By Amy Tennery
MAMARONECK, N.Y. (Reuters) – American Matthew Wolff’s howl was reduced to a whimper in the final round of the U.S. Open on Sunday, as his charmed run for a maiden major golf title came up short.
Locked in a two-man race with hard-hitting Bryson DeChambeau in his first-ever U.S. Open, the 21-year-old couldn’t match his opponent’s power or finesse despite heading into the finale with a two-stroke lead, carding a five-over par 75, 10 strokes more than he put up the previous day.
The affair began to unravel as Wolff committed three bogeys in the front nine. An eagle on the ninth had no impact, as DeChambeau was able to equal the performance on the par-five hole en route to the win.
After exiting the course, Wolff struggled to pinpoint one specific flaw in his game, telling reporters, “it is what it is.”
“I felt like my ball striking was really good. There was a couple shots, a couple 3 woods that I hit that were really uncharacteristic,” he said. “I’m not looking to have a consensus of I got bad breaks out there, but I definitely can say that it just wasn’t meant to be.”
Despite the loss, Wolff, the runner-up to DeChambeau in July’s Rocket Mortgage Challenge as well, has nonetheless already made an impact in his short time in the majors, finishing at last month’s PGA Championship tied for fourth.
Finished four rounds at an even par, he said there were plenty of positives he would take from Winged Foot Golf Club.
“I played really tough all week. I battled hard. Things just didn’t go my way,” said Wolff, who was bidding to become the first debutant to win the tournament since 1913. “But first U.S. Open, second place is something to be proud of and hold your head up high for.
“I’m just excited to learn from this experience, and it’s definitely not the last time that I’m going to be in this spot.”
(Reporting by Amy Tennery; Editing by Sam Holmes)
