PINEHURST, N.C. – Bryson DeChambeau’s dominant run at Pinehurst was interrupted only by a therapy session late into his third round, but his ailing right hip did nothing to slow his march to a second U.S. Open title.
DeChambeau birdied the 10th hole to move to 6 under for the week when his trainer, Ryan Overturf, arrived for a therapy session that lasted about five minutes in a wooded area behind the 11th tee. According to the USGA, players are allowed up to two five-minute therapy sessions during a round.
“It was tougher to get through on a couple shots. It’s OK. I’ve had it for a long time now. It’s just something that popped up,” DeChambeau said of the injury. “I’ve been playing a lot of good golf lately, and working on my house, trying to get my house finished, so I haven’t really had time to rest like I want to. The two weeks I had off after the PGA [Championship] I was really grinding and focusing on some stuff there. I wasn’t really able to rest.”
Despite the injury, DeChambeau played his next four holes in 2 under par before a double-bogey 6 on the 16th hole dropped him back to 6 under. He birdied the par-3 17th hole for a 67 to lead Rory McIlroy, Patrick Cantlay and Matthieu Pavon by three shots.
“I’ve got a great team around me to help fix some stuff up. Ryan Overturf is here. Does a bunch of MAT [an assessment tool that analyzes and corrects muscular imbalances] on me and he’s going to fix me right up,” said DeChambeau, who went to the range to work on his game after his round.