AUGUSTA, Ga. — The long and short of Bryson DeChambeau’s third round in the 2025 Masters is that when he wasn’t long, he was usually short. Distance control is crucial to success at Augusta National Golf Club, and the reigning U.S. Open champion left home without his on Saturday, his vaunted power game nullified much of the afternoon by displaying the touch of an anvil delivery man.
Fortunately, his putter was dependable enough and assisted him immensely in navigating the only distance that mattered at the end of the day—that between himself and 54-hole leader Rory McIlroy.
With birdies on three of his last four holes, including an improbable 48-footer on the final green, DeChambeau clawed his way to a three-under 69 that left him at 10-under 206 and only two strokes behind the man he outdueled in last year’s U.S. Open at Pinehurst. That last stroke actually was the perfect bookend to the round; DeChambeau had begun the day snaking in a 45-footer for birdie from above the hole at the par-4 first.
That he left himself a 45-footer, from a fairway lie a mere 160 yards from the pin, underscores the calibration lacking in his iron game on a calm and cool afternoon among the pines and azaleas.
After electrifying the gallery with that final, fateful stroke and calming down just a bit, DeChambeau surveyed his scorecard and shook his head slightly. His euphoria gave way to grudging acceptance that he could have done more. “I played good. I scored really well. I got up-and-down a lot of times,” said the standout member of the LIV Golf League. “But greens hit is where I’ve got to improve, if I can get my iron play dialed in. That’s where I have to focus up.”
To illustrate the point, when he was asked to recount the highlights of his round, DeChambeau ticked off a series of clutch par saves that kept him in touch as McIlroy was racing out ahead of the field with a second-straight 66. The list of up-and-downs was extensive; the 31-year-old California native hit only nine greens in regulation despite finding 11 of 14 fairways.
“Proud of myself for keeping my head about me and just thinking about patience all day,” DeChambeau said, noting he struggles with yardages more at Augusta National than any other venue.
“What’s funny is on 14, I hit a great pitching wedge from like 169 yards. And I have no idea why it ended up 20 yards short of where my landing spot was,” he said. “I think it was just a little bit of the mowing into the grain, it may have been sitting down a little bit and came out spinny, and there you go. That’s part of what happens out here. It’s going to be fun over the course of my career to figure more of that stuff out. Because it certainly doesn’t happen very often elsewhere, but it does happen a lot here.”
With scrambling mandatory on his itinerary, DeChambeau had to bide his time until he found his footing. That came in the stretch run, a rally he had to have, not only for cutting into a deficit that had ballooned to five strokes, but also for climbing over Corey Conners into second place to set up a Sunday slugfest with the player most capable of matching his power off the tee.
After wasting a birdie opportunity at the par-5 13th, where he missed the green long and left following a 325-yard blast off the tee, DeChambeau started his late push with a pitch and five-foot birdie at the par-5 15th. Then he finally pulled the right stick at the par-3 16th, setting up a three-footer. When that birdie dropped, he shot a look at the patrons across the pond and then marched swiftly to the 17th tee.
“Just getting the patrons going,” he explained. ”Having a bit of fun with them. Makes me focus more. I don’t know. It’s a fun thing that whenever I feel like I feed into the crowd, especially the patrons here, … they give that energy back, and it’s a cool feeling.”
Then came the fireworks at 18. That was cool, too. And brought some heat.
“Yeah, on 15, 16, 17, 18, those last few holes, I just kept thinking to myself, just get in the final pairing. Just execute those shots the best you possibly can and give yourself a chance on 15, 16, 17. I really didn’t on 17, but 18, I made a beautiful putt to finish it off.”
But the task is not complete. A year ago, DeChambeau opened with a 65 and held a share of the second-round lead despite a 73. Then he faltered on the weekend, dropping to T-6. McIlroy surely and famously has unfinished business here, but DeChambeau dearly covets a reprieve of his own.
Perhaps that last, long, left-to-right breaking seeing-eye putt will propel his victory bid on Sunday. He was willing to entertain the notion that there is such a thing as overnight momentum.
“I think there’s a bit of it,” he allowed. “Is it going to be the full reason why I play well or not my best tomorrow? No. But there is momentum.”
We’ll find out shortly.
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