The real reason behind Bryson DeChambeau’s substandard iron play becomes abundantly clear during Oakmont practice round

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Bryson DeChambeau may well contend at the US Open this year, but as things stand, he won’t win the tournament at Oakmont.

The reason for that is very simple – DeChambeau is nowhere near where he needs to be when it comes to his iron play.

Oakmont is an unforgiving golf course and the upcoming US Open is expected to be one of the most challenging tests of all time, if not the most challenging.

DeChambeau played Oakmont in a practice round last Saturday, and shot a round of even-par 70.

He drove the ball incredibly well, as per usual. In fact, DeChambeau has been driving the ball longer and straighter than ever this year.

His short game was in tip-top condition as well, while his putting looked very solid.

However, his iron play just wasn’t up to scratch, yet again. It’s not like he’s a bad iron player, he’s just very average considering his ability in all other aspects of the game.

DeChambeau is just not at the level of someone like Scottie Scheffler or Jon Rahm with an iron in his hand.

And that weakness has cost him dearly.

Reason behind Bryson DeChambeau’s poor iron play becomes clear during Oakmont practice round

DeChambeau’s iron play really let him down during the final round of The Masters at Augusta National in April.

And the same happened at Quail Hollow during the final round of the PGA Championship.

The 31-year-old American is one of the hardest workers in the game, so his struggles with the irons won’t be due to a lack of trying.

However, after watching his entire practice round at Oakmont, it became abundantly clear why he has had so many issues with his mid-short irons.

Every single iron shot that DeChambeau hits is preceded by an in-depth analysis of the yardage, the wind-adjusted yardage, the degree of slope, air temperature, and the list goes on and on…and on.

There is absolutely no feel associated with the two-time US Open winner’s iron play. He seems to be incapable of knocking the ball down with a three-quarter swing and taking the spin off his shots.

DeChambeau would do himself a huge favour by watching videos of Tiger Woods and Scottie Scheffler.

Sure, they have a number in mind, but that’s it. The majority of the best iron players in the world do everything by feel.

And that is something that DeChambeau needs to learn how to do, if he is to fulfil his undeniable potential.

DeChambeau’s iron play failed him during the first two majors of 2025

It’s easy to see why DeChambeau came up just short in the first two majors of 2025.

The 31-year-old lost shots on the field with his approaches to the greens during the final three rounds of the Masters.

And then he ranked well down in his approach to the greens at Quail Hollow as well.

A player of DeChambeau’s calibre needs to be doing better with his iron play, certainly if he is to stand a chance of winning the US Open at Oakmont next week.

And the only way he will be able to sufficiently improve will be to use more feel rather than his overly scientific and robotic approach to hitting his irons.