US Open

Having backed Bryson DeChambeau I must have been one of the few Britons not rooting for Rory McIlroy in the US Open.

It was the stuff of great golf.

Two guys fighting it out “mano v mano” like the epic struggles between Jack Nicklaus and Tom Watson in Turnberry in 1976 (“The Duel In The Sun”) or Phil Mickelson v. Henrik Stensen in 2016.

Quite rightly Pinehurst with its fast mound-like greens – the sort you might encounter on the final hole of a crazy golf course – was a proper test of golf which few mastered.

Bryson DeChambeau was not the Mad Scientist but, as Rory closed in on him, he resorted to his big hitting rather than negotiating the course carefully.

He also worked the crowd.

Sadly, Rory had now gone 10 years without a Major win – he was runner up to Cameron Smith in St. Andrews in 2022 and now  also to DeChambeau in Pinehurst.

His putter was a magic wand but became an unreliable club as he missed two short tiddlers on the closing holes.

DeChambeau was driving wildly – frequently his second shot was a scramble out of the rough – and he looked the more ragged of the two.

Somehow he came through it though – to be honest – Rory presented him with the victory.

Having picked Scottie Scheffler for the Masters, it means that I have selected the winner in 2 out of the last 3 Majors.

The golf was far more captivating than England’s unconvincing win against Serbia in the Euros.