JJ Spaun won the US Open besting a posse of competitors that one by one all fell to beast that was Oakmont.    He won it with grit, determination and perhaps a little assistance from the gods of golf.  He also won it with his putter and his driver on the 17th hole, which he nailed every day.  Spaun bailed out Oakmont with his two shot victory punctuated by his 64 foot birdie on 18 for the two shot victory.  I believe criticism of the Oakmont venue would have been severe if Spaun didn’t slay this dragon.

Golf fans were becoming disgusted with Oakmont.  The venerable US Open site was set up as a tough test that the professionals embraced going into the tournament.  The speed of the greens and the 5″ rough became serious factors and, as expected, extracted a number of shots from any errant shot.  It seemed that a number of the pins were placed on crowns discouraging any attempts to attack the pins.   The ball had to be below the hole to have any chance at a birdie, and a number of good shots at the pins ended up in some ugly greenside spinach.  Sloping fairways also caused well struck shots to end up in the first cut of the rough or the rough itself.  I can’t recall professionals throwing golf clubs but Rory McIlroy threw at least one and smashed a few others to the ground in total frustration.  It was also reported that one player (not to be named here) put a few dents in a few lockers in Oakmont’s venerable club locker room.   I was concerned that this Open was going to be compared to the Shinnecock Hills Open in 2004 when the USGA allowed the greens to essentially burn out causing all sorts of havoc in the final round.  The rain in Sunday’s final round made a well set-up tough course rather impossible as there is nothing worse on a golf course than wet rough and water in the fairways.  The best players in the world could not hack out of this stuff and it was the straw that broke the back of Sam Burns, Terrell Hatton, Adam Scott who all threw shots away.  Scottie Scheffler hardly made a putt all week and yet competed to the very end.  Scotsman, Robert Macintyre shot 68 and was the only player to come out of the pack and finished second.

JJ Spaun overcame all of these obstacles and his putting will enable us to forget ganging up on Oakmont.  Spaun was 4 under on the 17th hole for the tournament and +3 for the remaining 68 holes.    The 17th hole is the driveable par 4 ranging from 290 to 310 yards.  The hole is surrounded by bunkers with a huge bunker to the right.  The tee shot had to be faded to hold the green since going over this green would eliminate the potential for a birdie.  Spaun had his driver dialed in as you can almost bet that he was licking his chops at another shot at the 17th on Sunday, while being tied for the lead on the teebox.  Spaun nailed the drive again for the fourth consecutive day as the wet conditions slowed the ball down as it entered the green stopping about 18 ft from the hole.  Two putts and he assumed the lead in the tournament going to the last hole.  Many players were unable to navigate this hole as many shots ended up in the right bunker or worse in the 5″ rough where birdies would be impossible to make.

Loudmouth bunker at the 17th hole

The rain delay on Sunday was a benefit to Spaun.  He had fallen back and shot 40 on the front nine with five bogeys on the first six holes.  He was playing with Viktor Hovland who was steadily keeping himself relevant but Hovland would miss too many short putts to be there at the end.  The rain delay seemed to remove the pressure from Spaun.  He changed his clothes and readied himself for the finish of the event–he had experienced a delay earlier in the year at the Player’s Championship eventually losing to Rory McIlroy.  Spaun would not make another bogey and he kept making putts down the stretch as those in front of him faltered as he closed ranks on the field as he came to the 17th tee box.

The rain had a significant impact on the leaders coming in as the fairways had enough standing water to impact shots but not enough to render conditions unplayable.  Sam Burns had a tough experience on 15 where he appealed to a rules official for a drop out of standing water.  The appeal was marginal and rejected twice by the rules officials.  Burns splashed a 5 iron into the 5″ rough where he would then flub the approach and make a crippling double bogey.  Burns would be classy in defeat as he led this tournament for a very long time–he simply didn’t have his best for the final round and offered no excuses or complaints about the ruling.  The course was the same for everybody as the same fate befell Terrell Hatton, Adam Scott and Carlos Ortiz who spent a good portion of Sunday in Oakmont’s gnarly salad.

Bill Ford was right.  The drive and gouge game was not going to work at Oakmont.  Bryson DeChambeau did not offer a defense of his 2024 win, missing the cut at +10 unable to extricate precision out of the rough.  Thanks to Spaun, Oakmont’s reputation is preserved as a “beast” of golf courses.  The USGA setup was pretty severe and the rain was an “over the top” bad condition, but it is a great test.   The best man won the event.  Spaun’s patience and persistence paid off as his reign as US Open champion is well-deserved.

(the photos of Oakmont do not represent conditions at the US Open–5″ rough turned beauty into beast)