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Here’s hoping that you had a terrific Father’s Day weekend.
My wife and I enjoyed a brief stay with one of our sons and his two youngsters in north Louisiana. On Sunday, we had a nice video chat with our other son and his three young gents in the mid-Atlantic region.
All in all, it was a great weekend for catching-up with the family.
That also left time for my annual Father’s Day Sunday ritual. I attempt to stay awake to watch the entire final round of the US Open men’s golf tournament.
Mission (almost) accomplished.
My wife said that I was assessed a 2-snore penalty for falling asleep for 15 minutes midway through the final round.
I claimed that I was simply resting my eyes for an exciting finish.
I woke up in time to be treated to a very unique and exciting US Open conclusion.
Former US Open champion Johnny Miller knows a thing or two about catching fire in the final round at Oakmont Country Club
I really miss the television commentary of long-time NBC analyst Johnny Miller.
The 78-year old Hall-of-Fame golfer still maintains a stranglehold on the final round scoring record at the always-difficult Oakmont Country Club near Pittsburgh, PA.
Miller zoomed from six shots behind (he was in 13th place after the third round) with a record-setting final round winning score of 63 to capture the 1973 US Open held at Oakmont.
Johnny Miller’s final round magic overtook a cluster of stellar third round leaders such as Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus, Gary Player, Lee Trevino, Tom Weiskopf, and Julius Boros.
Every player in that elite group would be inducted into the World Golf Hall-of-Fame after their PGA careers ended.
Johnny Miller has watched years of incredible improvements in golf clubs to increase distance and in golf balls which now fly longer and straighter than ever.
Yet, Oakmont Country Club sent last year’s US Open champion, Bryson DeChambeau, home last Friday evening after just two rounds.
DeChambeau finished 10-over par to miss the cut after shooting 73-77 on the first two days.
DeChambeau’s incredible length off the tee frequently found the five inch rough at Oakmont on far too many occasions.
There were four golfers in this year’s US Open field who failed to break 80 (10 over par) in either their first or second rounds at that mean and nasty Oakmont Country Club.
The weather was not a factor in the opening rounds, either. Dry spring-like conditions prevailed in Rounds 1 and 2 with temperatures mostly in the 70’s.
Johnny Miller was asked his thoughts about why Oakmont was still playing so hard for this current crop of professional golfers.
He replied, “It’s still all about hitting the ball in the fairway.”
Indeed, Johnny!
Shreveport’s third round leader Sam Burns found the heavy rough too many times in Sunday’s final round. He recorded two double bogeys and six bogeys en route to a disappointing final round 78 to finish at 4-over par.
Former Masters champion Adam Scott (playing in the final group with Burns) fared even worse. He carded eight bogeys and one double bogey for a 79 to finish at +6 for the tournament.
Oakmont proved to be one of America’s toughest golf courses – again
Oakmont Country Club is 7,400 yards long with deep rough everywhere. It plays to a very difficult par 70 with more than 140 sand traps to navigate at one of the nation’s toughest layouts.
It’s hard to believe, but this US Open bully (Oakmont) does not have a single water hazard on the golf course.
This brutal golf course had most professional golfers looking dazed and confused by the difficulties encountered once their golf ball missed the fairways or greens.
Smiles by the golfers were even harder to find as their golf balls were when buried deep in the gnarly rough.
The speed of the Oakmont Country Club greens (14.5 on golf’s putting surface speed measuring device called a Stimpmeter) appeared to roll even faster than those at Augusta National Golf Club this spring at The Masters.
Try putting a golf ball on your kitchen floor for a similar test of speed.
The first two rounds of the US Open at Oakmont last week produced an incredible 378 3-putts by the top golfers in the world. The next closest total was 242 3-putts recorded at Torrey Pines in San Diego early in 2025.
This year’s first two major championship winners were soundly defeated by Oakmont, too.
Masters’ winner Rory McIlroy never contended with his 7-over par final score this weekend.
Likewise for the world’s #1-ranked golfer, Scottie Scheffler. This year’s PGA Championship winner finished at 4-over par at Oakmont, but he missed several birdie putts on Sunday which could have moved him into contention.
Other recent winners of the US Open struggled to even make the cut after two rounds Friday:
2024 and 2020 – Bryson DeChambeau – 10 over par (missed the cut)
2023 – Wyndham Clark – 8 over par (missed the cut)
2022 – Matt Fitzpatrick – 11 over par
2021 – Jon Rahm – 4 over par
2019 – Gary Woodland – 10 over par (missed the cut)
2018 and 2017 – Brooks Koepka – 6 over par
2016 (also held at Oakmont) – Dustin Johnson – 10 over par (missed the cut)
Journeyman PGA golfer JJ Spaun found lightning in a bottle over the final nine holes to win
JJ Spaun (whose lone PGA win came at the 2022 Valero Open in San Antonio) bolted to the first round lead at Oakmont Thursday with a sparkling 5-under par 65.
The golf course exacted a bit of revenge on Spaun during Rounds 2 and 3, but he was still tied for second place at three under par entering Sunday’s final round.
Spaun couldn’t have started his fourth and final round at Oakmont much worse than he did.
The 34-year old from California bogeyed five of the first six holes Sunday to card a woeful 5-over par 40 on the front nine. Spaun’s second shot into the par-4 Hole #2 was so pure that the golf ball hit the flagstick but then rolled 40 yards backwards off the putting green and into the fairway.
He bogeyed that hole, too.
JJ Spaun was four strokes down with only nine holes remaining on Sunday.
But this was Oakmont! No lead is ever safe on this difficult golf course.
A torrential rain soaked the golfers and fans midway through the final round to cause a 90-minute weather delay.
JJ Spaun said that the short break helped him to cool down, regroup, and play with more focus on the final nine as he overtook a very talented field.
Final round leader Sam Burns and second place golfer Adam Scott took turns missing fairways and bogeying their way through the entire back nine after the rain delay.
JJ Spaun’s drives began to find the fairways again once the action resumed on the back nine late Sunday afternoon. He birdied four of the final seven holes to zoom up the leaderboard as others struggled to just make a par on most of the incoming holes.
It was a final round charge reminiscent of western Pennsylvania’s very own golfing legend, Arnold Palmer.
Spaun’s Arnie-like drive on the relatively short 315-yard par-4 #17 snaked its way onto surface of the green as the crowd went wild. It led to an easy two-putt birdie as he moved to even par and a one-shot lead heading into the tournament’s final hole.
JJ Spaun then split the middle of the fairway on the difficult 18th hole with a perfect tee shot. His second shot from the fairway splashed-up some lingering rain water but the ball managed to find the corner of the green.
Spaun rolled in a lengthy 65-foot putt for a birdie to cap his miraculous comeback.
He finished the US Open as the only player in the field with an under-par final score (-1).
His late flurry of hitting the Oakmont fairways and greens propelled JJ Spaun to victory on Sunday.
Johnny Miller called this one. JJ Spaun was the only golfer in contention to find fairways and greens over the final nine holes.
His amazing Father’s Day comeback earned the US Open trophy, a cool $4.3 million first place check, and a guaranteed spot in every major golf tournament for at least the next five years.
JJ Spaun’s Father’s Day Sunday on the golf course ended with his wife and two young daughters running onto the 18th green to hug the new US Open champion.
Spaun later told the assembled media, “It was just so cool to have my whole family there on Father’s Day. It’s just incredible. I have no words to describe the moment.”
I do.
As Caddyshack’s legendary greenskeeper Carl Spackler once said, “It’s a Cinderella story…”