Bryson DeChambeau stormed back from eight shots off the lead and won the LIV Golf Chicago title on Sunday in Sugar Grove, Ill.
DeChambeau’s final-round, 8-under 63 at Rich Harvest Farms propelled him to a 13-under 200 finish, one better than Australia’s Marc Leishman and India’s Anirban Lahiri. Sebastian Munoz of Colombia, who had the lead through two rounds, fell to fourth place at 11 under with a final-round 73.
It marks DeChambeau’s second win in the past three events on the Saudi-funded breakaway tour. He shot a final-round 58 to win LIV Golf Greenbrier in early August.
Lahiri three-putted the par-4 18th hole to go from a chance to win outright to a chance to force a playoff with DeChambeau to nothing at all.
DeChambeau and Lahiri are teammates on Crushers GC, who captured the Chicago team title at 33 under this week without even needing to count Lahiri’s 2-under 69 Sunday. DeChambeau, Charles Howell III (67) and Paul Casey of England (bogey-free 68) bolstered Crushers.
“I wanted to be in a playoff with Ban,” DeChambeau said. “He’s worked his butt off all year, and look, I couldn’t be happier that I won, but I feel so bad for Ban. I wanted to go into a playoff and battle it out with my brother.”
DeChambeau started his round at the fourth hole and made two early birdies before his only bogey of the day at the par-4 ninth. He responded right away with a string of three birdies, culminating in dramatic fashion at the par-3 12th.
DeChambeau holed a 78-foot birdie putt from across the green, up and over a ridge. It hit the pin and dropped in the hole, and all DeChambeau could only laugh in disbelief.
“Yeah, flipped everything. I couldn’t believe it,” DeChambeau said. “I kind of chunked a 9-iron a little bit and … had an 80-footer, and I’m just trying to lag it up there, but it was going like 75, but it strikes the flag, and I took some paint off that flag, but it went in, and I dropped to the ground.
“I was like, ‘I can’t believe I just made that,’ and I just went on a roll from there.”
He added four more birdies the rest of the way, including consecutive birdies at Nos. 17-18 before the final touch at the par-5 second.
It was Crushers’ second win of the season after a season-opening victory at LIV Golf Mayakoba. They placed second in each of the past two tournaments and rank second in the season standings, giving chase to 4Aces GC.
“I love them,” DeChambeau said of his teammates. “I can’t think highly enough about each and every individual, how outstanding they are, just from a complementary point of view. You look at them each as individuals, but as a team together, we’re pretty dominant force, I can tell you that.”
Leishman shot a 5-under 66 that could have been more if not for an early double bogey to hamper his seven birdies.
–Field Level Media