DeChambeau, Rahm put up fight in final round of PGA Championship

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Bryson DeChambeau was baffled. Jon Rahm called it a “fresh wound.” The opportunities were there for both LIV Golf captains to claim the PGA Championship this weekend, but in the end, they each left Quail Hollow on Sunday night juggling that bewildering sports mix of immediate disappointment and future encouragement.

For the second straight PGA Championship, DeChambeau finished as a runner-up. But unlike last year at Valhalla when he closed with an electrifying 64 that put the heat on eventual winner Xander Schauffele, the Crushers GC captain shot a frustrating 1-under 70 that wasn’t nearly enough to catch Scottie Scheffler.

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DeChambeau’s 6-under total was merely good enough for a three-way tie for second, five shots behind the winner. It’s his fifth consecutive top-6 finish in a major on U.S. soil and his third consecutive top-4 result in the PGA.

“Always proud to top 5 in a major,” he said. “I feel like I’m playing good when I doing that, but I mean, it’s disappointing not to get the job done because that’s what I came here to do.”

Rahm, meanwhile, shot a 2-over 73 to tie for eighth at 4 under. It’s his fourth top-10 finish in a major since winning the 2023 Masters. But that doesn’t really paint the true picture of his final round, in which he tied for the lead with seven holes left but saw his chances disappear at Quail Hollow’s famed Green Mile closing stretch with a bogey at the 16th followed by two doubles.

“The last three holes, it’s a tough pill to swallow right now,” said the Legion XIII captain, who admittedly was still trying to process all that had taken place the last 18 holes.

When Rahm rolled in a 15-foot birdie putt at the par-4 11th for his third birdie in a four-hole stretch, he was at 9 under and had caught Scheffler, who entered the final round leading by three but shot 2-over on the front side.

Scheffler definitely had taken notice.

“I just prepared for Jon to go out and have a back nine,” he said. “He's a great player and a great champion, and he does a really good job of stepping up in the big moments. I was fully expecting him to have a great back nine as well. I did my best to keep executing shots and stay in my little bubble.”

Rahm, seeking his first PGA title and the third leg of the career grand slam, had all the momentum at that point. Scheffler, however, regained the lead with a birdie at the 10th – his first birdie of the week at the par-5 hole. Rahm had a chance to answer at the par-3 13th and appeared to hit a perfect birdie putt from 20 feet, only to see it lip out.

Still, he had a chance to get back in front on the next two holes, the drivable par-4 14th and the par-5 15th. He produced his best swing of the week with a 5-wood off the tee at the 14th, a rare draw from his usual patented fade that seemed to be curving toward the pin, only to catch the right front of the green and bounce into the bunker. It wasn’t a bad spot, however.

“To be fair, where I ended up in the bunker, if A-plus is on the green, that’s position A,” Rahm said. “That’s about an easy an up-and-down as you’re going to have.”

Alas, it wasn’t that easy. His bunker shot came up shorter than he’d have liked, and then he pushed his 7-foot birdie putt right. He followed at the 15th with a terrific tee shot and found the back fringe with his second. But his 36-foot eagle putt raced 13 feet by the hole, and he couldn’t convert the birdie attempt.

Then came the Green Mile – the par-4 16th, par-3 17th and par-4 18th. It would prove to be the biggest downfall for both Rahm and DeChambeau this weekend.

While forced to play catch-up with Scheffler making birdie on 14 and 15, Rahm still considered a par-par-par finish as a chance to at least supply some last-minute heat. But he found the bunker with his approach into 16 and found the water with his tee shots at 17 and 18.

“The same mistake I did on 16 was the same mistake on 18, just different clubs,” Rahm said. “It wasn’t that bad of a swing, not that far off. The result is horrendous, but feeling-wise, it’s not that far off.”

DeChambeau, who had started 20 minutes earlier than Rahm, also had trouble with the Green Mile, albeit a round earlier. He held the lead late in the third round before a bogey at the 16th and a double at the 17th gave Scheffler an opening to take control of the tournament

Hoping to bounce back with a low round Sunday, the reigning U.S. Open champion simply never found a positive rhythm. He made the turn at 1 under, then failed to birdie the par-5 10th, missed a 7-foot birdie putt at 12, then suffered a bogey at the 13th. He responded with consecutive birdies – but by then, he had run out of scoring holes.

Perhaps fittingly, he finished with a bogey on his last trip through the Green Mile at the 18th.

“Just felt like things just didn't go my way this week,” said DeChambeau, who led the field in strokes gained off the tee and driving distance. “Drove it really well. I drove it as good as I can, as of right now. I gave myself a good chance. I just felt like a couple breaks went a different way.

“There were times where I feel like I pressed. Green Mile did it to me yesterday and kind of did it to me again today, and that's golf, man. I've got to be more precise and fix what I can fix to make myself more consistent and get up there, the likes what have Scottie is doing right now.”

What Scottie did Sunday is win his third major in his last 14 starts. DeChambeau and Rahm remain with two each, but they will both enter next month’s U.S. Open with high hopes.

Once the frustration of Sunday’s finish fades, of course.

“It was really close,” Rahm said. “God, it's been a while since I had that much fun on a golf course, 15 holes. … Pretty fresh wound right now. But there’s been a lot of good happening this week and a lot of positive feelings to take for the rest of the year.”

Added DeChambeau: “I felt like I had the game to win this week, and the golf course suited me pretty well. Missed a few putts coming down the stretch and got a little unlucky in this great game of golf. It kind of is what it is. …

“It was a good fight, good battle, take a lot from it. It's just burning a bigger fire in my belly.”