this is the guy who was Sid saddling putting at one point in in his professional career that that seems like ages ago eons ago that he was doing that and just using compasses to figure out pin locations and arguing with the fireant Mounds and everything like this guy’s story arc has been an absolute roller coaster and we’re clearly at at a high end of it right now and for this post bulk Bryson post mad scientist Bryson to kind of piece it all together with the equipment right the Battle of the Bulge with his irons the crank driver like KP said having to switch that driver head out right before the final around it it it’s really impressive and it’s cool to see all his hard work everyone talks about uh how hard of a worker he is right all the Cates on live talking about it as well and it’s cool to see all that come to fruition in in a major way yeah it’s it’s so interesting here KP because through all of those iterations through all of the different versions the accomplishments keep piling up we just saw it there you know uh Justin Ray had compiled how many guys had won a second Us open since World War II and it’s it’s Bryson Tiger Woods Ernie Ellis and Jack Nicholas then you add in uh a US amateur and multiple us opens that list is Bobby Jones Jack Nicholas Tiger Woods Bryson D Shambo these are these are Mount Rushmore names and these are the accomplishments that Bryson is is taking care of right now well I I I think what it speaks to and and this is this kind of Dev tales with what Patrick was saying is he his pedigree is is incredible right throughout all of his iterations the thing that’s been constant is his talent I mean I remember back I for some reason I remember this Tweet back in 2016 I think it was and it was when he was playing in the US am or excuse me in the Masters as the US Amer Champion I think that was 2016 right maybe 2015 something like that but I remember uh Tron Carter at no I know saying Bryson he said it I uh I regret to inform everyone I regret to report that Bryson absolutely compresses the golf ball and I think that I think what’s so fascinating about Bryson is he’s such a good golfer like he’s not just people think of him as this sort of Entertainer YouTube Entertainer or long drive champion because these have been different iterations that he’s sort of purported and he is those things right but he’s so so good at golf and he’s such a good iron player his short game I think has gotten a lot better his putan is underrated like he just the Arc of him is that he’s a great great borderline generational golfer and all the other stuff is bonus I think because and I wrote this a little bit for a colum on Monday like he’s such an he’s such a character and we have so few characters right you have a bunch of guys that are just kind of out there playing trying to make a living playing professional golf Bryson is an elite character we just don’t get a ton of that so it’s uh it’s been fun to experience to watch to be up close to and uh yeah he’s he’s I mean he could go out and win three more I mean he he could win five major championships over the course of this career and it wouldn’t it would not be crazy well the the Entertainer uh is also a YouTuber that was one of the first things he said in his uh Winner’s press conference Patrick he said that allows him to connect with his fans and get uh his style of golf and the entertainment out and he feels comfortable now being able to do that and the reaction that he says he’s getting is is very very positive he was pretty clearly in my opinion the favorite uh in terms of uh fan favorites at at at Pinehurst I mean this is a PR turnaround at at warp speed it is and the first tournament I ever got lucky to cover was the 2021 B w at Caves Valley when the the city of Baltimore after Bryson almost shoots 59 on Friday they’re all behind him they turn on him like this snap of a finger and you know who they’re cheering for of all people Patrick Klay they chose Patrick Klay over Bryson to Shambo and that was probably one of the low points I would say for Bryson to shambo’s relationship with the fans he wouldn’t talk to the media at all his manager wouldn’t let him after uh he loses that epic playoff to Klay he almost charges a fan in the gallery for barking at him it it really doesn’t get much lower than that and then just three years later not even he is the fan favorite at the PGA Championship and at the US Open you have guys at the Masters telling him that they appreciate what he does online I’m I’m sure KP got a lot of those comments as well at the US Open this week uh with with his Twitter game and it just goes into the story arc of of the different iterations of Bryson and this one is someone who knows himself he’s very sure of himself he’s matured a ton over those years I think we tend to forget with these professional athletes that you know what they’re humans and a lot of them are kind of kids in their mid 20s trying to figure things out and now that he’s 30 he’s certainly figured out who he wants to be and who he’s comfortable being and that’s translated not only off the golf course with all YouTube stuff I can’t believe I Just Called It the YouTube uh but it also helps you inside the ropes right in the biggest moments in the game like it like it did this past Sunday it is fascinating KP because with his game he’s bouncing back and forth to a bunch of different stuff I mean it is easy to remember when Bryson was yelling at cameramen for being too close to him now he’s fist pumping them and and covering the lens very culy is that a word I don’t know if it is but then you know he’s goes from smashing himself in the face with a rope and blaming it on everybody else to stopping during rounds and signing autographs and letting everybody touch the US Open trophy is this is it fabricated or is he just grown is he evolved like what is happening here well I think it appears fabricated right it appears to be like this bit and I think that I wrote about this on Monday as well if Tony fenal did laps around 18 with the trophy or Patrick Klay or Xander or John ROM or anybody else you’d be like this is so inauthentic right this is so dumb what are we doing and with Bryson it’s it’s still goofy like it you you can’t do that and it not be goofy but I also think it’s a I think it’s kind of endearing because I think that he deep down is actually a fairly sweet and kind-hearted person I don’t think has like ill intentions I think I think some of it is like he has experienced what it’s like to be the outcast like like Patrick outline there and he doesn’t want fans or anybody around him to feel like that and so he in his own weird goofy way kind of brings people in and lets them touch the trophy and dances with them after he wins and points to the crowds and fist I mean it’s all I I started calling him the big vpan this week because it was just so so theatrical and like he was it was crazy but I I I don’t I think it’s like somewhat sincere even though it come it can come across as incredibly insincere in the moment it is interesting and it’ll be interesting to see what continues to happen with Bryson because you know uh he will not be stagnant he will continue to evolve and continue to change but we’ve got a bigger problem and that’s Rory mroy and we’ve got to figure out what’s going on with Rory we are going to continue this conversation of the first cup podcast after this break welcome back to the first cut podcast live on CBS Sports Network and now we have to do the deed and discuss what comes next for Rory mroy after a devastating major championship loss one that he gave away uh Patrick I’ll start here with you because we have spent so much time or at least I have defending the win luck around Rory mroy at major championships and that you know usually someone just nips him somebody goes out and plays better than him it’s not really his fault it is hard to take that stance when you miss two shorties coming in you have a two-shot lead with five to go you play your final four holes at three over I it’s it’s getting that that’s a tough stance for me to take on on this day yeah this one has to be the hardest one to swallow by far by far you look at St Andrews he hits the ball great he two-putts every single uh green there cam Smith shoots a back 930 all right that one that one’s pretty tough and then we go to LACC last year and you run into wendam Clark who’s hitting every shot in the book he’s getting up and down from everywhere right that up and down on the par 3 11th from jail making par there and Rory hits one bad shot that W shot in the par five you think okay I’ll still right there and then this one Rick we talked about it last night Rory wasn’t the first one to Blink it was Bryson to Shambo he three putts 15 yeah Rory is still in a great position even after that bogie on 15 and once Bryson three putts everyone’s thinking that is the break that he has not gotten these past few years in the final round in the major championship that he needed to get over the hum and then right when it happens he he three putts misses that two and a half footer on 16 and kind of crawls to the clubhouse so it’s a really tough pill to swallow I’m not sure where he goes from here I think if you want to be a positive and Optimist in the Rory maroy camp for the fans out there you think well the 2011 Masters was probably as bad as it got and guess what he did at the very next major championship he ran away from the field at the US Open obviously that’s a young innocent Rory mroy way back then and the scar tissue has continued to pile on ever since but so I don’t know if we’re gonna get that at the open at trun I I would root for it it would be a great story to a great a great ending to a great year in golf but it’s really tough to project where where he really goes from here well I know where he went immediately after the round KP and that was that was home because he did not stick around for media uh he Jets out of the parking lot and then literally literally Jets off right I mean he was in the air heading home uh before Bryson D Shambo was even done his Winner’s press conference so uh Rory opted to just uh I don’t know uh maybe talk about it later yeah I’m somewhere in I’m walking up just a gast at what I’m seeing here somewhere in this in this Frame but uh yeah this is a lot of detail for like 10 seconds of driving uh somebody did say he was driving so fast out of the park him like that uh it’s a good thing officer Gillis wasn’t around to to uh arrest him this is uh this is a different a different kind of Rory mroy is it not KP I mean he’s always gracious with his time you had a nice piece on CBS Sports HQ but imagine I mean imagine the feeling not only in this moment uh but what might be going on today and he’s going to try to really turn his attention and play The Travelers this week is he gonna play do you guys think oh man oh I I I I would not play if I was him I certainly would not I mean he’s gonna have to he’s gonna have to face the music at some point I mean I I know this doesn’t mean much but he is on the um he’s on the presser schedule for for yeah stay I think yeah maybe he will I I I think this is the I I I agree with Patrick this is the one that all the other ones you could you could plausibly talk yourself into H just got outplay just didn’t hit the cuts just you know whatever and this is the one where you just finish par par par and you win you don’t have to do you’ve already done all the work right you you’ve gotten all the the 20f Footers out of the way everything’s done he didn’t hit the ball well starting on 14 Yanks drive drive there uh hits it over the green on 15 like Patrick said 16 he played very well but three puted 17 doesn’t hit the green 18 doesn’t hit the Fairway or the green he didn’t he did not that was not a like the closer that everybody like has thought that he is over the course of his career and he just he didn’t handle the moment very well and that was sort of the the Crux of my piece on Sunday night was he didn’t handle the moment on or off the course very well at all and this is somebody who has built up a ton of capital with the way he’s handled everything over the course of his career think about how well he handled the 2011 Masters taking qu you know everything that went along with that and this was about as as poorly as I’ve seen him handle whether it’s adversity on the course or just in the aftermath and people people say like oh I don’t care if he talks to the media or whatever but it was just emblematic of him um not handling adversity well throughout that last hour and a half I I thought that was kind of the the icing on the cap if you will so I don’t know I I think Brendan por said this uh shotgun start and and I agree with it where it’s like okay does it break like is he going to retire no like you know he going to just quit golf no but what is going through your head the next time you’re on the back nine and you have a chance right because he’ll have 25 or 30 more chances at majors at least like in his like prime prime playing like really high level golf barring injury what is he thinking about if he’s up two going into the final nine at the Masters next year the open this year I mean I I think that this was clearly a mental and emotional breakdown late and it and it manifested in his physical play but that’s the part that I think you worry about going into whatever chances he has at Majors in the near future yeah Patrick I mean is it is it um a new sports psychiatrist does he need a new voice on the bag that can walk him through those moments I don’t want to you know put Harry diamond on the on the hot seat but you talked about Rock Bottom in 2011 at the Masters if that’s Rock Bottom this is very close if not matching that sometimes guys do drastic things at Rock Bottom that’s true Harry Diamond has been on the hot seat I feel like ever since he got on the bag to be fair which uh probably probably is not fair to Harry Diamond but it it’s so it’s crazy because like KP said this is a guy who’s been closing out tournaments forever for his entire career and for it to happen over span of an hour I mean was it like 2015 US Open Dustin Johnson like but even then DJ hadn’t won a major championship so the only player in my lifetime it was kind of Phil Phish it was Phil Mickelson esque you could say it was kind of Greg Norman es which I’m sure Rory mroy does not want to be lumped into a category with those those uh two other guys so he’s going to be fine moving forward he’s going to win more golf tournaments he probably win another FedEx Cup playoff off he got the first place FedEx Cup points there at the US Open which is a nice constellation prize but I think the the question about what is he going to do on the back nine of a major championship when he’s in In Contention again I think it’s a big question mark and I think that wasn’t really much of a question mark coming into this week because even though he had come up short he had played very well on those back n he had like KP said someone just clipped him cam Smith shot 30 on the back nine at St Andrews to beat him that does not happen often and I’m I know Rory’s probably thinking to himself that he lost this US Open more than Bryson won it and that’s such a tough pill to swallow yeah and I well couple things real quick I know we got to get the break but he’s like five putts four putts from having seven Majors which is which is uh is crazy and then the other thing is how many Majors did Bill win after he lost that US Open Patrick how many how many more did he win how uh five more four or five five okay so there there’s definitely like you know some some optimism there but at what point you’re right Patrick he’s going to win more he’ll probably win the BMW this year win the what whatever he’ll went in Europe at what point is he defined by this like how many more of these have to happen until we’re like hey it’s actually this and not the four majors that he won early on that are that that come to Define his career I’m not saying that that’s true right now I’m not even saying it ever will be true but there’s at least a path to to where it it could be true right and that is not that’s not a legacy that he wants but it’s kind of on the table right now in ways that he probably couldn’t have imagined even six months ago yeah we talk about oh sorry we we talk about Bryson bringing this new age of fans a lot of these fans haven’t seen Rory mroy win a major championship and they’ve only seen him come up short yeah they they’ve got a lot to learn and we’ve got a lot more to cover we’re going to continue this conversation of the first cup podcast right after after this break welcome back to the first cup podcast live on CBS Sports Network and gentlemen we had an unbelievable US Open and a lot of that credit goes to Pinehurst number two thanks to Mother Nature sitting this week out KP the USGA had the opportunity to make this golf course play however they wanted we could see it from television how yellow and brown those green surfaces were getting throughout the week we saw how uh punitive even even good shots could be and how they were rejected and the challenge that it posed to the best players in the world I I loved it I I know there was some consternation over sort of the way it looked or the way it played or whatever and one point that was brought up to me was that the rough was not pun enough it was not it did not punish players enough and and I I I think that’s probably true but I also I think us opens can feel like a total slog whenever it is extremely punitive right and so the fact that it was somewhat punishing but also you could get out of it I enjoyed that better I don’t know if it’s a better style or if it produced a better Champion or whatever I just enjoyed it for and I thought that again going back to number five I thought that was a great example of gotta hit some big boy shots where he’s got 235 in on Sunday and he hits at about 231 and if he hits at 233 or 234 then he maybe wins the tournament and you’re like that’s that’s pretty sweet like you know it’s it’s very different than the John Deere classic no offense to my hitters in in Illinois uh so I I thought it was just awesome it had that Dusty baked out crusty hot feeling of a US Open I I don’t I don’t know if that’s how it came across on TV but it was just kind of grimy and it was it was just phenomenal there’s no signature holes which I think kind of bothered some people there’s no holes that you’re like oh that that hole I I just want to watch it up I thought 13 was awesome when they moved the moov the te up they had that right pin which was insane uh I just I I thought the whole thing was extraordinary and I tweeted this last night it’s my it’s my number one perfect Us open venue you and that’s very reactionary you could probably type me into after Oakmont next year shinik or maybe a handful of others but to me it’s the it’s the perfect Us open venue and that’s how it played out this year the in a vacuum Patrick I tend to agree that the the Miss of the Fairway was not as penal as I thought it was going to be with those Wire Grass uh plants I thought if they were you know closer together it would have been more of an issue now that doesn’t mean that guys didn’t get bad breaks or they had to stand on it or any of that there was plenty of that but I think what’s okay is that’s not the only way to get yet Pinehurst right it’s not it’s not like that’s the only defense the green complexes are also a massive defense and when you just start playing a little bit out of position the air is compound in a big way so you I don’t necessarily need need the Fairway Miss to be as penal as other places because there are so many ways that this course can get you yeah a little bit of a rub rub of the green there right we saw guys like Max and Victor hoflin have balls kind of sit up in that wire grass and they Tred to get after it and and were kind of looked kind of stupid doing so and then you have someone like Bryson who got a number of good lies and he wasn’t the only one a ton of the players near the top the leaderboard it seemed like they figured out hey we can push the envelope on this and it’s pretty likely I might draw a decent lie and I’d much rather do that with a wedge than maybe go middle of the Fairway with an eight iron or something but I’m glad KP brought up 13 in that pin on Saturday how diabolical that was we saw guys make birdie there obviously but the two players who were in contention and pretty much kissed their US Open hopes goodbye Tony fow puted from in front of the surface maybe like a hundred yards in front of the surface he looked so far away on TV it was baffling that he pulled the flat stick puts it into the bunker he plays pingpong and then you have the 36 hole leader ludvig oberg who looks like a legitimate robot artificial intelligence is coming to take away all of our jobs and the US Open title and he looks human there playing ping pong as well caring a cing a triple bogey and that that’s nothing really tricked up it’s just a tough pin location you can’t go at right there’s no hazards around Piner there’s no water to hit into it’s just there’s a shot in front of it in front of you you got to hit it if you don’t execute it you’re going to be in a poor spot if you really don’t execute it you can face a triple bogey right then and there and so I thought it was a great Us open venue like KP said he rattled off three of them shinako M and Pinehurst number two obviously all three of those on the East Coast which I think matters a lot obvious viously so I think uh we’re going to have a good run of US Open starting uh starting this year and going into the next few uh speaking of the grit and grime KP Matthew Pavone I want to talk about him real quick but do it in a way that I thought was was strategic right he was the one who I thought strategized the best compared to his skill set he missed almost everything in the correct spot he had to deal with Bryson in the final group it didn’t particularly end up well for him it was a great finish for the entire week but that that was the strategy blueprint that we saw from him well and and that was the thing about Pinehurst right if even if you weren’t that long I don’t know what his driving distance was or I don’t even know that I know how long he is normally you could but you could still manage your way around the place on like take number four the long long long Par Four you don’t necessarily have to be on that green you can kind of leave it short bump it up and and uh and make par which he didn’t on on on uh Sunday in the final round he made bogey there but there’s just a number of different ways to play that golf course which you know I go back to the Justin Thomas quote about the hall it’s like well there’s kind of only one way to play the course and I think when you have that variety when you have um you know questions that get asked that are very difficult questions to answer and to solve it makes for a great golf tournament and you get Matthew pavol in the mix you get Tony fow’s in the mix and you get you know probably two of the five best players in the world right now and Rory and Bryson in the mix so it was um yeah I thought it was it was awesome and he did a great job of managing the course without his much Firepower as the rest of those guys and one of my favorite things that you pointed out Patrick is how close we were to Patrick Klay becoming a US Open Champion right we were not that far removed from that alternate reality we we were not and he almost backdoor one this entire thing everyone focused on Bryson everyone focused on Rory and Patrick klay’s there on the 15th green with a putt to get to six under which was the ultimate winning score right he had 15 feet to get to six under with three holes to play he obviously dropped a shot there on the 16th hole but then even on 18 with everything going on he still has a chance to post five under he has about 15 feet underneath the hole a really good look at it you think okay Rory’s going to miss this four four-footer Bryson doesn’t get up and down from the Fairway bunker Klay knocks Us in we’re going three wide in a playoff and it just seemed like he was kind of just hovering this entire time and I was really impressed it was scratchy at the start he found his iron play during the middle section and uh he finally got himself in the mix in a major championship so I’m I’m proud of PC for that well maybe this is the spark he needs to get his season going because there’s still one major championship to go we are going to look ahead believe it or not to trun and the Open Championship after these quick words welcome back to the first cup podcast live on CBS Sports Network and gentlemen they feel like they’re so long in between major championships but when they start they come quickly and KP we are just a couple of weeks away from the final men’s major of the year the Open Championship we’re going back to Royal trun which is hosted I mean it’s a prolific host of open championships this will be the 10th in 101 years but our most recent is probably the one that everybody remembers 2016 The Duel between Henrik Stenson and Phil Mickelson the numbers are are I popping Stenson gets in at 20 under par while Phil finishes up at 17 that Phil Michelson Gap to third place 11 shots these two were playing a different course a group all to their own on Sunday yeah it was uh speaking of Back N Duss that that was B and this one yesterday we’re we’re both right up there I think tr’s gonna be so interesting because you have so many guys playing major championship golf very well this year uh I’ve got 12 guys that are under par in the aggregate across the four majors or across I guess we’ve only played three so far so Bryson’s at 28 under Xander’s at 23 under Mor call 17 chef 16 Rory 13 Fleetwood 10 and then Klay Henley Hideki Connor Lowry and Pho are all under par as well um so I I think you got to start with that list and just say okay who gets the good side of the draw who’s a good Open Championship player um fleetwood’s super interesting he played great last year for two and a half days he’s been playing pretty good golf this year uh you know Patrick was just talking about this r at six and a half is a feeli is really short uh for somebody who hasn’t won a major in 10 years I know he’s playing pretty good golf but um I think Xander and ludig are really interesting at 14 to1 yeah Rory maoy six and a half to one Scotty shuffler at five to one and and Patrick that’s seven golfers uh shorter than 20 to1 it does feel like after basically six months of they only being one or one and a half or maybe two guys that can win golf tournaments we’re starting to see Resurgence from colum moaa we’re starting to see Hideki Matsuyama play a lot better Victor kind of on the verge of being back throw in ludig who we probably weren’t expecting to contend at major championships as quickly as he is and Bryson finding his game again it does feel like there are a lot more guys who can win majors and now we’re going to probably the major that creates the most chaos exactly you look across those first three major championships there were kind of stars going in under the radar that popped up morawa at the Masters havland at the PGA Championship and then Patrick Klay this week at Pinehurst number two so I’m looking at some of those stars who may be underperformed honestly across the first three major championships one in particular for me is Brooks Kea right he obviously has the history in Europe going and playing uh the challenge tour over there and so he’s a great great Open Championship competitor it hasn’t been great so far this year in the major championships he’s usually a fast starter and a slow finisher I’m thinking maybe this Bryson win kicks him into gear he gets back in the gym his team has him go through those workouts right makes some throw up do all that fun stuff and uh he claims The clar Jug and we’re talking about a potential Grand Slam Out Augusta next spring there you go Patrick McDonald gets the last word Kyle Porter thank you very much this this has 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