Dustin Johnson finally laid to rest his Major demons with a devastating display of driving en route to victory at the 116th US Open, played over a brutally challenging Oakmont in Pennsylvania, writes Nick Bayly.
While Ireland’s Shane Lowry held a four-shot lead going into the final round, it never looked like being a big enough margin for the 29 year old from County Offaly to hold all-comers at bay, especially the big-hitting Johnson, who was able to reduce many of the par fours on the 7, 230-yard layout to a drive and a wedge.
The 31 year old from South Carolina was Lowry’s closest challenger at start of the final day’s play, but he had reeled him in by the turn, after the Irishman bogeyed the 2nd, 5th, 9th and 10th holes and Johnson had bagged birdies at the 2nd and 9th.
But it was far from plane sailing from there on in for Johnson, whose final round was turned upside down on the 12th tee, when a USGA rules official informed him that an incident on the fifth green – where TV cameras appeared to catch the American’s ball moving a few millimetres as he prepared to address a putt – was being reviewed for a potential breach of the rules, which, if upheld, would result in a one-shot penalty.
A rules official who was with Johnson’s group at the time deemed the American not to have caused the ball to move – a statement which was backed up by playing partner Lee Westwood – but rules staff watching the action unfold on television, with the benefit of slow-motion footage, thought otherwise. Farcically, Johnson was told that a ruling on the incident could only take place after his round was finished. This situation led to confusion for players and spectators alike, particularly when Lowry birdied the 12th to get to four under and nobody knew for sure whether he was level with, or one behind Johnson.
Thankfully, Johnson was able to put the incident behind him, and played the next six holes in level par, and stood on the 18th tee with a three-shot lead, after Lowry had dropped away with bogeys at 14, 15 and 16. And, after birdieing the last, Johnson was able to celebrate, safe in the knowledge that even a one-shot penalty would be enough to deny him a long overdue Major triumph.
“It’s definitely sweet to get that major championship,” said Johnson, who has endured a run of near misses in the majors stretching back to 2010. “At that point I just thought I’d deal with it when I’m done. I tried to block it out and not let it bother me. Who cares, it doesn’t matter any more.”
In a tournament that was interrupted by bad weather from the start – only half of the field started their first rounds on the opening day, and many had to play 27 holes on the third day – the final day farce was a snap shot of a major where nobody quite knew where they stood until it was all over.
With so many players never managing to complete full rounds, and a two-tee start in operation, the leaderboard never looked at ease with itself until late on Saturday night, when Lowry broke free from the pack with a stunning third round 65. An imaginative and carefree player, with a stunning wedge game, Lowry did not look out of place at the head of affairs. But Oakmont came back to bite him on Sunday, with a couple of loose shots on the front nine costing him dearly, before he seemed to unravel over the closing holes, when the pressure began to tell, resulting in a six-over par 76.
“I just feel like I let it go. I’m very disappointed,” said Lowry, who was bidding to become the first Irishman to win the US Open. “The more I think about it, the more upset I’m getting. It’s going to be a tough few days. I led the US Open by four, and I was tied for the lead with five holes to play. I am definitely good enough to win one of these.”
He shared second place on one under par with 46-year-old Jim Furyk, who blazed his way up the leaderboard with a final round 66, and fellow American Scott Piercy, who closed with a 69.
Two of Europe’s nearly men, Lee Westwood and Sergio Garcia, must have harboured hopes of ending their blank run in the Majors when sitting just five off the pace with 18 holes to play. But an error-strewn outward nine of 43 put paid to Westwood’s dreams as he slid back to 32nd place, while Garcia, who played quite brilliantly for large spells, was three under par at the 13th, but was undone by three consecutive bogeys from the 14th in a closing level-par 70, which left him tied fifth.
The battle between ‘The Big Three’ once again failed to materialise. Rory McIlroy missed the cut after a opening round 77; Jason Day’s first round 76 left him too much work to do, but he rallied gamely into eighth place; while Jordan Spieth’s challenge was derailed by a triple-bogey at the sixth hole in a final round 75, which left him in tied 37th alongside Masters’ champion Danny Willett.
Meanwhile, Johnson’s fearless driving display has seen him leapfrog McIlroy into third in the world rankings and now, with the Major monkey finally off his back, he could well climb higher, and even bag another Major or two, before this season’s out.