US Open: 34 random thoughts and takeaways from Oakmont

After all was said and done, we had a US Open champion that finished under par. 

With that unthinkable birdie-birdie finish, JJ Spaun is the king of Oakmont Country Club and his life will change forever.

So in an epic end to a ludicrous week, the USGA got an unlikely but incredibly worthy champion on its most brutal major setup.

There is, of course, a lot to discuss. So here goes…

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1. Imagine holing a 65 footer to win a major championship. What a scene. We’ve been spoiled again.

2. Talk about a breakthrough. He came close at Sawgrass, but JJ Spaun is now up to seventh in the world rankings with this victory and will play in his first Ryder Cup at Bethpage Black.

3. This has been the era of the superstars, the last six majors split between Scottie Scheffler, Xander Schauffele, Bryson DeChambeau and Rory McIlroy. A return of the fairytale story was just as welcome, though. Spaun started this year outside the top 100 and is now a bonafide star.

4. It’s still remarkable that from that congested leaderboard, Spaun emerged the winner. Plenty could curse rotten luck, but Spaun must have wondered what he had done wrong in a different life early in his round as his ball clattered into a flag and submerged into the rough on his way to five bogeys in six holes. Coming home in 32 after a horror front nine 40 is an incredible show of resilience.

5. Forget the monster putt for a moment. To follow up that stunning drive on the 17th with another sumptuous fade up the last knowing par will win you the US Open is arguably even more impressive.

6. $4.3million for winning a golf tournament will never not be absurd.

7. It was an absolute miracle that the USGA got that finished on Sunday after the rain came, and came again. Hats off to the ground staff, armed with their towels and squeegees, for making that engrossing finish possible.

8. JJ Spaun’s real name is John Michael Spaun Jr. Just to clear that one up.

9. Robert MacIntyre went 69-68 in the final two rounds. That is just incredible golf. He didn’t crumble under the pressure of chasing his first major, but did the opposite. On this evidence, his time will come.

10. MacIntyre’s reaction to Spaun’s winning putt is why golf is the best.

11. Poor Adam Scott. The narrative was perfect. The ageing Aussie battling Father Time and the fading light in biblical conditions akin to when he won his only major at the Masters 12 years ago. So many were willing him on after the restart, but Scott was one of many to succumb to the conditions and it was desperate to see him finish up with a 79 and outside the top-ten.

12. Save the quote of the week for Tyrrell Hatton: “I have a head off whenever I play,” he said on Saturday. “Everyone comes to the US Open and has a head off, so it brings them to my level for a week.” Hatton admitted it will take a long time to get over that crushing bogey on 17, but he has now finally been in position at the business end of a major and that should put him in good stead for Portrush.

13. Scottie Scheffler did not do a whole lot right at Oakmont. Yet it took until late Sunday evening until the “Scottie’s not out of this” whispers finally died down. What a competitor.

14. Not a lot made sense on Sunday evening, granted. But the Sam Burns ruling that derailed his chances bordered on the farcical. He might as well have been standing in a swamp on the right-hand side of the 15th fairway. He asked one rules official for temporary water relief, and was then denied by another when asking for a second opinion. The USGA later clarified that “there was no water visible where his ball had come to rest nor was water visible before or after he took his stance.” Maybe common sense was too much to ask.

15. The exciting recovery shot is one of the most entertaining aspects of watching any golf tournament. They often separate the geniuses in the field from the mortals. At this kind of US Open, though, that part of the fun is totally eliminated. Creativity is not the order of the day at Oakmont. Consequently, the constant hacking out of the fiendish rough made this event feel one-dimensional at times.

16. I’m well aware that might be an unpopular opinion. It’s also admittedly somewhat redundant after such an epic finish, too. Watching the very best toil away is why we love the US Open. But until late on Saturday evening, when Adam Scott started rolling in some putts, the atmosphere at Oakmont sounded pretty subdued. Without the Sunday drama, there’s only so long we can all thrive on the schadenfreude. Birdies, roars and back-nine charges make a major championship, too. Thankfully, they came in the end.

17. That’s not to say the dart throwing contest on the PGA Tour week-in week-out doesn’t sometimes become tedious either. The variety – and the inevitably volatile leaderboards it can throw up – still makes the US Open what it is. A fascinating watch because we hardly ever see it like this. And Sunday evening was the carnage we were all hoping for.

18. Imagine how many balls we’d save during our own weekend hacks with this amount of spotters. It took a full army of them to keep play going with the absurdly long rough.

19. Matt Fitzpatrick dared to go where many of his peers wouldn’t by breaking ranks and criticising the course: “I just don’t think it necessarily rewards good shots and I think it penalises bad shots too harshly. You can be more penalised for hitting a shot one yard off the fairway, six inches off the fairway, than you can 40 yards off the fairway. And obviously, when you’ve got the greens as extreme as these, it amplifies any miss.” You can guarantee Fitzy won’t be the only one in the locker room sharing that sentiment.

20. Speaking of which, it looks like Oakmont’s famed locker room has been left in quite the state. An image shared by No Laying Up’s Tron Carter was a pretty ugly sight, and you wonder what punishment Wyndham Clark will be greeted with if he is indeed the one who caused the damage. It certainly wouldn’t be his first charge and it needs to be severe. It feels like a fine won’t suffice here.

21. If this is to be Phil Mickelson’s last US Open, it ended in a way that was fittingly as dramatic and excruciating as his life in the one event that has eluded him. There was thunder, lighting, and another late collapse as the 54-year-old missed the cut on Friday evening with double bogeys on the 15th and 17th. A shame that we didn’t get to see Phil The Thrill over the weekend.

22. Who had Bryson DeChambeau down for 10-over through two rounds? He found out the hard way that Oakmont is a golf course that cannot be attacked. Still, this zinger from former champion Johnny Miller was quite something on Saturday: “It’s still all about hitting that ball in the fairway. You see the guys that don’t — like Bryson DeChambeau, he was living in the rough there this last couple days. Of course he gets to watch it on TV today.”

23. Spare a thought for George Duangmanee. He shot 86-89 for a 35-over total. But the American is 23-years-old and can already say he’s played in a US Open. Good luck to him.

24. He’s the best player on LIV by a country mile this season. He’s had seven wins in 16 months. He’s ranked No.5 in the Data Golf world rankings. Which is why Joaquin Niemann’s blind spot in the majors is now becoming a seriously perplexing pattern. A top-ten finish at Quail Hollow last month was his only top-ten finish in 25 major starts.

25. Is this a LIV thing? Does Niemann have the patience to win a gruelling 72-hole test? Well, he proved that with a wire-to-wire win at Riviera three years ago before switching tours. You wonder if he’s putting too much pressure on himself during these defining weeks.

26. What has been going on with Rory McIlroy?

27. We assumed it would be a victory parade, but he’s looked like he’d rather be anywhere else in these last two majors. He even basically admitted as much here. So what is the charge? Winning a career grand slam? A succulent career grand slam? Who knew that the tournament that was finally supposed to liberate him has left him looking more burdened than ever before.

28. This post-Masters malaise has been a real mystery, but McIlroy’s final round 67 was more evidence that his game is hardly in complete disarray. “Physically I feel like my game’s there,” he said on Sunday. “It’s just mentally getting myself in the right frame of mind to get the best out of myself.”

29. That’s right. McIlroy spoke to reporters for a second day in a row after that spiky Saturday appearance. McIlroy isn’t obligated to talk, and has been more available than anyone else in the last 15 years even though we’re not entitled to his words. He’ll have his reasons for skipping that unfortunately, we’re not privy to. It’s the fact that it was such a departure from McIlroy’s normal self that made this episode so surprising.

30. The next chapter of McIlroy’s career is utterly compelling. “If I can’t get motivated to get up for an Open Championship at home, then I don’t know what can motivate me,” he admitted. After climbing his Everest, resetting his lifelong goals his something McIlroy has never had to do before. It’s an extraordinary set of circumstances that not many in sport, or indeed in life, have ever experienced.

31. It’s time to make post-round interviews mandatory.

32. Stuart Fraser provided some useful context for us on X this week. “Carlos Alcaraz is mandated to speak to the media six times in eight days if he wins Queen’s this coming week,” the Times’ tennis correspondent said. “Even if he loses in the first round, he must still come in to press afterwards or receive a fine of $20,000.” Okay, so that’s complete overkill. But in many ways, golfers live a charmed life and there a few other sports in which the top stars are offered the luxury of declining media duties.

33. There’s only one men’s major left this season. It really is a case of blink and you’ll miss them, which continues to be an eternal frustration.

34. Alas, it’s hard to think of a bigger contrast in major tests than Oakmont and Royal Portrush. Bring on July. Just please, please, do not rain.

Ben Parsons is the Senior Writer at bunkered and is the man to come to for all of the latest news, across both the professional and amateur games. Formerly of The Mirror and Press Association, he is a member at Halifax Golf Club and is a long-suffering fan of both Manchester United and the Wales rugby team.