Where on earth to start with this? A chaotic conclusion to the US Open should have carried an X-rated certificate. You will rarely see anything like it.
There will be analysis and lots of it over whether or not Oakmont delivered a great US Open, a pathetic US Open or anything in between. What cannot be denied was the level of drama as holes ticked down. JJ Spaun stood tallest to earn the biggest win of his career. One under par equals $4.3m.
What a moment for Spaun, who earned plaudits for his attitude in playoff defeat to Rory McIlroy at the Players Championship in March. Not content with pats on the back, the 34-year-old has elevated his career to a completely new level. He sprinted through the tape here. It seemed astonishing to think Spaun started this year ranked outside the world’s top 100 players or that hitherto his best major finish was a tie for 23rd.
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“I never thought I would be here holding this trophy,” Spaun said. “I never knew what my ceiling was. I’m so proud I have been resilient.” His is a sporting rags to riches fairytale.
Oakmont, soakmont. Good fortune that had favoured the tournament organisers in regard to dicey weather forecasts could not hold for four days. A delay of one hour and 40 minutes was necessary on Sunday afternoon, with the final group on the 8th tee. When players returned to the course, they routinely hit from puddles. Slashing and slapping ensued. Thick rough, which was treacherous enough to begin with, was now unfathomably difficult to play from. Those in pursuit of glory took it in turns to look silly on account of the conditions.
Moments that defined this major? For Spaun, there were three of them. He hit a glorious drive onto the green of the par four 17th. A birdie there gave Spaun a one-shot leeway. Equally notable, though, was Spaun’s fantastic tee shot at the menacing 72nd hole. Finding the centre of the green meant Spaun had two putts for victory. He used just one, swinging from 65ft to press home a two-stroke victory over Bob MacIntyre. Spaun cried tears of joy long before he reached the scoring tent.
Huge kudos is due to MacIntyre, who applauded as wildly as anyone when Spaun’s putt dropped. “Wow,” said the Scotsman. He should be hugely proud of himself on umpteen levels. MacIntyre’s fourth round of 68 was the best score among the top half dozen players on the board. His time will surely come.
There were so many other head-turning episodes. Sam Burns, at that point the leader, whacked his tee shot at the 9th into deep foliage. Seconds later, Burns’s playing partner Adam Scott hit onto a spectator walkway; one of those fans almost slipped on his backside chasing the Australian’s ball. It was that kind of afternoon. Comedic, borderline farcical.
As Burns double bogeyed the 11th, not a single player was under par. Seven were separated by just two shots. Burns lipped out on the 12th, meaning he was part of a five-way tie for the lead. Spaun, who had played the front half in 40, at this point looked like making up the numbers. In epitomising a wild US Open, he took the lead with a birdie at the 14th to move to even par.
Burns was already wobbling when he reached the 15th. There, he unsuccessfully appealed for relief from casual water on the fairway. A horribly pulled approach shot barely improved his mood. Burns double bogeyed and his race was run. Scott’s back nine of 41 ended hopes of a first major in more than 4,000 days. Carlos Ortiz, who had been prominent, also dropped two on the 15th.
Eyes at this point turned towards Tyrrell Hatton, who was one over with the 17th to play. The Englishman found a horrible lie on the downslope of the greenside bunker off the tee, from where he took four more shots. Cue Tyrrell tantrums. His frustration this time was wholly understandable. “What happened on 17 is going to hurt a lot for a long time,” Hatton said. “It was the first time I’ve been in contention in a major, and that was exciting. Unfortunately, I feel like through a bit of bad luck I had momentum taken away from me and ultimately it ended up not being my day.”
That of Cameron Young was not. Young closed with a 70 to share fourth with Hatton and Ortiz but was unwilling to discuss the strengths of MacIntyre, his Sunday partner. “I don’t really feel like talking about it, to be honest,” said Young. “I just lost by [sic] two, so more concerned about that than about who’s going to win.” It would be poetic if MacIntyre serves Young a reminder in September’s Ryder Cup.
Viktor Hovland claimed third at two over. Jon Rahm and Scottie Scheffler sat alongside Burns at plus four. Scheffler shared seventh despite not breaking 70 all week.
As carnage ensued, McIlroy was on a flight out of Pennsylvania. A curious week for the Masters champion ended on a high, his 67 earning a top 20 finish. An upbeat McIlroy has eyes on what will be an emotional, celebrated return to Northern Ireland for next month’s Open Championship.
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“I climbed my Everest in April and I think after you do something like that, you’ve got to make your way back down,” McIlroy said. “You’ve got to look for another mountain to climb. An Open at Portrush is certainly one of those.
“If I can’t get motivated to get up for an Open Championship at home, then I don’t know what can motivate me. I just need to get myself in the right frame of mind. I probably haven’t been there the last few weeks. Getting home and having a couple weeks off before that, hopefully feeling refreshed and rejuvenated, will get me in the right place again.”