Smylie Kaufman had a front row seat to one of the most dramatic U.S. Open finishes in the history of the tournament on Sunday.
Kaufman, who was born in Birmingham and attended Vestavia Hills High School before going to play his college career at LSU, is now an TV analyst for NBC’s golf coverage.
During an appearance on the Pardon My Take podcast, Kaufman broke down the wild finish that saw 4x major winner Rory McIlroy lose by a shot to one of the most popular names in the sport right now, Bryson DeChambeau, after bogies on three of the last four holes including two missed putts inside of 4 feet on the 16th and 18th holes.
DeChambeau made a miraculous par on 18 to win the tournament after a 40-50 yard bunker shot landed to just 4 feet to clean up for the victory.
.@SmylieKaufman10 breaks down Rory’s putting collapse at the US Open pic.twitter.com/yo9F7rHi9L
— Pardon My Take (@PardonMyTake) June 17, 2024
“I can’t think of any other golf event that was that entertaining over the last decade,” Kaufman said on McIlroy’s dramatic collapse while holding a 2-shot lead over DeChambeau heading to the 14th hole. “16 was inexcusable…I don’t know what happened on the 3 footer that he missed. I was actually walking away and then said ‘oh my god he missed.’ It didn’t even come into my mind that missing that putt was a possibility.”
“18 was a really interesting putt because I got behind and looked at it. I saw inside left, left center. I heard from Max [Homa]…he had told [Justin Thomas] that he hit that putt in the practice round and said it’s a really weird putt…So that was a tough putt but after Bryson hit it in the bunker I thought we were going to a [2 hole playoff] and Bryson just got up there and hit an unreal shot.”
Kaufman’s coverage on NBC has been lauded as some of the best golf content available. He also hosts a podcast known as The Smylie Show.
Michael Brauner is a Senior Sports Analyst and Contributing Writer for Yellowhammer News. You can follow him on Twitter @MBraunerWNSP and hear him every weekday morning from 6 to 9 a.m. on “The Opening Kickoff” on WNSP-FM 105.5, available free online.
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