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Last man standing

Spain’s Jon Rahm claims his first major golf title as Canadian fades on chaotic final day at the U.S. Open,

Jason Logan Twitter: @jasonSCOREGolf

Here are your options for the most bizarre moment at the U.S. Open on Sunday, keeping in mind these all took place during the 6 o’clock hour, Eastern time.

Mackenzie Hughes’ golf ball got lodged in a tree after he over-hooked his tee shot on the par-3 11th hole.

Bryson DeChambeau bladed a wedge on the par-3 13th hole and his ball ended up under a discarded box of beer.

A fan with a club and a ball ran into the fairway of 13 and proceeded to hit a shot before finding himself apprehended and “face down in the middle of the fairway,” according to NBC on-course analyst, Jim (Bones) Mackay.

Major stalwart Brooks Koepka, very much in the hunt at the time, took a whopping four shots to get his ball into the 18th hole from 30 feet away.

It was pure chaos, highly entertaining, and par for a municipal golf course that has surely seen its share of shanks and yahoos through the years. Major championship golf — pure play or poor play — is at its best when a lot is going on with a lot of different players. For a while on Sunday, that’s what we got.

Rory McIlroy and Collin Morikawa were also in the mix and suffered their own catastrophes. McIlroy three-putted the 11th hole in ugly fashion and then plugged his ball into the downslope of a bunker on 12. Morikawa displayed the hands of a 20-handicapper when he skulled a pitch shot over the green on 13. DeChambeau did the same an hour later and quadruple-bogeyed the 17th. It was ugly shot after ugly shot after ugly shot.

Two men remained largely immune to the insanity and set the standard: Jon Rahm and Louis Oosthuizen. Rahm, the strapping Spaniard who suffered a massive misfortune at the Memorial two weeks ago when he tested positive for COVID-19 and was forced to withdraw from the tournament after building a six-shot lead through three rounds. Oosthuizen, the gap-toothed South African who won the British Open just shy of 11 years ago and has a remarkable five runners-up in majors since.

Well, six actually. Because Rahm got into the clubhouse at 6-under thanks to beautiful birdie conversions on his final two holes and Oosthuizen

couldn’t catch him. He needed an eagle on 18 to do so and although he made one on Saturday to get into lead and the final group, asking lightning to strike twice was too much. Rahm sweated an Oosthuizen wedge attempt and then celebrated with his wife and newborn on the driving range. On Father’s Day.

So much was in order for Rahm. He spoke of karma afterward, given what happened at the Memorial but there was more to it than that. Torrey Pines was the site of his first PGA Tour victory. He proposed to his wife on a hiking trail north of the course.

The San Diego area reminds him of his hometown in Spain, the coast and the climate, he explained. His parents, whom he hadn’t seen in nearly two years, were in the country and at the tournament. And this major victory, his first, followed that of his mentor and fellow Arizona State University alumnus, Phil Mickelson, who last month probably won his last.

“After what happened a couple of weeks ago I stayed really positive, knowing big things were coming,” Rahm said. “I didn’t know what it was going to be, but I knew we were coming to a special place, I know I got my breakthrough win here, and it’s a very special place for my family. And the fact my parents were able to come, I got out of COVID protocol early, I just felt the stars were aligning, and I knew my best golf was to come.”

So often first-time major winners are given the “he will win more of these” treatment in the moment. But it doesn’t always play out that way, does it? The golf world said that about Oosthuizen a decade ago when he crushed the field at St Andrews. He’s still on one big-four title. The floodgates were supposed to open for Adam Scott and Sergio Garcia when they finally broke through for a major win but they haven’t. It seems like forever ago that the ubertalented Justin Thomas won the 2017 PGA Championship. Even greats of their era like Fred Couples and Davis Love III never got a second major.

Rahm, though, is a safe bet. His fourth event as a professional was the 2016 RBC Canadian Open. He finished second at Glen Abbey Golf Club that year and it was obvious massive things were in store for him. Five years later he has 12 pro victories — five on the PGA Tour, six on the European Tour, and this U.S. Open triumph. He is the No. 1 golfer in the world. Again. Once upon a time he was the No. 1 amateur in the world for a record number of weeks. He has won a European Tour money title. He has beaten Tiger Woods heads up in the Ryder Cup.

And he’s mellowed and matured. If one thing held Rahm back from even more success the last six years it was a temper that often got the best of him. So it’s a touch ironic, or perhaps poetic, that on such a calamitous afternoon of major championship golf, it was Rahm — Rahmbo, as he’s called — who kept his cool the best.

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2021-06-21T07:00:00.0000000Z

2021-06-21T07:00:00.0000000Z

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