Delays, rulings, ‘bad luck’, heartbreak: 20 ways this U.S. Open went insane

OAKMONT, Pa. — How do you like your U.S. Opens? How far do you like to see your golfers pushed? To the edge? A little past that? A little past that? Sunday’s final round at Oakmont got off to a relatively normal start and then — first gradually, then suddenly — went completely off the rails.

What follows are 20 snippets that provide an incomplete account of Sunday’s insanity at Oakmont.

1. J.J. Spaun‘s horrendous break

J.J. Spaun bogeyed the first hole but had a nice look from the fairway at the short par-4 2nd. In the air, his wedge appeared to be on a good line. Too good a line, as it turns out. His ball bounced once, hit the bottom half of the flagstick, spun violently away from the hole and just kept rolling, all the way off the front of the green, finally settling an excruciating 49 yards away.

2. Brutal Beginnings

Only one golfer out of 66 birdied the first hole all day. The second hole is just 346 yards, but only seven players made birdie there, and just two of the last 34. Only four players birdied No. 3. It was tough to get off on the right foot.

3. An early ejection?

An hour or so after Spaun’s flagstick debacle, after he’d gone on to bogey five of his first six holes, playing partner Viktor Hovland all but counted him out.

“After his start, it just looked like he was out of it immediately,” Hovland said post-round. The fact that Spaun wasn’t out of it was a testament to his play — and to the madness that followed.

4. Carnage … on the leaderboards?

How would Hovland describe the challenge of the day? He was encouraged by his own efforts — more on that later — but even the scoreboards seemed to be waging war on the players.

“Obviously from the crowd reactions, there was a lot of ups and downs,” he said, referencing the chaotic back-and-forth back nine. “I didn’t know exactly what was happening. It was kind of annoying with the scoreboards, it had the ‘dangerous weather’ [warning displayed] all the time, so I couldn’t really see the scores. I had plenty of stuff to work with myself. I had to grind over so many putts. So I kind of tried to focus on that.”

5. The monsoon.

I was out on the course just before the first deluge. Luckily I got a funny feeling looking at a cloud, so I turned around and high-tailed it back to the media center, ducking inside just as the skies opened. I felt very, very lucky. (I am still muddy and chilly.)

6. The Oakmont Pool

Play was suspended at 4:01 p.m. ET due to dangerous weather. Also due to puddles. Big, big puddles. And lots of rain. I’m guessing some players would have liked it suspended a couple swings earlier. They resumed at 5:37 p.m. I was surprised that more players didn’t change shirts during the delay.

7. A par-3-and-a-half

The final twosome resumed play on the par-3 8th, which played to 289 yards on Sunday. There was only one birdie there on Sunday. One still seems high, to be honest.

8. Scottie sums it up

World No. 1 and borderline superhuman, seemed on the edge of a charge all day. (Even when he birdied No. 17 to get to 3 over par it still felt like he might have a chance.) Scheffler has become one of the more insightful players on Tour in addition to his role as best golfer. What did he think of the weather and the challenges it presented? He offered a warrior’s two-word explanation:

“Outdoor sport.” Touche.

9. A rules kerfuffle

Fifty-four hole leader Sam Burns had made several bogeys and a double but was still just one shot back as he played No. 15, the hardest hole on the course. His drive found the right edge of the fairway. But it was soggy around his ball — unsurprising, given the fairway’s right-to-left slope. Burns thought he should get relief from “temporary water” (AKA casual water). A rules official felt otherwise.

“When I walked into it, clearly you could see water coming up. Took practice swings and it’s just water splashing every single time. Called a rules official over, they disagreed. I looked at it again. I thought maybe I should get a second opinion. That rules official also disagreed,” he said. “At the end of the day, it’s not up to me, it’s up to the rules official. That’s kind of that.”

For your own judgment:

10. Scouting with Scottie

Just how hard is holding a lead at the game’s most brutal major? Hard enough that Burns asked his roommate (who happens to be one of his best friends as well as the clear best in the world) for pre-round advice. Recounted Scheffler:

“We talked about some stuff this morning. Obviously it was kind of a weird spot because I wasn’t in the lead, but I had a chance in the tournament. Sam made the comment, ‘Hey, I know you’re trying to win, but have you got anything for me?’ We had a good chat this morning. That’s not really for me to share with you guys. If he wants to share that, that’s up to him.”

11. Carlos’ clearout

Carlos Ortiz was part of the back nine’s five-way tie for the lead and way still 1 over par when he ran into similar struggles on the 15th fairway; he punched out and then mishit a wedge just over the green — into jail.

“On my third shot I hit it really thin. It was hard to get clean contact. It was really, really wet,” Ortiz said. “It is what it is. I did my best.”

12. The power of positivity

Like everyone else, Viktor Hovland was exhausted by the end of his round. He was even more exhausted by the end of his post-round comments. But in his final answer he admitted he’s been working on some self-kindness. What better week for that than the hardest of the year?

“I’ve been working on that a little bit. I’ve been tearing myself down a little too much,” he said. “Even though I do know I need to work on some stuff and get back to where I used to be in a way mechanically, in the interim, I can still perform at a really high level, and there’s a lot of good stuff. Just got to take that with me and be a little bit kinder to myself.”

13. Hatts off

Tyrrell Hatton predicted his own downfall. Post-round Saturday he’d been asked if he thought the course was fair, and he’d said yes — with one small exception.

“I don’t see the need to have so much rough in the side slopes of the bunkers,” he said.

Then came his tee shot at the reachable par-4 17th. By this point he was one of the few left standing, and it felt like a birdie-par finish could win him the U.S. Open. Hatton’s one of golf’s more volatile personalities, but he’d kept it together all week and had thrived as conditions got worse, grinding out pars and sticking one close for birdie at the par-3 13th. It all came undone, though, when his tee shot at No. 17 flew short and right of the green and caught on the downslope in brutal thick rough, all but guaranteeing his demise and yielding his first big-time club-slam (which he then followed up with several more).

“What happened on 17 is going to hurt a lot for a long time,” he said. “It was the first time I’ve been in contention in a major, and that was exciting, and unfortunately, I feel like through a bit of bad luck I had momentum taken away from me and ultimately ended up not being my day.

That led to this exchange with a reporter:

Reporter: Why was it bad luck, do you think?

Hatton: Why was it bad luck?

Reporter: Yeah.

Hatton: Why do you think it was bad luck? What kind of question is that?

Reporter: No, I’m just saying what made it bad luck, do you think?

Hatton: Stopping on the downslope in the rough? Like, that’s ridiculous. As I said, if you’re going to miss that green, you have to miss it right in the bunker. I’ve hit a decent — obviously not a decent tee shot, that would have been on the green, but I feel I’ve missed it in the right spot and got punished, which ultimately I don’t think ends up being fair.

Hatton escaped with bogey, bogeyed the 18th, too, and finished T4, the best result of his major championship career.

14. The harsh reality

Conditions got worse as the day went on, which means the later you went off, the more holes you played in the nastiness, which meant the final twosome suffered the most. Burns leaked oil for much of the day but still had a chance to win until he finished double-bogey-birdie-bogey. Post-round he kept it pretty matter-of-fact.

“It’s a tough golf course, and I didn’t have my best stuff, and clearly it showed,” he said.

15. A lost opportunity

This could have been a coronation for Adam Scott, a bookend win to a Hall-of-Fame career. He hadn’t played his best but he’d battled all day, exemplified by a walked-in bogey putt at No. 11. On the 14th tee he held a share of the lead. But then he found Oakmont’s brutal bunkers and its wet thick rough and he played his final five holes in five over par, plummeting to T12.

“It was just so sloppy the rest of the way,” Scott said. “Sam — we must have looked horrible, both of us playing like that. But that’s what can happen in these things. If you get a little off, you’re just severely punished.”

16. Big tee times, big scores

Burns shot 78. Scott shot 79. Those were two of Sunday’s four highest scores.

17. A testy exchange

Cameron Young spoke to reporters after a terrific final round, a gritty even-par 70 that got him within striking distance of the lead. But he didn’t seem too keen on expounding much on the day.

What did he do to stay sharp during the rain delay?

“Just sit for an hour and hit a couple balls and go. It’s not rocket science.”

What did he make of his playing partner Bob MacIntyre, who shot 68 to finish solo second?

“I don’t really feel like talking about it, to be honest … Yeah, I just lost by two, so more concerned about that than about who’s going to win.”

18. It’s the hope that kills you.

Bob MacIntyre‘s round was remarkable; by my count he was the only player in the final 17 tee times to post under par. And when he got to the clubhouse at 1 over, he thought that might be enough.

“I’ve got a chance to win a major championship. It’s what I’ve dreamed of as a kid, sitting back home watching all the majors. Yeah, it feels unbelievable,” he said. “But again, I might have some work to do.” He wouldn’t even get the chance.

19. A final rain shower

After Spaun made birdie at 17, took a one-shot lead to Oakmont’s 18th and hit the fairway, this miserable, wonderful U.S. Open finally seemed all but won — but then the golfing gods threw one final twist. They opened the skies and the deluge began again.

Suddenly Spaun had to hit his 210-yard approach under much, much worse conditions. He did well to find the fat part of the green. But his work was far from done.

20. A fitting champ

It was a fitting final challenge, wasn’t it? It felt like a message from the U.S. Open itself: J.J. Spaun, the trophy is yours if you can step out from under that umbrella and two-putt from 65 feet in the pouring rain under the greatest pressure of your entire life.

Champions defy the odds. They make impossible stuff look easy. For 71 holes, J.J. Spaun survived Oakmont the best. And on No. 72 he delivered the putt of a lifetime.

Well earned.