Bryson DeChambeau's attempt to repeat as U.S. Open champion fell off a cliff in Sunday's final round, as he shot 44 on the back nine to finish in a tie for 26th.

"I didn't get off the rails at all. It's golf," DeChambeau told reporters after the round. "People will say I did this or did that, and it's just golf. I've had plenty of times where I hit it way worse than today and I won. It's just one of those things where I didn't have the right breaks happen at the right time. I could have easily gotten to seven-, eight-under today. I just wasn't fully confident with the golf swing and just got a little unlucky in the rough and a couple other places."

DeChambeau made the turn just one stroke off the lead at two-under for the round, but his game fell apart down the stretch. He recorded back-to-back bogies on Nos. 11 and 12, a double-bogey on No. 13 and then added a quadruple-bogey on No. 17 to cap off a miserable back nine.

Jon Rahm (-6) won the U.S. Open by one stroke over Louis Oosthuizen. Rahm began the day one stroke behind DeChambeau, who was looking to become just the second repeat champion in the last 30 years.

DeChambeau posted birdies at Nos. 5 and 8 to get to five-under for the tournament, briefly taking the lead after nearly holing out on the par-three eighth. The good feelings didn't last long, with DeChambeau shooting himself out of contention on the stretch from Nos. 11-13 and then imploding as he sprayed the ball all over the course on No. 17.

The 27-year-old has finished outside the top 25 in each of the last four majors since his 2020 triumph at Winged Foot.

"I don't even care," he said. "People think that—I've changed a lot, attitude-wise and everything. It's frustrating in the moment when it's happening, but afterwards for me now, I don't really care as much. I've already won it."