PITTSBURGH — Bryson DeChambeau's impact on golf is indelible, both from his continuous presence on major tournament leaderboards to the millions of followers on his YouTube channel.

He refers to himself as an entertainer and content creator, in addition to professional golfer, and he is all that — on and off the golf course.

But his ever-rising fame, which continues to skyrocket like one of his 7-irons, is ignited by his success at the U.S. Open, where he has won two of his past five starts in the national championship. It is also fueled by how far he propels a ball — he's the Aaron Judge of golf — and his constant engagement with the fans, which, because of his social platforms, is off the course, as well as on.

It is too bad the PGA Tour doesn't see more of him.

With the exception of Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy, no player has a bigger following than DeChambeau, who comes to Oakmont as one of the hottest players on the planet, not to mention as the defending champ.

He has finished in the top six in five of the past six major tournaments, including finishing second at last month's PGA Championship for the second year in a row. Included in that stretch is his dramatic one-shot victory over McIlroy in the 2024 U.S. Open at Pinehurst No. 2.

Curiously, DeChambeau's game was not always considered to be a good fit for a U.S. Open, not with its narrow fairways and debilitating rough. The venue most tailored to his game of long ball was Augusta National, with its yawning fairways and negligible second cut. (They don't like to call it rough at the Masters.)

DeChambeau has fared well there, finishing tied for sixth in 2024 and tied for fifth in April, when he was paired in the final group with McIlroy. He actually had the lead after three holes on Sunday.

And yet there he is with two U.S. Open titles already, having won his first in 2020 at Winged Foot, when he was the only player under par in posting a six-shot victory.

When he comes to Oakmont, DeChambeau will try to become only the seventh player in history to win at least three U.S. Open championships, joining Willie Anderson, Bobby Jones, Ben Hogan, Jack Nicklaus, Hale Irwin and Tiger Woods. In his only other appearance at Oakmont, he finished tied for 15th in the 2016 U.S. Open.

"I'm always proud to top five in a major," DeChambeau said after the PGA Championship. "I feel like I'm playing good when I'm doing that, but it's disappointing not to get the job done because that's what I came here to do."

After bemoaning how the windy conditions at Quail Hollow adversely affected his high, spinny iron shots, DeChambeau said he has "some tricks up my sleeve" for Oakmont — a veiled reference he might be using a new ball at the U.S. Open. That is nothing new for the world's 12th-ranked player.

He is the master tinkerer, the mad scientist of golf, conducting experiments with equipment as though he's in a laboratory. He uses unorthodox irons that have the same shaft length from the 5-iron to lob wedge and employ something called bulge-and-roll technology that makes the face look slightly curved at the playing profile.

It is designed to help mishits stay straight by negating gear effect, a concept seen in drivers and fairway metals but not in irons.

"I've got to learn how to be a little more precise with the wind, not let the wind affect the ball as much," DeChambeau said. "It's a tough task to do because I laid it so high and the ball just kind of moves it in the air. I've got to figure that out.

"I've got some tricks up my sleeve that I'm going to be working on and hopefully bring for the U.S. Open."

Entertainer. Content creator. Golfer. It's easy to see with DeChambeau.

Unfortunately, since leaving the PGA Tour to join LIV Golf, he is not seen competing against the best in the world except on four occasions. And that's too bad.

He is the one player, with his millions of young followers, the PGA Tour secretly wishes they had back.

"My mission is to continue to expand the game, grow the game globally, domestically," DeChambeau said. "YouTube has really helped me accomplish some of that. Consequently I think people have seen who I am on YouTube, which has been fantastic because then I get to play off of it. It just feeds itself out here.

"It's direct conversations to people that truly engage with what I'm doing. It's such an awesome, awesome platform for me to show who I truly am."

He has really been doing that in major championships.

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