The 116th edition of the United States Open was played out last Sunday at the venerable Oakmont Country Club in suburban Pittsburgh. There wasn’t a playoff, as I had earlier predicted, and Shane Lowry, who I had listed in my top five of probable winners, contended but did not win. The ultra-powerful Dustin Johnson drove to victory and got a big-boy monkey off his back by winning his first career major championship in dominant style. Finally, the incompetent wing of the United States Golf Association showed up at this year’s National Open and was fortunate to avoid a totally catastrophic conclusion.
Dustin Johnson thinks he won the U.S. Open by four shots while his pals from the USGA decided he won the thing by a mere three shots. Either way, D.J. has his long-awaited first grand slam title after surviving six years of collapses and close calls. Johnson had reasonable opportunities to win the 2010 U.S. Open at Pebble Beach, the 2010 PGA at Whistling Straits, the 2011 British Open at Royal St. George, last year’s U.S. Open at Chambers Bay, and last year’s British Open at St. Andrews. It is a credit to Johnson’s talent as well as his resilience that he hasn’t been adversely affected by his near misses in those five major championships.
There also has been some colorful golfing drama in those past instances. Grounding your club in a hazard on the final hole while acknowledging you don’t read the rules sheet, knocking a long iron out of bounds on the 14th hole of the final round, and three-putting from less than 15 feet have been harsh ways to lose major championships. Greg Norman had bad luck in majors because the other guy had a hero moment as in the case of Larry Mize’s chip-in and Bob Tway’s bunker shot. Norman lost because of the stellar play of others. D.J. lost his chances at major stardom because of the things he did to himself.
Johnson started late Thursday, which meant he didn’t play at all because of the rain delays. He finished his first round Friday and carded a rock-solid 3-under-par 67. He went out in the first wave of round two Friday afternoon and was able to complete his round in 69 strokes. Johnson’s 4-under-par total of 136 tied him atop the leader board with journeyman Andrew Landry. Lurking close behind was Englishman Lee Westwood, Ireland’s Shane Lowry and Sergio Garcia of Spain. However, only half the field had completed 36 holes and the round would have to be finished Saturday morning. Dustin shot a pedestrian 71 on a Saturday round that ended Sunday morning and lost ground as Lowry carded a 65 to take a four-stroke lead over Landry and D.J.
That lead was completely gone by the mid-point of Sunday’s final round. Dustin shot 34 on the front nine while Lowry carded a three-bogey 38. Lowry bogeyed 10, got it back with a birdie on 12, and then made three consecutive bogeys on 14, 15, and 16 to back away from the top spot. He finished at 2-under-par for the championship alongside Jim Furyk and Scott Piercy. Sergio was two back as was Branden Grace. Kevin Na was three back and Jason Day, Jason Duffner and Zach Johnson were four behind. There were four golfers under par.
Meanwhile, Dustin Johnson was carving out a brilliant homestretch final nine, with a hiccup bogey on the 14th and a driver.6-iron stiff birdie on the 18th hole. Dustin coaxed in the final downhill 5-foot putt and he was the United States Open champion for 2016. He won because he drove the ball better than anyone else, hit a bunch of greens in regulation, and could control his speeds on the greens. Simply put, the best golfer last week won the tournament. I don’t think anyone is surprised by Johnson’s win and how he did it. This time around, he got it right.
Speaking of getting it right, this time around the USGA had a big triple-bogey on its scorecard. True, the USGA historically does a great job of running 11 national championships annually. It is the caretaker of the game and maker of the rules. It also makes decisions on equipment, assists with the new technology of the game, and plays a large role in turf grass management programs. Sad to say, the USGA has egg on its face this time around.
On the fifth green Sunday afternoon, Dustin Johnson took a couple of practice swings, was on the verge of putting his putter behind the ball in the address position, and then stepped back because his ball had barely moved. Johnson felt that the ball moved on Oakmont’s lightning fast greens because of gravity. He contended that he didn’t cause the ball to move. His playing partner as well as scorekeeper (marker) was Lee Westwood. He concurred with D.J. The USGA walking rules official agreed with that assessment also. The ball moved slightly, but not because of any action of the golfer. Play it as it lies and take your next stroke. By the way, the walking rules official assigned to the Johnson-Westwood duo is the chairman of the USGA rules committee. These things happen on occasion with lightning-fast firm greens.
That should have been the end of it. Golf is a game of honor. Johnson has a solid reputation for being above reproach. If he said he didn’t move the ball, if Westwood said the same, and the rules guy did so also, then he didn’t cause it to move. Case closed. Yet the USGA video jockeys decided the ball had moved and Johnson was responsible. They assessed him a one-stroke penalty. They could have assessed him a three-stroke penalty and he still would have won. Yet in the end, the USGA got it all wrong. It was Johnson’s and Westwood’s call to make. In the end, the USGA determined that Johnson is a liar and a cheat and penalized him.
Luckily for the USGA, Johnson didn’t fall apart and lose his lead. Nor did he finish within one stroke of the second-place trio and fall into a four-way tie with a 18-hole playoff on the horizon. How bizarre a conclusion we might have faced had Johnson been tied for the lead or just one stroke ahead? Or behind? The USGA dodged a big bullet this time around.
Jack Nicklaus, the greatest golfer of all time and the winner of four U.S. Opens, described the situation as “terrible” and “unfair.” He added that golf is a game of honor, and if the player says the ball didn’t move on account of him, “then that should be the end of the story.” Once again it seems that the U.S. Open is way too important to have bumbling amateurs running it.
