OAKMONT, Pa. — Jim Furyk, a Western Pennsylvania native son, made a terrific afternoon run, shooting 66 and taking the clubhouse lead at the U.S. Open Sunday when he finished 1-under. He had a chance to get it to 2-under, but bogeyed 18.
“I played my heart out,’’ Furyk said. “The one regret … I wish I’d have got that ball on the fairway at 18. It would have been a little more exciting.’’
The fans saluted Furyk on every tee box and green.
“I had a ton of support this week from my birthplace, West Chester, I heard a lot,’’ he said. “I heard Lancaster, where I grew up. I heard Manheim Township where I went to high school. I heard all kinds of stuff from Western PA. My dad was a pro in Uniontown. I heard every little town and borough through here. I had a lot of places claiming me. It was a lot of fun.’’
Jordan Spieth’s final-round Sunday was much different a year after winning the U.S. Open in such dramatic fashion. Spieth, who had an uneven week at Oakmont, displaying an inordinate amount of frustration at times, went out rather quietly.
Spieth closed out his week at 9-over with a bogey on the 72nd hole this time, some three hours before the leaders played the final hole.
“I felt like I didn’t have my game this week,’’ Spieth said. “The story of my week is just playing the easy holes poorly. That’s what’s tough to swallow leaving this week is you do all this work on this course, and it was the easy little iron/wedge holes that tore me apart.’’
Sergio Garcia, who finished even-par for the tournament after shooting 70 in the final round, has now gone 72 majors without a win.
“It’s been awhile since I’ve been in a major [for] four rounds out there in contention,’’ he said. “It was a great experience. Obviously, there’s a lot of nerves, but I really enjoyed it. I think that I handled it quite well, and unfortunately, came up a little bit short.
“I’ve just got to keep putting myself in this situation and at some point in time, I’m sure that the coin will fall off on heads instead of tails.’’
A lot of this week was about an unknown PGA Tour rookie from Texas named Andrew Landry, who led after the first round and toyed with becoming one of the most unlikely winners in the history of the tournament.
But Landry, who began the final round at 3-under, four shots behind leader Shane Lowry, closed with a 78 and tumbled from contention.
“I never really even thought about [winning], to be honest with you,’’ he said. “It was just kind of a downward spiral. It’s hard to be in the final group at the U.S. Open. I always wanted to be at the U.S. Open. It’s our Kentucky Derby. It’s freakin’ awesome.
“It’s obviously one of the greatest moments of my life right now, but I deserve to be here. I feel like I will be here multiple times for the rest of my career, and I feel like I’ll contend again.’’
Jon Rahm closed out his amateur career in style. Rahm, finishing the week in 7-over par, was the low amateur in the U.S. Open, closing with a 72 and 70 in his third and fourth rounds. After shooting 76 in his first round, making the cut looked like it was going to be a difficult task. But a 69 in the second round got him into the weekend.
“It’s a special moment being where I am and being on this course the last day of my amateur career,’’ Rahm said.
Rahm will make his professional debut this week when he plays in the Quicken Loans Championship at Congressional.
Masters champion Danny Willett has played only two events since Augusta — a missed cut at the Players Championship and an indifferent performance with a 9-over-par finish at the U.S. Open. Willett on Saturday was so irritated with his putting that he broke his putter in half — the same putter he used to win the Masters.
“Yeah, unfortunately it’s now in two pieces,’’ he said of his putter. “The putter has been bad all week. Just a bad week really on the greens. They’re tricky to read, tricky to keep the pace and line the same. Things just didn’t quite go our way. One of them weeks.’’
Devin Gee, the head professional at Oakmont, tried to qualify for the U.S. Open via the sectional qualifier at Canoe Brook in Summit, N.J., and did not make it into the field. Gee, however, got his chance to play in the U.S. Open on Sunday when he served as a “marker’’ paired with Justin Hicks.
When there is an uneven number of players in a tournament field a marker is assigned to the player who does not have a playing partner. Hicks shot 81 and finished 24-over par in last place.
“Not quite the way I had hoped, but certainly a fun experience,’’ Gee said. “Obviously, an unforgettable experience, to say the least. Obviously, that’s much different than competing in an Open.’’