Two late birdie bombs propel Rahm

Round 1, Round 2, Round 3

 

SAN DIEGO, CA. Heading into the final round for the 121st U.S. Open no less than 13 players were within four shots of the lead held jointly by three players. The Sunday fireworks came early during the concluding round and as the final pairing of Louis Oosthuizen and Mackenzie Hughes left the 9th green – the lead was shared by Oosthuizen and defending champion Bryson DeChambeau.

Estimated reading time: 15 minutes

 

Four players — Hughes, Rory McIlroy, Collin Morikawa and Jon Rahm were just one back — with Brooks Koepka lurking just two shots behind.

Only one player among those closest to contending successfully negotiated the rigors of the back nine of the South Course at Torrey Pines without a blemish on his scorecard — it was Rahm winning his first major and adding to the legacy of Spanish golf in becoming the first player from his country to claim the championship of the second oldest major event in golf.

Rahm reached the penultimate hole one stroke behind the South African Oosthuizen. Facing a challenging 25-foot putt with no less than six feet of break from left-to-right the 26-year-old sunk the putt and emphatically punched the air with his fist and move into a tie for the lead.

On the final hole Rahm positioned his tee shot and opted for a 4-iron second to the dangerous par-5 finisher protected in front by a menacing pond. Rahm’s 2nd sailed right finding the greenside bunker. After surveying the position of the flagstick and realizing how perilous a play it would be to attempt to get close to the hole, he opted to play smartly to the right leaving himself 24 feet. Incredibly, Rahm sunk the birdie putt pushing him into a lead he would never relinquish. 

 

Rahm’s final round 67 matched the low 18-hole round for the week giving him a 72-hole cumulative score of 278.

The stage of the 18th green on the South Course at Torrey Pines is a most familiar one for the Spaniard — in 2017 Rahm curled in a 50-foot eagle putt to claim his first PGA Tour title in the Farmers Insurance event after also trailing by three strokes going into the final round.

Rahm’s last event came at The Memorial two weeks prior to the U.S. Open and he was forced to withdraw after three rounds of play after testing positive for COVID-19. The Spaniard’s play in Ohio was stellar, -18 and a six-shot lead going for naught.

“I’m a big believer in karma,” said Rahm, “And after what happened a couple weeks ago, I stayed really positive knowing good things were coming. I didn’t know what it was going to be, but I knew we were coming to a special place, I just felt like the stars were aligning, and I knew my best golf was to come.”

Rahm further explained — “I have a hard time explaining what just happened because I can’t even believe I made the last two putts, and I’m the first Spaniard ever to win a U.S. Open. This was definitely for Seve [Ballesteros]. I know he tried a lot, and usually we think a lot about him at the Masters, but I know he wanted to win this one most of all. I just don’t know how to explain it.”

Oosthuizen valiantly held his own on the inward half — calmly sinking demanding par putts throughout the back nine as he reached the par-4 17th. Needing to finish with at least one birdie and par to secure a tie with Rahm, Oosthuizen inexplicably pulled his tee shot left at the 17th into the adjoining penalty area. After a one-shot penalty in dropping his ball Oosthuizen played a solid wedge shot from 131 yards to eight feet. The par putt never broke enough left and the resulting bogey meant the 38-year-old would need to eagle the last to force a playoff. It was not to be as Oosthuizen’s tee shot found the left rough and after laying up short of the pond his pitch from 69 yards to tie missed. Oosthuizen would hole the anti-climactic birdie putt from eight feet and duplicate his finish at the May PGA Championship with another runner-up position.

The final nine holes of any major championship are always replete with key shots — successful ones and those less so. As the seven players proceeded through the inward half the ongoing misplays resembled car crashes more attuned to NASCAR than golf.

One-by-one the key players in contention gave ground with only Rahm and Oosthuizen able to maintain their respective positions till the exciting conclusion.

 

Odds and Ends from Sunday’s Final Round

• Rahm’s win now catapults him to the top of the men’s world rankings — supplanting Dustin Johnson. The U.S. Open victory marks his 6th win on the PGA Tour and comes after a forced withdrawal because of a positive COVID-19 test at The Memorial where he led after three rounds by six shots. His comments were telling — “I know what happened a couple of weeks ago. Some people might say it wasn’t fair, but it was what had to be done. We still have to be aware of what’s going on in this world. Take care of yourself and everybody around you so we can get over this as quick as possible.”

• Rahm becomes the most recent foreign winner of the U.S. Open — the last coming in 2014 when German Martin Kaymer won at Pinehurst.

• Oosthuizen’s runner-up finish is the 6th in his career. While he claimed the ’10 Open Championship as his only victory among the four major events he has been a runner-up in all four including the last two. Among active players — only Phil Mickelson (11) and Tiger Woods (7) have more runner-up finishes.

 

• DeChambeau had gone 34 holes without a bogey and held the joint lead with Oosthuizen as late as the par-3 11th before imploding and concluding play on the final eight holes in 8-over-par including a quintuple bogey eight on the 17th hole.

• Four-time major winner Brooks Koepka started the final round five shots out of the lead and made a run for his 3rd U.S. Open title but late bogeys at the par-3 16th and par-5 18th respectively squashed any opportunities and he ultimately finished T4. Nonetheless, Koepka emphatically reinforces his position as the most consistent performer when major championships are played. In the last 15 majors going back to his triumph in the 2017 U.S. Open — Koepka has finished in the top 5 nine times.

• Richard Bland who at 48 became the oldest leader of a major championship, finished weekend play with rounds of 77-78. The Englishman finished T50.

• 3 — the most Italians to complete four rounds in major championship took place at Torrey Pines. The brothers — Francesco and Eduardo Molinari — matched the feat of Japanese brothers — Joe and Masahi “Jumbo” Ozaki who did similarly at Baltusrol in 1993. Joining the Molinaris in completing four rounds was Guido Migliozzi who finsihed T4.

 

• Rory McIlroy’s streak of having won no major since the 2014 PGA Championship continues. At one point in the final round the Ulsterman closed to within one shot of the lead — but a missed par putt at the 11th followed by a double-bogey at the 12th was enough to derail his desire to snare a second U.S. Open title. McIlroy shot 73 on Sunday and a T7.

• San Diego native and world ranked top ten player Xander Schauffele was rated among the pre-championship favorites and while he positioned himself after opening with rounds of 69 and 71 — his weekend play was unable to better those scores with totals of 72 and 71 resulting in a T7 final position.

• Mackenzie Hughes had an unusual happening — his tee shot at the par-3 11th bounced off a cart path and landed within the branches of a tree near to the green. He was forced to take a penalty stroke and his double-bogey five effectively ended his run to become the first Canadian to win the U.S. Open.

 

• Twenty of the 71 players who completed 72 holes survived final qualifying to advance to Torrey Pines, with Air Force Academy alum Kyle Westmoreland the lone golfer to advance through both stages of qualifying and play the weekend. By playing 72 holes, Westmoreland is exempt from local qualifying next year. Branden Grace (T-7) was the low qualifier, three strokes ahead of 2011 Masters champion Charl Schwartzel.

• In 2008, a total of 53 sub-par rounds were recorded over the four days of the U.S. Open. In 2021, that number increased by 25 to 78. On Sunday, 14 players bettered par.

• Torrey Pines’ par-5 18th hole played as the easiest finishing hole in U.S. Open history, yielding 183 birdies and 13 eagles for a stroke average of 4.64. The par-3 11th the was the toughest hole for the week, playing to an average of 3.39.
   

• The USGA, in concert with the superintendent and grounds crew, provided a stern yet fair test of golf on the South Course at Torrey Pines. In years past, the USGA has caused self-inflicted snafus to happen causing consternation from the players that those involved with the association are not up to the task in creating. That did not happen this time as the set-up separated those failing to execute at the highest of levels and produced a most deserving champion.

 

• The final round of the U.S. Open happens traditionally on Father’s Day and winner Jon Rahm celebrated his first Father’s Day celebration with his wife Kelley and recently born son — Kepa Cahill — born April 4 just prior to the start of the Masters tournament. Rahm’s parents were also at Torrey Pines.

• Mike Davis, CEO since 2016 and a USGA employee for 32 years worked his final U.S. Open with the championship at Torrey Pines. Davis will join Tom Fazio II in a new golf architecture firm called Fazio & Davis Golf Design. He became the 7th executive director in 2011 before ascending to become the first CEO of the association during an internal organizational shakeup five years later.

 

• The 122nd U.S. Open will be played June 16-19 at The Country Club in Brookline, MA. This will mark the first return of the U.S. Open to the immediate Boston area since the 1988 championship.

Pos.	Player	To Par	R1	R2	R3	R4	Total
1	Jon Rahm	-6	69	70	72	67	278
2	Louis Oosthuizen	-5	67	71	70	71	279
3	Harris English	-3	72	70	71	68	281
T4	Guido Migliozzi	-2	71	70	73	68	282
T4	Brooks Koepka	-2	69	73	71	69	282
T4	Collin Morikawa	-2	75	67	70	70	282
T7	Branden Grace	-1	72	70	74	67	283
T7	Daniel Berger	-1	71	72	72	68	283
T7	Paul Casey	-1	71	75	67	70	283
T7	Xander Schauffele	-1	69	71	72	71	283
T7	Scottie Scheffler	-1	72	69	70	72	283
T7	Rory McIlroy	-1	70	73	67	73	283
T13	Francesco Molinari	E	68	76	69	71	284
T13	Russell Henley	E	67	70	71	76	284
T15	Patrick Cantlay	+1	70	75	71	69	285
T15	Mackenzie Hughes	+1	73	67	68	77	285
T15	Kevin Streelman	+1	71	69	72	73	285
T15	Matthew Wolff	+1	70	68	73	74	285
T19	Sergio Garcia	+2	71	74	73	68	286
T19	Brian Harman	+2	72	71	71	72	286
T19	Dustin Johnson	+2	71	73	68	74	286
T19	Patrick Reed	+2	72	73	74	67	286
T19	Charl Schwartzel	+2	71	74	71	70	286
T19	Jordan Spieth	+2	77	69	68	72	286
T19	Justin Thomas	+2	73	69	71	73	286
T26	Chris Baker	+3	74	71	69	73	287
T26	Bryson DeChambeau	+3	73	69	68	77	287
T26	Rikuya Hoshino	+3	69	74	73	71	287
T26	Martin Kaymer	+3	77	68	69	73	287
T26	Hideki Matsuyama	+3	69	76	74	68	287
T31	Christiaan Bezuidenhout	+4	72	70	70	76	288
T31	Joaquin Niemann	+4	75	69	71	73	288
T31	Patrick Rodgers	+4	70	71	77	70	288
T31	Dylan Wu	+4	70	73	74	71	288
T35	Lanto Griffin	+5	76	69	69	75	289
T35	Sungjae Im	+5	72	72	69	76	289
T35	Robert MacIntyre	+5	71	73	72	73	289
T35	Edoardo Molinari	+5	70	76	72	71	289
T35	Adam Scott	+5	70	75	71	73	289
T40	Adam Hadwin	+6	70	72	75	73	290
T40	Si Woo Kim	+6	71	75	70	74	290
T40	Wade Ormsby	+6	72	74	73	71	290
T40	J.T. Poston	+6	72	73	71	74	290
T40	Ian Poulter	+6	74	71	68	77	290
T40	Chez Reavie	+6	76	68	72	74	290
T46	Dylan Frittelli	+7	73	72	72	74	291
T46	Tom Hoge	+7	72	71	76	72	291
T46	Rick Lamb	+7	71	75	74	71	291
T46	Lee Westwood	+7	71	72	71	77	291
T50	Richard Bland	+8	70	67	77	78	292
T50	Rafa Cabrera Bello	+8	68	76	74	74	292
T50	Tommy Fleetwood	+8	72	73	74	73	292
T50	Bubba Watson	+8	72	67	77	76	292
T50	Gary Woodland	+8	74	71	73	74	292
T55	Matt Fitzpatrick	+9	70	75	72	76	293
T55	Kevin Kisner	+9	73	73	72	75	293
T57	Akshay Bhatia	10	73	73	73	75	294
T57	Stewart Cink	10	73	72	74	75	294
T57	Charley Hoffman	10	72	71	75	76	294
T57	Taylor Montgomery	10	70	76	74	74	294
T57	Jhonattan Vegas	10	75	69	74	76	294
T62	Phil Mickelson	11	75	69	76	75	295
T62	Greyson Sigg	11	71	74	75	75	295
64	Marc Leishman	12	74	70	75	77	296
T65	Matt Jones	13	72	71	79	75	297
T65	Shane Lowry	13	72	74	72	79	297
T65	Troy Merritt	13	75	71	73	78	297
T68	Wilco Nienaber	14	72	74	80	72	298
T68	Kyle Westmoreland	14	71	73	78	76	298
T70	Fabián Gómez	19	70	76	78	79	303
T70	Jimmy Walker	19	74	72	77	80	303
CUT	Marcus Armitage	+5	71	76			147
CUT	Sam Burns	+5	73	74			147
CUT	Wyndham Clark	+5	75	72			147
CUT	Thomas Detry	+5	71	76			147
CUT	Andrew Kozan (a)	+5	71	76			147
CUT	Taylor Pendrith	+5	75	72			147
CUT	Sam Ryder	+5	77	70			147
CUT	Cameron Smith	+5	72	75			147
CUT	Brendan Steele	+5	73	74			147
CUT	Bernd Wiesberger	+5	75	72			147
CUT	Zach Zaback	+5	75	72			147
CUT	Erik van Rooyen	+5	74	73			147
CUT	Corey Conners	+6	75	73			148
CUT	Tyrrell Hatton	+6	70	78			148
CUT	Garrick Higgo	+6	76	72			148
CUT	Zach Johnson	+6	75	73			148
CUT	Matt Kuchar	+6	73	75			148
CUT	Sebastián Muñoz	+6	71	77			148
CUT	Carlos Ortiz	+6	75	73			148
CUT	Ollie Osborne (a)	+6	76	72			148
CUT	Spencer Ralston (a)	+6	75	73			148
CUT	Johannes Veerman	+6	73	75			148
CUT	Matt Wallace	+6	74	74			148
CUT	Joe Highsmith (a)	+7	76	73			149
CUT	Max Homa	+7	76	73			149
CUT	Billy Horschel	+7	74	75			149
CUT	Michael Johnson	+7	74	75			149
CUT	Jordan Smith	+7	77	72			149
CUT	Zack Sucher	+7	75	74			149
CUT	Sahith Theegala	+7	76	73			149
CUT	Brendon Todd	+7	78	71			149
CUT	Will Zalatoris	+7	75	74			149
CUT	Abraham Ancer	+8	73	77			150
CUT	Eric Cole	+8	77	73			150
CUT	Tony Finau	+8	74	76			150
CUT	Luis Gagne	+8	75	75			150
CUT	Cole Hammer (a)	+8	77	73			150
CUT	Martin Laird	+8	74	76			150
CUT	Kevin Na	+8	77	73			150
CUT	Ryan Palmer	+8	76	74			150
CUT	Victor Perez	+8	75	75			150
CUT	Robby Shelton	+8	78	72			150
CUT	Hayden Springer	+8	77	73			150
CUT	Cameron Young	+8	72	78			150
CUT	Yosuke Asaji	+9	76	75			151
CUT	Paul Barjon	+9	73	78			151
CUT	Hayden Buckley	+9	69	82			151
CUT	Cameron Champ	+9	76	75			151
CUT	Pierceson Coody (a)	+9	73	78			151
CUT	Jason Kokrak	+9	73	78			151
CUT	Peter Malnati	+9	75	76			151
CUT	Adrian Meronk	+9	72	79			151
CUT	Matthew Sharpstene (a)	+9	74	77			151
CUT	Matthew Southgate	+9	75	76			151
CUT	Brian Stuard	+9	78	73			151
CUT	Brad Kennedy	10	74	78			152
CUT	Matthias Schmid (a)	10	76	76			152
CUT	Davis Shore	10	76	76			152
CUT	Webb Simpson	10	79	73			152
CUT	J.J. Spaun	10	77	75			152
CUT	Henrik Stenson	10	76	76			152
CUT	Justin Suh	10	78	74			152
CUT	Thomas Aiken	11	80	73			153
CUT	Roy Cootes	11	76	77			153
CUT	Ryo Ishikawa	11	77	76			153
CUT	Sung Kang	11	75	78			153
CUT	Chan Kim	11	76	77			153
CUT	Joe Long (a)	11	77	76			153
CUT	Andy Pope	11	76	77			153
CUT	David Coupland (a)	12	74	80			154
CUT	Christopher Crawford	13	76	79			155
CUT	K.H. Lee	13	76	79			155
CUT	Justin Rose	13	78	77			155
CUT	Carson Schaake	13	76	79			155
CUT	Luis Fernando Barco	14	77	79			156
CUT	Bo Hoag	14	78	78			156
CUT	Dylan Meyer	14	78	78			156
CUT	Tyler Strafaci	14	78	78			156
CUT	Mario Carmona	15	77	80			157
CUT	John Huh	15	80	77			157
CUT	Alvaro Ortiz	15	82	75			157
CUT	Steve Allan	17	80	79			159
CUT	Wilson Furr	17	77	82			159
CUT	James Hervol	18	79	81			160
WD	Viktor Hovland	+9	74				74