Former US Open champ takes aim at Bryson DeChambeau

Bryson DeChambeau has been punched whilst he’s down after missing the cut at the US Open.

The LIV Golf man opened his title defence at Oakmont with a three-over 73 on Thursday but stumbled to a seven-over 77 on Friday.

His ten-over score was enough to miss the cut by three, marking a first early exit in his national open since 2017.

And past champion Johnny Miller knows why.

Miller, who won the US Open at Oakmont in 1973, blasted DeChambeau for ‘living in the rough’ during the first two rounds.

“When you can get the ball in the fairway you can work the ball if you need to,” said the 78-year-old when asked what it takes to have success at the Pennsylvania venue.

“You eliminate so many mistakes upon mistakes. If you hit it here in this rough and you try to get too much out of the lie, you get in even more trouble.”

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Miller continued: “It’s still all about hitting that ball in the fairway. You see the guys that don’t — like Bryson DeChambeau, he was living in the rough there these last couple days.

“Of course he gets to watch it on TV today.

“But yeah, you’ve got to hit it in the fairway. Then you’ve got to be able to handle the US Open pressure.

“There’s a lot of guys like Jack was sort of alluding to that the thought of winning a US Open is a little out of their comfort zone, so there’s only a certain kind of player that can win a US Open, especially on Sunday.”

He was joined in his pre-third round press conference by Nicklaus, a four-time winner of the event.

And the ‘Golden Bear’ had a simple message for those hoping to emulate him by lifting the US Open trophy on Sunday.

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“Patience. Basically, that’s what you have to have,” Nicklaus explained. “Obviously you have to play good golf but just be patient with it.”

“I was a leaderboard watcher. I always wanted to see who was on the leaderboard. I adjusted my play a lot to who was on the leaderboard.

“That’s basically what I think guys do if they want to win golf tournaments. They need to know where they are and need to know what their competition is doing, and they need to be patient with themselves and play good, solid golf.”

Sam Burns currently holds a one-shot lead over fellow American JJ Spaun, with the pair set to tee off at 8.35pm (BST).

John Turnbull A graduate of the University of Stirling, John joined the bunkered team in 2023 as a Content Producer, with a responsibility for covering all breaking news, tour news, grassroots content and much more besides. A keen golfer, he plays the majority of his golf at Falkirk Tryst Golf Club. Top of his 'bucket list' is a round of Pebble Beach... ideally in the company of Gareth Bale.