Sportsmanship, Pass It On: Bryson DeChambeau Thanked Matthieu Pavon For Not Giving Him A Free Read On The 18th Green To Win The US Open

There's still a lot to unpack about Bryson's image facelift over the past year or so. I'm sure there's an element to his personality we see on display that is a little calculated like any great YouTuber, but part of me thinks we're seeing a more genuine side of him than we've ever seen before. Whether you take everything he says right now at face value or not, this is what we'd call first class out of Bryson on handling Matthieu Pavon cleaning up on 18 after he had already locked up the US Open. 

Think about how much shit Rory has said about all the guys who defected over to LIV. There were times when he went beyond talking about golf and made it seem pretty personal. I'm sure there are plenty of LIV guys who would be standing in Bryson's place after hitting that 55-yard bunker shot and want to really take the moment to bury Rory a little bit. If Matthieu Pavon steps in there and cleans up his putt, and you just so happen to get a free read to make sure you really hammer that thing home? Then so be it. 

But not Bryson. He doesn't want to win that way. The man loves the game and he has too much honor and integrity to win that way--something which Rory called out on a lot of the guys who went over to LIV. He appreciates the history of the US Open and wouldn't want to put any blemishes on his part of it. 

The only thing I wish we could have seen, however, is what would have happened if Pavon actually went ahead and tapped in for par before Bryson got a chance to line up his putt. I like to envision him sprinting off the green with his eyes covered just to make sure nobody could say he saw the line. The man loves nuking the shit out of golf balls, but he loves sportsmanship even more.