There is still a very realistic chance that the US Open will be won by a LIV Golf star, with the likes of Brooks Koepka, Tyrrell Hatton and Jon Rahm all within seven shots of the lead at Oakmont.
It was jarring to see Bryson DeChambeau miss the cut at the US Open. Of course, the Crushers captain was the defending champion at Oakmont. Meanwhile, you would have to go back to Singapore for the previous event in which DeChambeau was never really in contention.
But the two-time champion is far from the only big name going home at the halfway mark. Cameron Smith and Phil Mickelson finished at eight over par, while Dustin Johnson and DeChambeau were two shots further back.
Meanwhile, the PGA Tour also saw some big names fall by the wayside. Ludvig Aberg, Tommy Fleetwood and Justin Thomas have missed the cut.
Ryan Lavner left baffled as LIV Golf star misses the cut at the US Open
It is no surprise that Rex Hoggard has told the Golf Channel Podcast that he was most taken aback by DeChambeau’s performance this week.
“I think Bryson was a bit of a surprise. You and I talked a lot about it earlier in the week, I didn’t think he was going to be able to contend here – we spoke about this at length – like he did at Winged Foot back in 2020 for a lot of different reasons. I didn’t expect for him to do what he did today with a 77 and miss the cut,” he said.
“I think Phil was interesting, simply because of the reason why you wrote about him. This could very well be his last US Open, and it looked for a little while – he wasn’t going to contend – but it looked like he was easily going to make the weekend, and then he just absolutely imploded.
“I can’t say I’m particularly surprised by JT, because even though he’s playing so much better this season than he did last season and probably the season before that, he does have these lapses, he did it at The Players Championship. Now, the difference at TPC Sawgrass is he rebounded on Friday to make the cut. This time around, he was just sort of awful going down the stretch.
“But of all of those, the one that surprises me the most is Bryson, simply because coming into this event, I believe he was second favourite, and I did not debate that. I didn’t think it was a bad move, simply because of the way Rory had been playing and because Scottie was such a clear favourite.”
But of course, there was another big name to miss the cut. Joaquin Niemann joined DeChambeau on 10 over par for the week after two rounds of 75 this week.
Niemann carries a lot of pressure into each major having now won four times on LIV this year. But Ryan Lavner admitted to being baffled by his inability to make an impact in the four biggest events of the season.
“I continue to be surprised by Joaquin Niemann. I know he backdoored into a top 10, his first top 10 in a major championship just last month at the PGA. For how good he is on LIV, to have that not translate, when his talent is obvious and his physical gifts are so obvious, continues to befuddle me just a little bit more,” he said.
Joaquin Niemann feeling the pressure of being LIV Golf’s talisman
While Niemann’s record in the majors was already underwhelming, the missed cut at this year’s US Open is particularly disappointing for the Chilean because he did impress on Thursday at The Masters, and then played well at the PGA Championship. It hinted that he had turned a corner.
Given that he is having such a phenomenal year on LIV Golf, he has to be wondering what exactly he can do to contend in the majors.
Obviously, he has the talent. But something is not working for him right now.
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