Bryson DeChambeau once again put on an absolute show in a major championship. This time, however, he sealed the deal with a victory, beating Rory McIlroy by one stroke at Pinehurst No. 2.

Prior to the final round of the U.S. Open, the mercurial star had some trouble with his driver head. In a move that only DeChambeau could pull off, the now two-time U.S. Open champion changed his driver head prior to teeing off.

After his tournament clinching round in which he struggled a bit with driving accuracy, Bryson spoke to the media about his decision.

“I probably shouldn’t have changed the heads. I was trying to get a fresh head in there. It had a good curvature on the face, but it was a little bit lower loft. For whatever reason, those lower lofted heads have been missing right. Consequently, I missed it right all day.

A bit frustrating, but the face that I was using for the past three days was just starting to get flat. It was a nine-and-a-half-inch curvature. I won’t go over that. Essentially the face was starting to get a little flat. I wanted to get a fresh head in.

I was driving it well on the range. On the golf course nerves got to me a little bit. I wasn’t as comfortable with it. Probably needed to work it in more, more than just hitting five balls with it”.

Bryson also did it with a unique driver that he’s been using for roughly a year. The model he put into play was the Krank Formula Fire LD Driver.

It wouldn’t be a Bryson DeChambeau victory without some sort of equipment storyline occurring during the course of the week!

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As we’ve come to expect, Bryson DeChambeau was once again a star at a major championship, both on the course and off.

After a stellar third-round 67, the mercurial 30-year-old took a commanding three-stroke lead to his post-round press conference.

During the interview, the subject of “salty balls” quickly became a theme. The “salty balls” were a reference to DeChambeau putting his golf balls in Epsom salt prior to putting them in play, which he explained in great detail.

“I put my golf balls in Epsom salt. I’m lucky enough that Connor, my manager, does that now. I don’t have to do it. But essentially we float golf balls in a solution to make sure that the golf ball is not out of balance. There was a big thing back in the day where golf balls are out of balance, and it’s just because of the manufacturing process. There’s always going to be an error, especially when it’s a sphere and there’s dimples on the edges. You can’t perfectly get it in the center.

“So what I’m doing is finding pretty much the out-of-balanceness of it, how much out of balance it is. Heavy slide floats to the bottom, and then we mark the top with a dot to make sure it’s always rolling over itself. It kind of acts like mud. If there’s too much weight on one side, you can put it 90 degrees to where the mud is on the right-hand side or the mud is on the left-hand side. I’m using mud as a reference for the weight over there. It’ll fly differently and fly inconsistently.

“For most golf balls that we get, it’s not really that big of a deal. I just try to be as precise as possible, and it’s one more step that I do to make sure my golf ball flies as straight as it possibly can fly because I’m not that great at hitting it that straight.”

The “salty balls” are just another example of the detail that DeChambeau prioritizes with his golf game. Whether the advantage is significant or perceived, it’s clearly working for the superstar.

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While it’s still early in the 2024 U.S. Open, it appears that most players and fans are enjoying the test the Pinehurst No. 2 provides.

Rory McIlroy, who got off to a strong start in round one, raved about the course after shooting a bogey-free 65 (-5).

“It sort of brings me back to links golf when I was a kid a little bit. The greens are a bit more sort of slopey and there’s a bit more movement on them. But there’s options. You can chip it. You can putt it. I’d love if we played more golf courses like this.”

However, former Open Champion, Mark Calcavecchia, is not a fan of Pinehurst No. 2 and expressed those sentiments on X.

I’m ready for some abuse. Just gonna spit it out!! Pinehurst is such a cool area with great courses. #2 ain’t one of them. Most overrated course in the world!! Lemme have it!! But it’s true

— Mark Calcavecchia (@MarkCalc) June 13, 2024

When asked to expand upon his opinion, Calcavecchia explained why he doesn’t like the course.

Greens. No OB. No water and almost impossible to hit a tree. And pot luck if u miss fairways

— Mark Calcavecchia (@MarkCalc) June 13, 2024

Round two of the U.S. Open is underway and it seems as if we will get some fireworks over the weekend.

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