SAN DIEGO – Spain’s Jon Rahm won his first major title with a one shot victory over South African Louis Oosthuizen at the 121st United States Open Golf Championship at Torrey Pines. The victory was particularly sweet, coming on Father’s Day, for the father of a newborn son.
Rahm tied for the best score in the field Sunday, with Patrick Reed and Branden Grace also shooting (67s).
Oosthuizen has won one major (2010 British Open) and he now has six runner-up spots in majors. That list includes tying for second at last month’s PGA Championship.
To defeat the South African, Rahm closed with two incredible pressure putts on 17 and 18 to earn the win. He won a cool $2,250,000 to start his son’s college fund. Not bad for the man who tested positive for COVID-19+ when he was six strokes up at the recent Memorial Golf Tournament and had to withdraw. Rahm cleared protocol for the U.S. Open with two days to spare.
Harris English finished third at 3 under, with his final-round (68) the only sub-70 score of the tournament. On Sunday, he had bogeys on three of the first four holes, but played the last five holes in 3 under.
Brooks Koepka (69), Collin Morikawa (70) and Italy’s Guido Migliozzi (68) were at 2 under to share fourth place.
Xander Schauffele and Scottie Scheffler shot identical (283) for (-1) and T-7. Go figure.
Defending champion Bryson DeChambeau was two shots off the lead when the day began and was 2 under for the round through eight holes. He melted down and fell out of contention, playing Nos. 11-17 in 8 over to shoot a final round (77). His quadruple-bogey 8 on No. 17 was the ultimate damage. He finished T-26.
This Week: The Travelers Championship (Cromwell, Conn).
Final Leaderboard at The 121st U.S. Open
Jon Rahm – (-6) 69-70-72-67 (278)
Louis Oosthuizen – (-5) 67-71-70-71 (279)
Harris English – (-3) 72-70-71-68 (281)
Three Tied at (-2)