Why Bryson DeChambeau is thankful for the 72nd-hole move by his open-playing partner
Bryson DeChambeau and Matthieu Pavon last Sunday on the 18th hole at Pinehurst.
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Bryson DeChambeau thanked Matthieu Pavon. He didn’t want his apology.
He didn’t want to apologize after all.
The period in question is very morally focused, and the topic came up this week with Pavon’s visit Fore Play podcast, which you can listen to in full here. It followed Pavon’s 2-foot, 11-inch putt on the 72nd hole of last week’s US Open — which came shortly after DeChambeau, his playing partner, had nearly hit the back of the mark for the putt that would have won him the major.
As things turned out, Pavon tagged up, DeChambeau dropped his putt, celebrated — then shut out the crowds at Pinehurst for Pavon to putt. But did Pavon have any thoughts of getting out after his first putt? The 3-foot French player had to finish in fifth place, and in most of these situations, the players will try to give the field to the player who is on the verge of the title.
Still, DeChambeau wasn’t there. Pavon also gave a few revelations on the podcast. He thought the putt would lock him into all four majors next year. (It got him just back from the US Open.) He wasn’t going to rush it. No putts on Pinehurst’s greens should be rushed. Pavon is tagged.
He said then he saw the circumstances.
“I saw, mah, it’s Bryson’s winning putt so maybe I should finish it,” Pavon said on the podcast. “And because I can’t [stop] that momentum and it’s already like 30 seconds to a minute when I’m marking that ball, I’m like, well, it’s too late, I’m not going back now I’m just going to finish.
“So obviously I was praying in my mind, I was like, just do it.”
He did so. But there is more. Podcast host Dan Rapaport noted that Pavon might have given DeChambeau a read on his putt — and Pavon said it came down to a touch on the tee afterwards.
DeChambeau, Pavon said on the podcast, wanted to do well against Rory McIlroy, who was a stroke behind him.
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“I said, Bryson, I’m so sorry, guys. I should have been done,” Pavon said on the podcast. “But it was the second time alone [fifth], and I don’t know why I was focusing on that and not on you. You have to win the tournament. And I don’t know why. I apologized profusely to him. He said, man, you did the right thing. It’s important for you to make the right call.”
Said Rapaport: “And again, I think if you had finished, it would have been a big deal. Don’t you think? …”
Pavon said: “This is what he said. He said thank you for not doing it because you would have shown me the line and I think it’s not fair to Rory and I don’t want to win it that way. So I was like, OK, good. I’m glad you made it.”
Said Sam ‘Riggs’ Bozoian, one of the podcast’s editors: “Yeah, because I remember in real time, it’s like golf on Twitter, oh, he should definitely finish. No, actually, you guys are playing a golf tournament. You have to hit the right shot in the right way. If it’s like a no-brainer…”
Pavon said: “I agree.” Like, to be gentle and respect the winner on his home soil, I should be done, okay. But at the same time, I think about myself. It means a lot to me that I finished in fifth place instead of sixth in FedEx points, and my first year on the PGA Tour, it was my best finish in a major.
“And at the same time, I’m like, is it okay for Rory to show the line to Bryson? And Bryson has been a decent and gentle guy again, and he just said it’s no big deal, thank you so much for doing that because I didn’t want to win that way and I think you made the right call. So maybe it was a tricky situation because, like you said, Dan, if I was going to prioritize and do it, and show Bryson maybe what was learned and maybe the guys on social media say, why is Matthieu Pavon showing the line to Bryson. anything else? So it was a tough call.”
Editor’s note: To listen to the entire Fore Play podcast with Pavon, please click here.
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