As Bryson DeChambeau walked out of the media tent toward a waiting golf cart, two faces squeezed through a partition in the privacy fence surrounding the paved lot, one on top of the other.

After they yelled to get his attention, the faces disappeared and a hand holding a hat and a Sharpie popped through the opening instead.

DeChambeau explained that he wasn’t in a position to sign autographs at the moment — his ride was literally leaving — but he told the fans where he’d be later in the day when he would have a chance to sign.

It wasn’t an unusual scene for DeChambeau. If he’s not the people’s choice at Oakmont Country Club as the U.S. Open gets set to begin Thursday, he’s certainly on the short list of most popular golfers in the world.

“The fan support … even out here this week, it’s hearty, crazy and I love them,” DeChambeau said. “It’s been a lot of fun just experiencing what the fans are giving me. It’s so much energy.”

There are plenty of reasons for DeChambeau’s popularity, but a couple stand out.

For one thing, he’s one of the game’s most popular social media personalities.

His YouTube channel has 2 million subscribers. His Instagram account has 3 million followers. In November, his daily hole-in-one challenge — he tried each day to make an ace on a practice green in his backyard by hitting a wedge shot over his house — captivated the portion of the U.S. population who get captivated by that sort of thing.

Just as importantly, though, he’s popular because he’s probably the biggest hitter in the game, launching bombs that leave the average weekend hacker slack jawed in admiration, the LIV Golf logo on his left sleeve stretched by the bulging of his biceps.

When he won the U.S. Open last year at Pinehurst, he led the field in driving distance with a 338-yard average. When he won at Winged Foot in 2020, yep, first in average driving distance at 325 yards.

At a news conference after a practice round Tuesday, DeChambeau explained that once he learned how advantageous his length truly was, his career took off.

“You have to be unafraid,” he said. “You can’t be scared of missing it off line. You have to be fearless, in a sense.”

But can he be unafraid at Oakmont, a course where missing off line could mean a date with 5-inch rough? Fans don’t cheer much for a 10-yard horizontal pitch out back into the fairway.

“Can I be fearless on this golf course? Well, yeah, anybody really can,” DeChambeau said. “Are there times to be more reserved, depending on wind locations, softness of greens, pin locations, you name it? Very strategic.

“It’s not like every single hole is Winged Foot out here. You can’t just bomb it on every single hole and blast over bunkers and have a wedge run up to the front of the green. You can on a lot of the holes but not on every one of them.

“I think this golf course you have to be just a fraction more strategic, especially with the rough is so long. I’m going to be as fearless as I can possibly be out there. I know that.”

DeChambeau’s fearlessness has his game in a good place. He finished tied for fifth at the Masters and tied for second at the PGA Championship at Quail Hollow. He won a LIV tournament in May in Korea.

Worked fairly well in his previous outing at Oakmont, too. DeChambeau finished tied for 15th at the 2016 U.S. Open, never breaking par but shooting rounds of 71, 70, 70 and 74.

Can a player who favors fearlessness over cautious precision actually win at a course like Oakmont?

That obviously remains to be seen, but DeChambeau did eventually make an ace over his house on his 16th day of trying. It’s not like he’s going to give up.

“I think everybody knows this is probably the toughest golf course in the world right now,” DeChambeau said, “and you have to hit the fairways, you have to hit greens, and you have to two-putt, worst-case scenario. When you’ve got those putts inside 10 feet, you’ve got to make them.

“It’s a great test of golf. I’m looking forward to it. I’m sure everybody else is. I think the person that wins this week is going to hit a lot of fairways and make a lot of putts.”

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