DeChambeau May Find Himself in Similar Situation to Payne Stewart

In 1999, another heralded former SMU golfer had to hole long putt on last hole against some stiff competition

Spectators pose for photos in front of a statue of late golfer Payne Stewart during the third round of the U.S. Open golf tournament. / Jim Dedmon-USA TODAY Sports

DALLAS — You only have to go back about 25 years ago to find an eerily similar situation to what former SMU golfer Bryson DeChambeau is seeing this weekend. The late, great, Payne Stewart was right there in 1999 on the same golf course.

DeChambeau teed off in Saturday's third round trailing leader Ludwig Aberg by one shot. Forget about the favorite coming into the major. It's been a disastrous tournament for Scottie Scheffler, who was so exasperated on one tee shot he just dropped his driver midway on his follow-thru. He's tied for 45th, 11 shots behind the leader. Being 6-over headed into the final day doesn't win many Opens.

Stewart was locked into a battle with Tiger Woods, Vijay Singh and Phil Mickelson in 1999. Every shot felt pressure-packed the entire weekend and Sunday was no different. It was probably hard to play in a major using primarily one eye on the ball and the other on the leaderboard to see what those other guys were doing. Things got that interesting.

Heading into the final hole, Stewart and Mickelson looked to the world like things were going to come down to the very last hole ... or an 18-hole playoff the next day. Wearing his trademark knickers and Mustangs' colors, Stewart holed a 15-foot birdie putt to win it.

It was such a big moment, Pinehurst placed a statue of his celebration behind the 18th green on Course No. 2. People are still flocking to it at the tournament this week, posing for pictures in front.

Now, DeChambeau would like to be in a position for that to happen. The possibility is there. On No. 3, he teed off into a deep bunker to the left of the green, then came out of it with a masterful sand shot to stop rolling on the lightning-fast greens, just a few feet from the pin. He scrambled to save par as the greens tricked him a little. He's still two shots behind Pavion, who was making a run early in the third round.

Sunday is when the Open is decided, though. It doesn't look like it will change this week. However, it may be more than a four-way battle. Let's see how things go the rest of the way for DeChambeau, who has improved Saturday not having to settle for bogey. The birdies usually come around and it seemed in the second round he got better as the day progressed.

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