The 2024 U.S. Open at Pinehurst No. 2 kicked off Thursday morning under perfect conditions. Bryson DeChambeau, among others, took advantage of the lack of winds. Patrick Cantlay posted an impressive 5-under 65 early and even the afternoon wave saw some low scores. Rory McIlroy matched Cantlay atop the leaderboard with a bogey-free round himself.

He was not the only one to go low in the afternoon, as DeChambeau carded a 3-under 67. That includes a beautiful  yet surprising chip-in on 18 considering club choice.

“A 60 degree surprisingly. I turned the face down. Toe'd it a little bit, forced it into the ground kind of like Jordan Spieth a bit, and bump it into the slope,” said DeChambeau.

“I was very fortunate to get that one in the hole. I was trying to get it up there close and it happened to drop,” he said after his round. “Three feet out I was like, oh, that might be short. Luckily it trickled out and went in. So I'll take that. In front of the gallery, it's always fun to excite them.”

The 2020 U.S. Open champion started off strong, birdieing the par-4 3rd and the par-5 5th. He dropped a shot on seven but played clean golf the rest of the way.

With conditions expected to become more difficult as the weekend approaches, getting off to a good start was key Thursday.

Bryson DeChambeau and a handful of others did just that, leaving the former champion pleased with his performance.

“For the most part everything felt pretty solid. I was in a decent amount of control with my game. My putting felt solid. Really trying to control the speed.”

Bryson DeChambeau Putting Under Control

Never was that more evident than on the sixth and ninth greens Thursday. DeChambeau was able to successfully two-putt from 80 feet on six. Three holes later, he was staring at a dangerous 40-foot downhill putt that easily could have spelled trouble.

“I had that 40-footer straight down the hill. If you hit it two feet past the hole, that thing is back up the green chipping up 40 yards. It's really diabolical out there,” DeChambeau said.

Yet, he managed to keep it close and sink his par putt.

All of this under the guise of the 30-year-old playing without his yardage book. Following his round, he was asked whether he had lost it or not, prompting a comical response.

“I did… It's not a superstitious thing, but losing it was — That's the first time I've done that in a long time. I just left it in the car. Usually I'm not going into a car before playing my round. Must have fallen out when I got out.”

He would go on to jokingly say it held all of his secrets. It is no secret though that DeChambeau is playing consistently great golf, and yardage book or not, will likely be in the mix come Sunday.