Bryson DeChambeau was on the wrong end of a brutal dig from one of the US Open’s greatest icons on Saturday.
DeChambeau, who was defending his major title at Oakmont this week, failed to make the cut after a nightmare two rounds.
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The LIV Golf star finished on +10, which missed the cut by three shots, and his miserable tournament ended early.
By doing so, he became only the eighth player this century to be eliminated on Friday during their title defence.
He was the first to do so since Gary Woodland in 2020.
But DeChambeau wasn’t alone when it came to troubles at this incredibly difficult Oakmont course, with many big stars struggling.
Another five former US Open champions also missed the cut, while Rory McIlroy, who threw his club during his second round, only just scraped through to the weekend.
World No.1 Scottie Scheffler has been off the pace too, also openly venting his frustration on the course.
Clearly, players need to master the art of playing at Oakmont to succeed, and a couple of golfing icons have been asked about what the key is to do well in Pennsylvania.
Speaking on Saturday at a special press conference, legendary pair Jack Nicklaus and Johnny Miller gave their thoughts.
Miller, who played the greatest round in US Open history in 1973 with a record-setting 63 final round at Oakmont, pointed out that hitting fairways is the key to some joy due to the five-inch rough.
However, he also took the chance to name-drop DeChambeau and then take a sly dig at the two-time winner of this major.
“It’s still all about hitting that ball in the fairway,” Miller began.
“You see the guys that don’t — like Bryson DeChambeau, he was living in the rough there this last couple days.
“Of course, he gets to watch it on TV today.
“But yeah, you’ve got to hit it in the fairway. Then you’ve got to be able to handle the US Open pressure.”
As he was finishing his comments, Nicklaus couldn’t hide his laugh, bursting out into a chuckle next to him in the media room.
The 18-time major-winning legend appeared to laugh in disbelief at the dig, but he certainly seemed to enjoy the sarcastic delivery.
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DeChambeau is unlikely to be watching on TV despite Miller’s quip, but he isn’t part of the field that will go all the way at Oakmont.
He will have his US Open title change hands this weekend.
Only three players finished under par on Friday – leader Sam Burns, J.J. Spaun and Viktor Hovland.
The third round of play is now underway and McIlroy finished on +10, with Scheffler among those looking to improve.
All of the remaining players will certainly want to use the advice to try and rise up the leaderboard.
Or if not that, to avoid being the next subject of Miller’s jokes this weekend.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by PostX News and is published from a syndicated feed.)
