Spain’s Jon Rahm claimed an incredible first major title as he finished with back-to-back birdies on a breathless final day of the 121st US Open.
Rahm, 26, roared at a wall of fans after his putt on the 18th took him to six under and gave him a one-shot lead over South Africa’s Louis Oosthuizen.
Oosthuizen, who had four holes to play, bogeyed the 17th meaning he needed to eagle the last but could only birdie.
Rory McIlroy and Bryson DeChambeau challenged but faded late on.
Rahm’s win comes two weeks after he was forced to withdraw from a PGA Tour event he was leading by six shots after three rounds because of a positive coronavirus test.
The Spaniard said his main concern at that time was for his wife and two-month-old baby and it was them he celebrated with first – on his first Father’s Day no less – after the nerveless birdie putt saw him close out a four-under-par 67, the joint lowest score of the day.
“You have no idea what this means right now,” he said to his son Kepa after hearing of Oosthuizen’s closing birdie. “You will soon enough.”
‘The stars were aligning’
The leaderboard was congested after a flurry of birdies on the front nine, but players were fighting to avoid bogeys after the turn.
Oosthuizen was the last to fall when he dropped a shot on the 17th and he could not repeat the sensational eagle he made on the 18th on Saturday, which had given him a share of the overnight lead.
The 38-year-old, who won the 2010 Open Championship, also shot a closing 67 but has now finished runner-up in a major on six occasions.
Rahm was the only contender not to drop a shot on the back nine and had seven pars in a row before the grandstand finish saw him become the first Spaniard to win the US Open.
“I’m a big believer in karma and after what happened a couple of weeks ago, I stayed really positive knowing that big things were coming,” said Rahm, who won his first PGA Tour event at Torrey Pines in 2017.
“I didn’t know what it was going to be but I knew we were coming to a special place. I got my breakthrough win here and it’s a very special place for my family.
“The fact my parents were able to come, I got out of Covid protocol early, I just felt like the stars were aligning.”
Rahm dedicated his win to Spanish legend Seve Ballesteros, who died 10 years ago. Ballesteros claimed five major titles in his career but never won the US Open.
“I knew my best golf was to come and I have a hard time explaining what just happened because I can’t believe I made the last two putts and I’m the first Spanish player to win the US Open,” Rahm continued.
“This is definitely for Seve – I know he tried a lot, I know he wanted to win this one most of all.”
Rahm rises as other big names fall
A memorable final day began with former major winners crowding the top of the leaderboard and 17 players within five shots of Oosthuizen, Mackenzie Hughes and Russell Henley’s five-under overnight lead.
McIlroy began the day hoping to earn a second US Open title 10 years after his first, but the Northern Irishman’s double bogey on the 12th put paid to his chances as he closed with a 73 to finish joint seventh on one under, alongside England’s Paul Casey among others.
Defending champion DeChambeau said he would use the “bomb and gouge” tactics that propelled him to the title at Winged Foot last September. But they did not work in the final round at Torrey Pines and he suffered an even worse fate than McIlroy, dropping two shots on the 13th and then having a quadruple-bogey eight on the 17th as he signed for a six-over 77.
Unheralded Henley had held the lead throughout the third round but failed to move away from a dangerous-looking chasing pack and a run of three bogeys starting on the sixth hole were enough to put him out of the running on Sunday.
England’s Richard Bland, 48, had provided the fairy-tale opening to the tournament, becoming the oldest man to lead at the halfway stage but he too fell foul of the challenging course, with rounds of 77 and 78 over the weekend.
Conversely, Rahm bided his time with opening rounds of 69 and 70 before slipping to two under with a one-over 72 on Saturday but brought his best golf when it counted.
Rahm holds out in tricky back nine
With the title wide open for most of Sunday and the lead changing hands numerous times, the Spaniard got off to a promising start as he began the final round of a major with two birdies for the first time.
That put him one off the lead and he managed to rectify a wayward tee shot with a classy chip on to the third green but he could not avoid a bogey on the fourth.
Two-time US Open winner Koepka and former champion McIlroy moved ominously up the leaderboard, but like many others faded on the back nine.
In a sign that perhaps Rahm was always destined to win, the Spaniard got a free drop after his tee shot on the ninth flew perilously close to a boundary fence and he somehow managed to come away with a birdie to get back to four under, one off the lead.
Then, Oosthuizen left a group of six players tied for second to join DeChambeau at the top with a birdie on the ninth.
Down the back nine, tee shots became increasingly wayward and birdies evermore scarce as a series of errors by those near the top of the leaderboard changed the scene dramatically.
After a DeChambeau bogey, Oosthuizen extended his lead to two shots with an excellent birdie putt on the 10th but immediately fell foul of a cursed 11th to drop a shot.
As McIlroy and DeChambeau fell back, Oosthuizen tried to cling onto his lead with Rahm chasing and the clubhouse target of three under set by Harris English suddenly looked promising.
Rahm missed birdie chances on the 14th and 15th and his tee shot into a fairway bunker on the 17th seemed unnerving, but the Spaniard hit his approach to 25ft and raucously celebrated after holing the birdie putt to join Oosthuizen as tournament leader.
After another trip into the sand on the par-five last, the 26-year-old chipped onto the green and made another challenging 18ft putt to earn his victory.
Article courtesy of BBC Sport
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