Dustin Johnson overcame the best golfers in the world and the USGA to capture the 116th U.S. Open at Oakmont Country Club in Oakmont, Pa.
DJ, putting his past failures in major championships behind, closed with a what turned out to be a 1-under-par 69 despite the possibility of a one-stroke penalty hanging over his head for the last seven holes.
Johnson won by three strokes over homestate favorite Jim Furyk, who carded a 66, Scott Piercy, who had a 69 and Shane Lowry of Ireland, who took a four-stroke lead into the final round but struggled to a 76.
DJ finished with a flourish, hitting his approach shot on the final hole to within three feet and sinking the putt for a birdie after making key par putts of 10 feet on the 16th hole and four feet on the 17th.
“It hasn’t sunk in yet, but it obviously feels great,” said Johnson, who won for the ninth consecutive season, the longest active streak on the PGA Tour. “I tried to focus on golf, on what I was doing coming in, all the way to the house, rather than the (possible) penalty.
“That was one of the best shots I’ve ever hit (on the last hole). It was nice to have a three-footer to finish.
” … This just feels so good.”
After the round, the USGA assessed Johnson a one-stroke penalty for an incident on the fifth hole, where he was standing over his ball for a par putt. DJ’s putter was not soled on the green when the ball moved.
After discussing it with a rules official on hand and his playing partner, Lee Westwood of England, they deemed that DJ had not caused the ball to move.
The USGA had other ideas and when Johnson reached the 12th tee, USGA officials told him it was a possible infraction that they would discuss after the round.
Fox commentators Paul Azinger, Steve Flesch and Brad Faxon–all PGA golfers–were unanimous in their feelings that Johnson did not cause the ball to move and Rory McIlroy, Jordan Spieth and Rickie Fowler all said the same on Twitter.
“This is ridiculous,” tweeted McIlroy, who is a friend of Lowry’s and obviously wanted him to win. “No penalty whatsoever for DJ. Let the guy play without this crap in his head. Amateur hour from @USGA.”
Johnson, who was locked in a tight battle with Lowry and Piercy at the time, made it a moot point, even though the USGA later did their thing.
Last year, Johnson missed a 12-foot putt on the final hole at Chambers Bay that would have given him the U.S. Open title, leading to a three-putt that left him in a tie for second behind Jordan Spieth.
In 2010, he took a three-stroke lead into the final round of the U.S. Open at Pebble Beach but closed with an 82 to tie for eighth, and later that year in the PGA Championship at Whistling Straits a two-stroke penalty on the 72nd hole knocked him out of a playoff in which Martin Kaymer of Germany beat Bubba Watson.
Sergio Garicia of Spain, another guy who has known more than his share of major disappointment, shot 70 and wound up four shots back in a tie for fifth with Branden Grace of South Africa, who totaled 71.
Kevin Na of Diamond Bar posted a 69 and was five shots behind in seventh, while top-ranked Jason Day of Australia came back from an opening 76 and his 71 left him another stroke behind in a tie for eighth with Jason Dufner, who shot 70, Zach Johnson, who finished with a 71 and Daniel Summerhays, who came in with a 74.
