OAKMONT, Pa. — Finally, Dustin Johnson is a major champion.
Oakmont and its deep, treacherous, tangled rough and marble-like greens could not take that away from him. Neither could the pursuers who tried to chase him down during the pressure-packed back nine.
And, above all, despite their bumbling efforts, neither could the United States Golf Association.
The USGA, with a stunning display of indecision, turned the 116th U.S. Open into a travesty in Sunday’s final round, overshadowing Johnson, the deserving winner of its national championship.
The tournament’s governing body made itself the story, and that’s a disservice to Johnson, who finally broke through to win his first major championship with a gutsy performance, finishing 4-under par — three shots clear of runners-up Shane Lowry, Jim Furyk and Scott Piercy.
“I think it’s well-deserved,’’ Johnson said. “After everything that I’ve been through in the majors — I’ve knocked on the door a bunch of times — to finally get that major win, it’s a big monkey off my back for sure. I feel a lot lighter. Obviously, I’ve been here a bunch of times and haven’t quite gotten it done. But today I did and it feels great.’’
Johnson had this one coming to him after outplaying the field in last year’s U.S. Open for 71 ¾ holes at Chambers Bay before three-putting the 18th to leave Jordan Spieth the winner. Much the way he was for most of the week at Chambers Bay, he was the best player this week, wire to wire.
Make no mistake: Johnson has spent a good part of his career getting into his own way in the crucible of the biggest moments in the biggest tournaments. But in the case of Sunday’s final round, the USGA nearly stole this major championship from him.
The USGA owes Johnson, who shot a final-round 69, an apology for distracting him and potentially compromising the integrity of the competition. It, too, should feel indebted to him for handling the situation so well he rendered its penalty decision moot, letting the organization off the hook for the ultimate embarrassment.
That the incident in question centered around Johnson it should have been filed in the “of-course-it-did’’ category since Johnson is no stranger to controversy and heartbreak finishes in major championships.
Who doesn’t remember Johnson illegally grounding his club in that bunker on the 72nd hole of the 2010 PGA Championship at Whistling Straits costing himself a chance to be in a playoff?
“Just one more thing to add to the list, right?’’ Johnson said. “It’s nothing new at this point. It’s happened so many times, I kind of expect it now. So for it to not affect the outcome is fantastic. It just shows how well I played.’’
Johnson had a two-shot lead on the fifth hole when he was standing over a short par putt. He set his putter down next to the ball and then, while holding it behind the ball but not grounding it, the ball moved on its own and Johnson backed off. He spoke to a rules official and told him he had nothing to do with causing it to move.
The rule states that if a player causes the ball to move on the green before putting it there should be a one-shot penalty enforced. The official told Johnson to go ahead and putt the ball from where it stopped. He made the par putt and carried on.
Later, while he and playing partner Lee Westwood were on the 12th tee, a rules official approached Johnson, who still had a two-shot lead at the time, to “put him on notice’’ that the USGA was reviewing the situation and that it was possible that he might penalized.
“I tried to focus on what I was doing, not worry about the penalty stroke, just playing golf from there to the house,’’ Johnson said. “I didn’t think that I did anything to cause the ball to move. I just told myself, ‘We’ll worry about it when I get done.’ ’’
He should not have been put in that position.
Numerous players, including Rory McIlroy, Jordan Spieth and Rickie Fowler expressed outrage on Twitter at the way the USGA handled the situation.
Jack Nicklaus, who was in attendance to present the trophy, told ESPN.com that he told Johnson, “What you did with all that crap thrown at you was pretty good,’’ adding that facing a penalty was “terrible” and “very unfair.’’
The USGA’s decision not to make a decision until after the tournament forced Johnson and his competitors to play the rest of the round not even knowing what the score was.
It was like watching a close NFL game in the final two minutes and not knowing the score, or watching a baseball team bat in the bottom of the ninth not knowing how many runs it needed to tie or win the game.
In the end, Johnson was so good he overcame the USGA’s ineptitude and finally, one of the most physically talented players in the game is a major champion. No one can take that away from him.