How 19 shots and 31 minutes decided the US Open

PINEHURST, NC — You can start a museum with the painful misses of golf's most beloved losers. Those players who finish painfully short do so for a reason: their number of shots for the week increases to one swing, unfortunately for them, a fatal bullet. The pictures of those times form the pictures of their works. Phil Mickelson's hands are on his head in Winged Foot. Greg Norman melts down at Augusta National. Jordan Spieth dropping the ball — a the second time football – at Amen Corner in 2016.

For Rory McIlroy, entering the final round of the US Open, there was just one such moment – that putt on 10 at the 2011 Masters. The picture of McIlroy facing the trees of white cabinets with black shutters tells you about the sad corner of his career. Another swing revealed a lot of rope that day, and we're all still thinking about it 13 years ago. It now has a museum partner. Can be measured in yards or feet. Just 30 inches.

“For him to miss that putt,” Bryson DeChambeau said Sunday night when McIlroy was speaking on 16, “I wouldn't wish it on anybody.”

The US Open had just begun.

BECAUSE OF THE WAY Pinehurst No. 2 passed, there was a tie in the final stages of the US Open. Holes 13 and 14 run next to each other, on opposite sides. The 16th fairway runs close to the 15th green. The 17th hole overlooks the 16th fairway. The 18th tee is the opening of the preceding holes.

And as a memorable week at Pinehurst drew to a close, McIlroy was watching, eyeing the group behind him – led by DeChambeau. He watched his competition from the side of the 14th green, again from the 15th tee, and as he passed the 16th fairway. McIlroy said earlier in the week he hoped to be stoic at Pinehurst. Overcoming the bad breaks offered by this sizzling competition. Like a 30 inch putt you have to play outside the hole.

Shot No. 1 in the final 31 minutes it was the kind of putt McIlroy had made 496 of 496 times this season. But on the 497th try, in the midst of the toughest conditions of the season, McIlroy's ball sealed the rim of the cup and refused to fall. The grandfather behind him stepped back. One volunteer held her hands in the air toward the gallery, but craned her neck to watch. His jaw had dropped. Everyone's jaw dropped. McIlory dropped a stroke when he entered Shot No. 2. Tie a football game, six under.

From the fairway, DeChambeau watched carefully. He started the day with a three-way lead, but McIlroy had stolen away from him. Then he gives her a chance to take it back. He hit a full 22-footer, under the hole. He was following the same plan as the man before him. Hit it high with a draw again stop it in this impossible vegetable. That's it Shot No. 3.

Golf shots are independent strikes, of course, and we tend to treat them as such. Strokes Gained is the most popular metric in the sport, and is designed to differentiate the value of one swing from the next. But if the gun is not connected on Sunday afternoon. McIlroy's next swing came with a 6-iron, bouncing four times on the green before landing in the sand. Are you pulling Shot No. 4 in the basement if he didn't put three? We (and him) are left wondering.

As McIlroy repeated his swing, DeChambeau was scrambling. Golf Channel's Paige Mackenzie said DeChambeau was treating the end of the tournament like a predator. He had been patient all week – very DeChambeau-like – but admitted later that he was chasing birds now. When Shot No. 5 slipping into the hole, DeChambeau dropped to his knees, drama king. Stoicism in the left bunker on the 17th, fidgety on the 16th green.

Step 6: McIlroy came out of the sand.

Step 7: DeChambeau helps celebrate. His 29-inch putt landed in the heart of the cup, as it should. But 30-inch US Open putts are not uncommon.

Episode 8: McIlroy helps celebrate. It's over 18. Only Patrick Cantlay, who recently retired from the war, still holds the honor, meaning McIlroy will have to wait … and watch. Several thousand eyes locked on DeChambeau, most of them in the left stall of 18, echoing. USA, USA outside over McIlroy's head, far away in America. Quietly, patiently, perhaps determinedly, McIlroy made smooth transitions to practice with his driver. And seconds after DeChambeau's approach hit the 17th green and rolled to 18 feet (9 shot), McIlroy cried to his driver. Shot No. 10, rising for a long time and taking off.

The two men dance the tango together, 500 meters apart. They had started the day about 30 meters away from each other in the driving range. McIlroy went out first, starting a drive to 1 when DeChambeau changed heads on his driver. (Only one player in the world can make such a change 20 minutes before the final round of the US Open.)

These two dancers are the biggest drivers the show has ever seen. Even on the 18th hole it was clear that they were pursuing the same thing: hit the ball until it cleared everything. DeChambeau finished his third round by bouncing his drive off the grandstand and into a clean angle. We can only assume that McIlroy, who has been around for a long time, played Shot No. 10 in the same way. (We have to assume he didn't speak to the media after his round.) But Shot No. 10 will stick to his crack for a long time, and, because he lost at Pinehurst Roulette, his ball rested behind. a large bundle of wire grass. He stood there, his hands at his sides, for minutes. DeChambeau pleaded Shot No. 11 to the hole, a few inches short. Shot No. 12 he got his measure.

For the rest of the week to descend on one of the 75 species of grass that grows on the sandy soils at Pinehurst No. 2 may feel inappropriate to some. But that's the gist of the lesson this week and every week. The incredible speed of its greens is one thing, but so is the Memorial tournament, too. The firmness of the fairways and the surroundings on the slopes was another defense, for sure, but we'll see that in July at the Open. Traditional grass there is Pinehurst.

Shot No. 13 it came just 20 minutes after Shot 1. This game might be slow and on most Sundays it's a natural slicer, but anything can happen in 20 minutes on Father's Day. McIlroy's only play was a chipped wedge that skipped down the fairway, short of the green.

Shot No. 14 he followed soon after. DeChambeau's ball was connected to the left, bounced off the volunteer's waist and landed on the edge of a tree root. If the volunteer had been a little faster, we might have gotten a different result, but this was not the time to wonder. Less than 30 seconds later, McIlroy cut the pitch from the front side of the green to within four feet. Shot No. 15. Fans ping-ponged back and forth. If you feel anxious at home in your living room, it was like a person. DataGolf determined that their odds of winning were the same, giving McIlroy, the better player, a 4% advantage.

“Four feet, going down, breaking right,” Brandel Chamblee said on NBC. “Not exactly the four feet you want.” Not when this whole thing starts with a shorter version of that same putt.

One hundred and fifty yards back, DeChambeau asked the rules officer about the relief of the TIO – he was not far from the edge of the grandstand – a reminder that the experts will do whatever they can to use the loophole, but he was given nothing. He then began to analyze whether he had injured his wrist swinging the root. If he was playing on the fairway, he could take a deep breath without a list of changing clothes. He could stare at the setting sun and see McIlroy lined up Shot No. 16, another we can count in inches (just 45). But DeChambeau's lies didn't give him a chance to watch them. He thought McIlroy would win.

“I heard moaning.”

That was DeChambeau again, speaking an hour later. “Like a shot of adrenaline went into me. I said, Okay, you can do this.” The shot on number 16 was McIlroy's mind-boggling second putt, this one catching the low edge of the hole and spinning out. Shot No. 17 he cleaned up his bogey and a very stressful 69.

Things happened so fast before that moment, but suddenly each decision felt slow. DeChambeau repeats a half throw that can squeeze under a tree branch above him. He picked a pinestraw behind his ball off the tee. He grabbed the stick and stood up, his toes unusually close to the ball. He released his grip – he he heard gun – then backed away.

His coach, Greg Bodine, relayed the distance in front of the green: 115 yards. “It's a brilliant pitch shot,” Bodine said. A second later they are both behind the ball. You could feel yourself breathing.

With Bodine over his shoulder, DeChambeau said just three words, “Got it,” and Bodine ran out of the way. Caddies may disagree with their player at times but whenever the pro says those words over his ball, it's time to rip. Shot No. 18 he came quickly. A quick punch that screams across the street and into the basement. McIlroy was busy signing his scorecard, taken out of the North Carolina heat, in the basement of the clubhouse, under private parties with an unfiltered view from the balcony. But it is not removed from the sounds of the US Open.

Golf history buffs will remember the same thing that happened at the 1999 US Open, one of those weeks the golf world will never forget. Mainly because it gave us an eternal image – of a long-time, lovable brute (Mickelson) with his face in the hands of Payne Stewart, the champion. That tournament turned and jumped on those last three holes 25 years ago, as it did on Sunday. Mickelson held the lead on the back nine but birdied 16.

Golf has a way of repeating itself. At Augusta National and St. Andrews and Pinehurst, too. From 54 yards and a sandy lie, DeChambeau's shot was as sweet as it was daring. But you had to feel lonely, too. A large sand pit has him in the middle of it. It could be the scene of a lovely missing picture, attached to the wall of our museum, but instead we have pictures of him coming out of the cellar towards Bodine. The highlights will stick to him and this course and event in a very happy museum type. For the purposes of Sunday's rollercoaster, it was Shot No. 19but according to DeChambeau, it was a big deal:

He said: “That gun in the bunker, it was the picture of my life.”