(Getty)
2016 U.S. Open Results
Redemption, thy name is Dustin Johnson.
A year after a gut-wrenching three putt on the 72nd hole at Chambers Bay dropped him to second place, Johnson exercised his major championship demons at the 2016 U.S. Open, shooting a one-under 69 on Sunday to capture the first major win of his career.
Here’s the Top 10 from Oakmont:
| Position | Player | Total |
| 1 | Dustin Johnson | -4 |
| T2 | Scott Piercy | -1 |
| T2 | Shane Lowry | -1 |
| T2 | Jim Furyk | -1 |
| T5 | Branden Grace | E |
| T5 | Sergio Garcia | E |
| 7 | Kevin Na | +1 |
| T8 | Jason Dufner | +2 |
| T8 | Zach Johnson | +2 |
| T8 | Jason Day | +2 |
| T8 | Daniel Summerhays | +2 |
Read on for highlights from Sunday:
Round 4 Highlights
Playing without any real pressure, the early players provided a handful of highlights despite some difficult conditions. James Hahn had one of the best shots of the tournament, burying an eagle from about 150 yards away:
First eagle of the final round belongs to @JamesHahnPGA.
David Lingmerth got off to an excellent start to his round, tallying four birdies on the first five holes:
David Lingmerth’s start to his final round:
Birdie
Birdie
Par
Birdie t.co/2TrdAtlIAY
But no one was nearly as hot as Brooks Koepka, who hit bogeys on two of his first three holes then proceeded to got eight-under (!) through his next eight holes. There were plenty of highlights from that stretch, but his eagle-birdie without needing any putts on No. 10 and 11 were the best of the bunch:
Hole out on No. 10 … Hole out on No. 11 … What’s next for @BKoepka? #USOpen t.co/NVsxErzc4A
Koepka ended up with bogies on four of his last five holes, though, dropping him back to a two-under 68.
For Lowry, who shot a scorching third-round 65 to build a four-stroke lead heading into the final round, the momentum didn’t carry over to his start, as his lead quickly dropped to one. He hit bogeys on No. 2 and No. 5, while Johnson drove the green on the 320-yard Par 4, setting up a birdie:
Meanwhile, Sergio Garcia made his push, hitting birdies on No. 4 and 5 before holing out of the bunker on the Par-3 8th:
The “fiery Spaniard” with a birdie from the sand on No. 8. #USOpen t.co/Tfx7ZQ3lGL
That tied Sergio with Scott Piercy at three strokes back, and soon 2003 U.S. Open champ Jim Furyk joined them after burying a 26-foot birdie on No. 17:
Furyk bogeyed No. 18, finishing at one-under for the tournament. Soon after, we had a new co-leader after Johnson knocked in a tricky birdie putt to complete a steady 33 front nine:
The gap has been closed … @DJohnsonPGA birdies No. 9 and is tied for the lead with @ShaneLowryGolf. #USOpen t.co/P2P0SxNU3z
Lowry didn’t fare so well at No. 9, as an errant tee shot into the bunker led to his third bogey of the day. He then followed that up with another bogey on 10, falling two strokes behind DJ.
At the same time, World No. 1 Jason Day was doing World No. 1 things, holing out for eagle at 12 and drilling a putt for birdie at 13 to climb to one-under and four strokes within the lead:
Second eagle of the week for @JDayGolf. Useful. The world No. 1 is five back. #USOpen t.co/gTE3KCDH3r
Then the controversy hit, as rules officials notified Johnson that they there were going to deem whether or not this moment from hole No. 5 was going to receive a penalty:
Again
Johnson’s ball slightly moves, but he never addressed it, and the time, he called over a USGA official, who ruled it no penalty. However, the USGA came back several holes later and told DJ that it would make a final decision following the round. It was a move that was met with huge criticism, including that from some of the world’s top players:
This is ridiculous… No penalty whatsoever for DJ. Let the guy play without this crap in his head. Amateur hour from @USGA
Lemme get this straight.. DJ doesn’t address it. It’s ruled that he didn’t cause it to move. Now you tell him he may have? Now? This a joke?
No way DJ gets a penalty. Use some common sense @usga The greens are running 14 and are sloppier than Mount Everest
Here was some explanation from the USGA:
Will Dustin Johnson be assessed a 1-stroke penalty?
USGA’s Jeff Hall tells us their view of the situation. #USOpen
Moments later, Lowry birdied No. 12 to move to four-under and just one stroke behind Johnson. Or even with Johnson. No one really knew.
So Johnson either has the lead or he doesn’t. Beyond stupid.
Johnson then hit bogey on No. 14 to drop to four-under (possibly three-under), but Lowry did the same, falling to three-under. As Joe Buck explained it on the FOX broadcast, it was like an NFL team in the fourth quarter not knowing if it was leading, trailing or tied.
This isn’t right for anyone on that golf course. If it was me I wouldn’t hit another shot until this farce was rectified.
With all that going on, though, Johnson wasn’t phased. As Lowry hit two more bogeys on 15 and 16, and Scott Piercy hit bogey on 16 and 18, DJ dropped in a massive 10-foot par putt on 16:
Then, after a par on 17, Johnson piped his tee shot down the middle of the fairway on 18, hit a gorgeous approach to within five feet, and knocked in the birdie putt to secure his first major championship:
“Shot of his life.”
The USGA ultimately did penalize him a stroke, but Johnson made sure it didn’t matter.
Take that @usga