U.S. Open Fact or Fiction: Bryson DeChambeau Would Be the Most Popular Winner

Move over, Rory: Our panel debates if DeChambeau is the new fan favorite. Plus, Scottie Scheffler's struggles, Tiger Woods's preparation and more.

Bryson DeChambeau enters the weekend one shot back at Pinehurst. / Jim Dedmon-USA TODAY Sports

Welcome to the Day 2 U.S. Open edition of SI Golf’s Fact or Fiction. We’ll be here after every day’s play with a series of statements for writers and editors to declare as “Fact” or “Fiction” along with a brief explanation. Responses may also (occasionally) be “Neutral” since there's a lot of gray area in golf.

Do you agree or disagree? Let us know on the SI Golf X account.

Bryson DeChambeau is contending for his second U.S. Open title and, like last month at the PGA Championship, getting plenty of support from galleries. Of the players on the first page of the leaderboard, he would be the most popular winner.

Bob Harig: FICTION. Bryson would be very popular. But Rory McIlroy more so, simply because of his quest for a fifth major and his overall body of work. Give us a Rory-Bryson pairing on Sunday and let’s see how that shakes out.

John Pluym: FACT. DeChambeau had the galleries behind him at the PGA Championship, as well as the Masters. The galleries seem to gravitate to him, and he has an excellent shot to win his second U.S. Open, which wouldn’t be surprising at this point. He had an up-and-down round Friday but when he needed a birdie the most, he got one on 18 and the fans loved it. And it’s a good bet DeChambeau will have the fans on his side this weekend. 

Jeff Ritter: FICTION McIlroy-DeChambeau would be a dream Sunday pairing, and I think DeChambeau’s showmanship, improved attitude and social media presence have combined to endear him to a lot of fans. But around here, we don't measure "popularity" by who gets the loudest cheers on site — it is one stat and one stat only: pageviews, baby! A Bryson win would be fun. But a Rory win would be a transcendent, international story that readers across the globe would gobble up. He's the most popular hypothetical winner.

John Schwarb: FACT. I think golf media may underestimate Bryson’s popularity off the course, with his social media and YouTube presence (690,000 subscribers!). And absence has apparently made the heart grow fonder as PGA Tour fans have come back around to him with the few times he plays. As Bob said, Rory-Bryson would be a heckuva litmus test but I’m not so sure Rory will prevail.

Rory McIlroy sits in a tie for fifth and will play in the third-to-last group Saturday. The best place to strike on Moving Day is from a few strokes off the pace.

Bob Harig: FICTION. The fewest strokes wins and it’s always better to not be chasing. That said, this is a good spot for McIlroy. He absolutely would have taken this position at the beginning of the week and it never hurts to be able to put some pressure on those behind you. A long way to go, however, and Rory would likely taken being two shots back going into the final round, too.

John Pluym: FICTION. I don’t think it matters what group you’re in as long as you put together a good round of golf. McIlroy had to grind Friday and was up to the challenge. He seems locked in to win this championship. The biggest thing for him is avoiding a major mistake. And I thought the decision he made on the par-5 5th to take his medicine—unlike his playing partners—was smart. Will it mean the difference between winning and losing? We’ll see. But I like his chances and maybe he finally breaks through to win his first major in 10 years. 

Jeff Ritter: FACT. This is a good spot for Rory, who’s squarely in the tournament but not necessarily facing “it’s his event to lose” type of pressure like, say, the British Open at St. Andrews. It’s Moving Day for a reason: someone 2 or more shots off the lead right now is a good bet to make Sunday’s final pairing.  

John Schwarb: FACT. I like Rory’s spot. He’ll draw massive galleries of course and if he can hang up some red numbers the leading two groups will be bound to notice.   

After his surprising 4-over 74, Scottie Scheffler said of Pinehurst No. 2: “The only aspect I don’t really love is the unpredictability of the native areas. I would have preferred for it to be just normal Bermuda rough.” The PGA Tour would never play a course with variables like this one. 

Bob Harig: FICTION. It would if it could. There are not many venues such as Pinehurst to pick from but there have been courses that are not simply fairway and rough. Scheffler’s desire is understandable but part of the allure of such a venue. 

John Pluym: FICTION. The goal of the PGA Tour should be to provide a stern test week to week. Players should be rewarded for playing smart golf. Does that mean all courses are created equal with Bermuda rough? No. If Scheffler would have kept the ball out of the native areas, he would have had a chance to contend this weekend. Pinehurst No. 2 penalized him for not playing well. Again, take your medicine. He wasn’t willing to do that on the 5th hole and it cost him.

Jeff Ritter: FICTION. The PGA Tour would happily travel to a venue like Pinehurst, but as Bob mentioned, what venue out there is like this one?

John Schwarb: FICTION. With a big enough check from a sponsor I think the Tour would go anywhere once. But the collective complaining from players—who now have equity in their workplace—would probably preclude a long-term stay at a place where good shots aren’t always rewarded.  

Tiger Woods said he’s in a “pick your poison” situation where he can’t play more tournaments and risk injury but in turn isn’t playing enough to be sharp. He should add some no-cut PGA Tour signature events next year to get reps but continue to rest immediately before majors.

Bob Harig: FACT. I would probably alter this answer that he should add some events, period. Whether the signature events work in his favor or not is another story. His own tournament, the Genesis Invitational, would work, but it has a cut—as does the Arnold Palmer Invitational. Both are spaced properly to allow him to some build-up and recuperation time. But the bottom line is Tiger needs some continuity. Playing a bit this fall and into 2025 is what he needs to do if possible.

John Pluym: FACT. Tiger is never going to be the same player because of the injuries. He looked great driving the ball Thursday and Friday. But his short game and putting aren’t good enough to contend to win a major. He needs reps. He knows it. Which means he needs to play more tournaments. But can his body handle the extra work? If it can, he could still win again. But how much does he want to push it? I think he’s struggling with the answer to that question. 

Jeff Ritter: FACT. He already has the Hero and the Father-Son in December, plus the Genesis in February. I think he might try Bay Hill and the Memorial if his health allows and his schedule lines up. That would probably be enough to enter the majors with less rust than we saw from him at Pinehurst. 

John Schwarb: FACT. He is still terrific tee-to-green but the short game continues to leave him in majors. How else can he fix that? He realistically only has a couple more years to make things interesting and all golf fans would love to see him give them a fair shot.