"Oddball" DeChambeau, Bard in U.S. Amateur final

Writing from Olympia Fields, Ill.

Saturday, August 22, 2015

Bryson DeChambeau calls himself “an oddball.”

It’s hard to argue with him.

Who else do you know whose irons are all the same length, cut to 6-iron height? Who counts Ben Hogan – he has worn a Hoganesque cap since he was 13 – and Moe Norman as his swing influences? Who wades into poison ivy and comes away without a scratch? Or, as a natural right-hander, writes left-handed and backwards in cursive to sharpen his mind?

Nobody? What a surprise.

There’s little surprise that DeChambeau, the most interesting man in golf, will play for the title in the 115th U.S. Amateur on Sunday morning. He dusted Sean Crocker, 4 and 3, in Saturday’s feature semifinal match.

There’s also not much surprise that his opponent will be Derek Bard, a junior at Virginia. Ranked 51st in the World Amateur Golf Ranking, Bard knocked off Kenta Konishi of Tokyo, 3 and 2, in the other semifinal. Konishi, a senior at Tohoku Fukushi University in Sendai City, Japan, was ranked 632nd coming into Olympia Fields Country Club. (DeChambeau is seventh, Crocker 64th.)

The 21-year-old DeChambeau is so much the favorite that even Bard agrees – and isn’t trying to play mind games on the Southern Methodist physics major.

“I’m the underdog,” said Bard, 20. “Bryson has had an incredible career so far. It’s going to be tough, it really is. I told my dad, ‘I’m going to have to play my best golf to have a chance.’ ”

In comparison, DeChambeau has learned this week that he doesn’t have to play his absolute best to win. But he’s played close to that most of the week. He’s the equivalent of 18-under in five match play rounds, none of which have gone past the 16th hole. With the greens running faster each day and a typically pernicious set of United States Golf Association-created pin placements, that’s outstanding.

“It’ll be a fun battle,” DeChambeau said. “If I can stay in the moment, I’ll be all right.”

DeChambeau has already had an outstanding season. He won the individual NCAA crown as a junior, and if he adds the U.S. Amateur to that, he’ll join Jack Nicklaus, Phil Mickelson, Tiger Woods and Ryan Moore as winners of both titles in the same year.

“To be in that group of players would be incredible, but I still have work to do,” DeChambeau said. “I’m just going to play my game.”

He never trailed Crocker, a Southern California sophomore from Westlake Village, Calif., winning the second hole with a birdie and standing no worse than all square. Crocker’s bogeys of the eighth and ninth holes, which DeChambeau parred, gave the Clovis, Calif., native a 2 up lead at the turn.

Crocker cut his deficit to 1 down with a birdie on the par-4 11th, but DeChambeau won the next three holes, with birdies on the 12th and 14th to go with Crocker’s double-bogey on the 13th. The 4 and 3 margin was set when Crocker failed to bogey the 15th hole.

“Nos. 8 and 9 swung the momentum my way,” DeChambeau said. “I wasn’t going to let down, and I think it got to him. At 13 he hit a bad tee shot; at 14, he hit a bad tee shot and that was the match.”

Bard’s victory over Konishi was less dramatic than DeChambeau’s. Bard birdied the first hole and barely looked back. He was 2 up at the turn, and while Konishi squared the match by combining his own birdie on the 10th with Byrd’s double on the 11th, Konishi bogeyed the 12th and Bard was ahead to stay.

“The key hole was the 12th,” Bard figured. “He plugged his second shot in the lip of the bunker, and I was pin-high 15 feet away.”

Bard, from New Hartford, N.Y., counts this year’s Sunnehanna Amateur as his biggest victory so far. Throw in a college tournament hosted by Georgia Tech last year, and that’s about it. But while he proclaims himself the underdog, he also says he’ll be on the first tee at 8:30 a.m., ready to go.

“To perform under circumstances like this, I thrive under it,” Bard said.

He’s already achieved one unconsidered goal. As the finalists, he and DeChambeau will almost surely get invitations to next year’s Masters Tournament.

“It’s been my dream since I was a little kid to play in the Masters as a professional,” Bard said. “I didn’t think I’d be doing that at age 20.”

Bigger dreams await the morning.

“This doesn’t come along very often,” DeChambeau said. “I’m honored to be able to be in this position and playing this well. I couldn’t have imagined it. It’s something I’ve worked hard for for a long time. I’m just so excited for the opportunity tomorrow to play for the Havemeyer Trophy.”

Around Olympia Fields

The gallery was only about 300 strong, smaller than many expected, perhaps due to the 8 a.m. start. The final putt dropped at 11:43 a.m., more than two hours before Fox’ recorded broadcast. ... The last five members of the U.S. Walker Cup team are expected to be named tomorrow. They’ll join DeChambeau, Lee McCoy, Beau Hossler, Hunter Stewart and Maverick McNealy for the match against Great Britain and Ireland at Royal Lytham & St. Annes in September. ... The GB&I squad should be filled out on Monday. ... Fox’ live telecast begins at 2 p.m., with live online coverage at www.ugsa.org in the morning. ... With an urge to beat balls, Fox announcers Joe Buck and Brad Faxon, an eight-time PGA Tour winner, moseyed over to nearby Glenwoodie Golf Course in Glenwood on Friday night and joined the regulars on the practice range.

– Tim Cronin