Golf Channel analyst Johnson Wagner was coached by Bryson DeChambeau while trying to recreate the LIV Golf star’s epic shot to secure his second U.S. Open win on Sunday.
Wagner, whose bad shots tend to go viral, looked to recreate DeChambeau’s 55-yard shot from the bunker on the 18th hole at Pinehurst No. 2 in North Carolina before the 30-year-old pro crashed the live segment while holding his U.S. Open Championship trophy in one hand.
“Sit!” Wagner yelled repeatedly as his first shot went over the green. “It’s probably over the back of the green but I went for it.”
He explained the light from the Jumbotron and the clubhouse helped as it was getting dark outside.
A smiling DeChambeau greeted Wagner as he walked out of the bunker before the two embraced
“I was worried about hitting the window,” Wagner said when DeChambeau asked if he hit it over the green.
“Let’s try one more,” DeChambeau said, laughing. “I want to see you hit one. You got this.”
The pair then discussed DeChambeau’s up-and-down bunker shot and what was going through his mind on the final hole.
“[I thought about hitting the clubhouse] on the second shot,” DeChambeau said. “If I hit it too hard and it ran inside I think I could have rolled it through. But not here because I played a huge explosion chunk and run, so if anything I was going to leave it short.”
Bryson also explained that there is sand inside his U.S. Open Trophy.
“We’ll clean it out and hold the sand. That sand is from this bunker shot [on the 18th hole] and I’ll forever have that sand in my house,” DeChambeau said after he kissed the trophy.
Then, Wagner gave the bunker shot another try and came within nearly a foot of the hole.
The pair celebrated afterwards and DeChambeau let Wagner borrow his trophy for a brief celebration.
“I guess I’m never going to win the U.S. Open since I touched it,” Wagner joked.
He went on to praise DeChambeau, lauding the golfer’s maturity.
“I’m so impressed by everything you did on the green,” Wagner said. “I was standing out here watching. You came over here and graciously shook my hand… and as a person that liked you but just didn’t know what was going on I’m so happy.
“I talked to a bunch of caddies coming from… and I said, ‘I think I’m going to do a walk and talk with Bryson,’ and they said, ‘Dude, you wouldn’t believe he is like the greatest dude now.’ So it’s good to see it happening, man.”
DeChambeau then praised Wagner for his shot and the two agreed to go enjoy a cold one together.
DeChambeau finished Sunday’s final round at a 1-over 71 for a 6-under total, defeating Rory McIlroy by one stroke as the Northern Irishman collapsed over the final four holes.
McIlroy, 35, watched DeChambeau’s tournament winner on TV in the scorer’s room before he exited less than 10 minutes later, according to ESPN.
McIlroy, who did not talk to the media, was seen leaving in a Lexus SUV during DeChambeau’s victory parade.
His appearance at the U.S. Open followed his stunning divorce reversal from wife Erica Stoll.
McIlroy initially filed for divorce in May after seven years of marriage before dismissing the filing last week.
They share one daughter, 3-year-old Poppy.
