Robert MacIntyre shows class in defeat and on the course Sunday at U.S. Open
Watch the best shots and key moments from a chaotic, thrilling final round of the 125th U.S. Open at Oakmont Country Club.
OAKMONT, Pa. — Robert MacIntyre nearly matched the biggest final-round comeback in U.S. Open history.
Instead, he had to settle for sole possession of second place, but on a day when so many contenders — including the winner — had their problems, MacIntyre handled both Oakmont and the weather with aplomb.
MacIntyre shot a 2-under 68 on Sunday to finish the tournament at 1 over — two strokes behind J.J. Spaun. MacIntyre was seven strokes back of leader Sam Burns at the beginning of the day. He actually made up 10 shots on Burns but couldn't outlast Spaun.
'I think when I was walking up 14 or 12, and I seen a leaderboard that the leader was at even par. I kind of knew where I was at, I was at 3 over, I think, at the time,' MacIntyre said. 'The whole week, I've said level par in my head. I'm just looking for four even pars. Almost got there, but not quite.'
As MacIntyre spoke, Spaun was still out on the course. A playoff — or even an outright victory for MacIntyre — was still possible. When Spaun rolled in his majestic birdie putt on 18 to finish at 1 under, camera footage showed MacIntyre clapping.
Arnold Palmer is still the only U.S. Open winner to come from seven strokes behind in the final round. He did it in 1960 at Cherry Hills.
Palmer birdied six of his first seven holes that day. MacIntyre's rally was more about staying afloat and waiting for the leaders to fall back. The left-hander from Scotland actually bogeyed two of his first three holes to drop to 5 over, but a 58-foot putt for eagle on the par-5 fourth started him in the right direction.
'That kind of settled me down,' he said. 'That got me into somewhat of a groove and back in the golf tournament. Then the back nine was just all about fighting.'
MacIntyre said he dried off his shirt and kept stretching during a 97-minute weather delay that interrupted the final round. Down the stretch he was sharp, hitting his tee shot just short of the green on the par-4 17th and moving to 1 over with a birdie there. He had a birdie putt from just over 30 feet on the last hole, but that one didn't drop, and Spaun finished the tournament with two straight birdies to win it.
"Wow."
Bobby Mac is all of us right now. pic.twitter.com/dUMWpH365o
But MacIntyre did enough to make him earn it. Of the top six finishers, only MacIntyre shot under par on the final day. And the Scot was the only player in the field to shoot under par both Saturday and Sunday.
'Today was a day that I said to myself, Why not? Why not it be me today?' he said. 'When I was going round, and I just trusted myself, trusted my caddie Mike (Burrow), trusted all the work that I've done.'
MacIntyre was a member of Europe's victorious Ryder Cup team in 2023. He won his first two PGA Tour titles last year at the Canadian Open and Scottish Open.
Although being from Scotland didn't necessarily give him an advantage in the wet weather at Oakmont.
'When that rain came on, I wouldn't be outside. I'd be indoors like you guys,' he said. 'Fair-weather golfer now that I've moved to the PGA Tour.'
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Associated Press
13 minutes ago
- Associated Press
US Open champion JJ Spaun turned a freefall into a title at rain-soaked Oakmont
OAKMONT, Pa. (AP) — Nobody backs their way into a U.S. Open title. J.J. Spaun wasn't about to be the first to say he did. On a day built for umbrellas, panchos and industrial-sized squeegees, Spaun reversed his own freefall, took advantage of several others' and hit two shots that turned him into a major champion while finally, mercifully, creating a moment to remember at the rain-soaked brute called Oakmont. 'I just tried to dig deep,' said the 34-year-old Californian who can now call himself a major champion. 'I've been doing it my whole life.' The shots that will go down in history are the drive he hit on the reachable par-4 17th and the 65-foot putt he sank with the sun going down and the rain falling on 18. The first set up a birdie that put him in the lead by himself for good. The second was for emphasis — he only needed a two-putt, after all — that ensured this U.S. Open would finish with one — and only one — player under par. The 65 footer, the longest of any putt made all tournament, closed out a back nine 32 and left Spaun at 1-under 279 for the tournament. His 72 was the highest closing-round score for a U.S. Open winner in 15 years. But that wasn't Sunday's takeaway. Rather, it was the 401.5 feet worth of putts the champion made over four days. And the fact that Spaun joined none other than Ben Hogan, Jack Nicklaus, Tom Watson and Jon Rahm as the fifth U.S. Open winner to finish birdie-birdie. 'I just felt like you keep putting yourself in these positions, like eventually you're going to tick one off,' said Spaun, whose loss in a playoff to Rory McIlroy three months ago at The Players Championship was his third top-three finish of 2025. But at the U.S. Open? In that kind of weather? None of it seemed possible when the rain started coming down during the tail end of a front-nine 40 that took Spaun from one shot back at the start of the day to four behind and fading fast. Coaches told him, 'Dude, just chill,' and Spaun did A 1-hour, 37-minute rain delay ensued. It was a break that changed everything. 'They were just like, 'Dude, just chill,'' Spaun said of the pep talk he got from his coaches. They suggested that, if earlier in the week, he'd been told he could be four shots back with nine holes to play, he would have jumped at the chance. 'They just said, 'Just let it come to you, be calm. Stop trying so hard,'' Spaun said. Staying calm resulted in making a downhill 40 footer on the par-5 12th for birdie, then a 22-foot birdie on 14 to take the lead by himself for the first time, at even par. Everywhere else, meltdowns in the rain. Third-round leader Sam Burns thinned a shot out of a divot and over the 11th green en route to the first of two back-nine double bogeys. He shot 40 on the back and finished tied for seventh. Adam Scott, the only major champion in the top 10 after Saturday's play, shot 41 in the rain on the back nine and dropped to 12th. 'I didn't adapt to those conditions well enough,' Scott said. Tyrell Hatton, who shot 72, briefly threatened and was part of a brief five-way deadlock for the lead before making bogey on the last two holes to finish tied for fourth. Robert MacIntyre turned out to be Spaun's most persistent challenger. The left-hander from Scotland faded his drive just short of the green on the way to birdie on 17 to get to 1 over and set the target for Spaun, who was playing three groups behind. MacIntyre was waiting in the locker room when Spaun hit his approach on 18 to 65 feet. Everyone knew it was no sure two-putt. Hardly anyone expected Spaun to get down in one. 'To watch him hole the putt on 12 down the hill there was unreal,' said Viktor Hovland, who played in the twosome with Spaun. 'And then he makes another one on 14 that was straight down the hill. And then the one on 18, it's just absolutely filthy there.' A sick kid and 'chaos' ends with a trophy When they close the book on Spaun's victory at this rainy U.S. Open, maybe the most telling story will be about the way his Father's Day began. As much as the front-nine 40, it had to do with the 3 a.m. trip to the drug store for his daughter, Violet, who Spaun said was 'vomiting all over.' 'It was kind of a rough start to the morning,' he said. 'I'm not blaming that on my start, but it kind of fit the mold of what was going on, the chaos.' Then, through all the rain, and through all those bad lies and bad breaks, Spaun brought some order to it all with a drive and a putt that landed him with the silver trophy and gold medal that go to U.S. Open winners. 'We all sacrifice so much to be here, and to see it come to fruition, that's why we do it,' said Spaun's coach, Adam Schriber. 'It's for these moments.' ___ AP golf:
Fox Sports
18 minutes ago
- Fox Sports
US Open champion JJ Spaun turned a freefall into a title at rain-soaked Oakmont
Associated Press OAKMONT, Pa. (AP) — Nobody backs their way into a U.S. Open title. J.J. Spaun wasn't about to be the first to say he did. On a day built for umbrellas, panchos and industrial-sized squeegees, Spaun reversed his own freefall, took advantage of several others' and hit two shots that turned him into a major champion while finally, mercifully, creating a moment to remember at the rain-soaked brute called Oakmont. 'I just tried to dig deep,' said the 34-year-old Californian who can now call himself a major champion. 'I've been doing it my whole life.' The shots that will go down in history are the drive he hit on the reachable par-4 17th and the 65-foot putt he sank with the sun going down and the rain falling on 18. The first set up a birdie that put him in the lead by himself for good. The second was for emphasis — he only needed a two-putt, after all — that ensured this U.S. Open would finish with one — and only one — player under par. The 65 footer, the longest of any putt made all tournament, closed out a back nine 32 and left Spaun at 1-under 279 for the tournament. His 72 was the highest closing-round score for a U.S. Open winner in 15 years. But that wasn't Sunday's takeaway. Rather, it was the 401.5 feet worth of putts the champion made over four days. And the fact that Spaun joined none other than Ben Hogan, Jack Nicklaus, Tom Watson and Jon Rahm as the fifth U.S. Open winner to finish birdie-birdie. 'I just felt like you keep putting yourself in these positions, like eventually you're going to tick one off,' said Spaun, whose loss in a playoff to Rory McIlroy three months ago at The Players Championship was his third top-three finish of 2025. But at the U.S. Open? In that kind of weather? None of it seemed possible when the rain started coming down during the tail end of a front-nine 40 that took Spaun from one shot back at the start of the day to four behind and fading fast. Coaches told him, 'Dude, just chill,' and Spaun did A 1-hour, 37-minute rain delay ensued. It was a break that changed everything. 'They were just like, 'Dude, just chill,'' Spaun said of the pep talk he got from his coaches. They suggested that, if earlier in the week, he'd been told he could be four shots back with nine holes to play, he would have jumped at the chance. 'They just said, 'Just let it come to you, be calm. Stop trying so hard,'' Spaun said. Staying calm resulted in making a downhill 40 footer on the par-5 12th for birdie, then a 22-foot birdie on 14 to take the lead by himself for the first time, at even par. Everywhere else, meltdowns in the rain. Third-round leader Sam Burns thinned a shot out of a divot and over the 11th green en route to the first of two back-nine double bogeys. He shot 40 on the back and finished tied for seventh. Adam Scott, the only major champion in the top 10 after Saturday's play, shot 41 in the rain on the back nine and dropped to 12th. 'I didn't adapt to those conditions well enough,' Scott said. Tyrell Hatton, who shot 72, briefly threatened and was part of a brief five-way deadlock for the lead before making bogey on the last two holes to finish tied for fourth. Robert MacIntyre turned out to be Spaun's most persistent challenger. The left-hander from Scotland faded his drive just short of the green on the way to birdie on 17 to get to 1 over and set the target for Spaun, who was playing three groups behind. MacIntyre was waiting in the locker room when Spaun hit his approach on 18 to 65 feet. Everyone knew it was no sure two-putt. Hardly anyone expected Spaun to get down in one. 'To watch him hole the putt on 12 down the hill there was unreal,' said Viktor Hovland, who played in the twosome with Spaun. 'And then he makes another one on 14 that was straight down the hill. And then the one on 18, it's just absolutely filthy there.' A sick kid and 'chaos' ends with a trophy When they close the book on Spaun's victory at this rainy U.S. Open, maybe the most telling story will be about the way his Father's Day began. As much as the front-nine 40, it had to do with the 3 a.m. trip to the drug store for his daughter, Violet, who Spaun said was 'vomiting all over.' 'It was kind of a rough start to the morning,' he said. 'I'm not blaming that on my start, but it kind of fit the mold of what was going on, the chaos.' Then, through all the rain, and through all those bad lies and bad breaks, Spaun brought some order to it all with a drive and a putt that landed him with the silver trophy and gold medal that go to U.S. Open winners. 'We all sacrifice so much to be here, and to see it come to fruition, that's why we do it,' said Spaun's coach, Adam Schriber. 'It's for these moments.' ___ AP golf: recommended
New York Times
28 minutes ago
- New York Times
This was not Adam Scott's U.S. Open. Will the wait for his second major ever end?
OAKMONT, Pa. — With the day finally over and the week finally done, Adam Scott got to the Oakmont Country Club parking lot and began the process of realization that comes when any long wait is prolonged. These are the moments when the quotation marks fall away, when you hear the hard stuff. Scott stopped walking and started talking. Advertisement 'You know, when I won that Masters,' he said, looking around like a man in an empty room, 'I really thought, 'Here we go, the floodgates are going to open.'' That Masters, played in the spring of 2013, when Scott was 32 and let out a winning roar as photo flashes lit the green and rain fell from above, was 12 years, one month and 20 days ago. At the time, Augusta was going to be the starting point of the story that would determine his place among the greats in golf, and, well, he was sort of right. Except, instead of a career defined by major wins, it's been resembling some cruel Sisyphean endeavor. There's a reason this was everyone's sentimental pick on Sunday at this U.S. Open. What a story it'd be. The old guy. The wise one. The guy who put in his time and traveled the long road and stuck with it. The guy whose résumé has never quite matched a swing so smooth that it somehow overshadows his looks. Adam Scott, in the final pairing of his 24th career U.S. Open, in his 96th consecutive major tournament start, would be a fitting winner for a cathedral like Oakmont. So, what happened? Seventy-nine shots. Seventy-nine wicked, wet, woebegone shots. Each seemingly worse than the last. All over the course of a day seemingly as long as the wait that it took to get here. Scott arrived a little after noon on Sunday. He teed off alongside tournament leader Sam Burns at 2:15. He left the course at 4 amid a pounding rain, then went back to the practice range at 5, then to the eighth hole for a 5:40 restart. Before the delay, Scott liked where he stood. He opened with two bogeys in the opening three holes but got one back on the par-5 fourth before missing a 10-footer for par on No. 6. He was 2 over on the day but felt good about his form and was 1 under for the tournament and one shot out of the lead. He knew Oakmont would take its toll on everyone and believed he'd stay standing. 'I was absolutely feeling great,' he said afterward. 'No doubt.' He did until he didn't. After the stoppage of play, what had been a daring weeklong pas de deux between this U.S. Open's entrants and this wonderful old beast of a course devolved into a sopping-wet street fight of survival. Scott never found his way, pushing drive after drive down the right side. Every second shot he hit seemed to be played out of a bowl of soup. Bad shots combined with some bad breaks, and the Aussie came undone. He played the final 11 holes in 7 over par and finished in a six-way tie for 12th. His tournament essentially ended with back-to-back bogeys on holes 14 and 15, then a coffin-closing double on the 16th. Advertisement Coming up 18, Scott walked through the shockwave of J.J. Spaun's 64-foot winning putt, seeing it all play out a few hundred yards away. In the aftermath, he hit an approach, then set off on a long stroll that he undoubtedly imagined differently only a few hours earlier. A career coronation. A final validation. Instead, he was passed by volunteers running down the side of the hole to get in position for Spaun's trophy presentation. Scott wrapped up a final bogey, tipped his cap, shook hands with his group's standard-bearers and walked off into yet another void. The thoughts that came next are ones he's all too used to. 'I understand that winning another major would, you know, put me in some kind of different category,' he said in the parking lot. 'I've dreamed of winning lots of majors. I'm just trying to get that next one — always. But that's the way it is.' The hardest part about Scott's journey — from Masters winner to world No. 1 to years searching for a next major victory — is that it's never been for a lack of effort. If anything, it's the opposite. The longer he's gone on like this, the harder he's working. Trevor Immelman, CBS's lead analyst, is Scott's closest friend and his extra set of eyes. The two came up together, from junior golf to the PGA Tour to the Presidents Cup to Masters champions. Immelman's career was cut short by injuries; he openly acknowledges living vicariously through his friend. He has seen everything Scott has done and how he has done it. The endless equipment tweaks. All the work on approach shots and iron play. The fitness regimen. Speaking by phone Sunday from his home in Florida, Immelman, 45, pointed out what's missed in all the old-man tropes that line Scott's narrative. The most common perception — that his age and experience are his advantage — is wrong. Advertisement In truth, it's the fact that, even in his 40s, Scott maintains the swing speed and power of a top-20 player in the world because he works endlessly to sustain it. Just like Tiger Woods did. Just like Phil Mickelson did. Just like Ernie Els and Vijay Singh and Davis Love III. And that's the difference. 'An awesome weapon of speed and power — that's how he stays relevant,' Immelman said. 'Because if you don't have that, then you can't use your experience.' Now, still looking for that long-awaited second major, the question is: How much longer can Scott use what he has? There's what he sees on the course. Even with Sunday's disappointment, Scott left Oakmont knowing he was in a position to win, same as he was at Quail Hollow, when he was in second place with seven holes to go before again fading hard and finishing tied for 19th. He expects to contend at Portrush next month and is positioned to make the Tour Championship. And there's what he sees in the mirror. Scott turns 45 next month. His wife and three kids live year-round in Switzerland. He is, at last check, not getting younger. It's hard. Waiting is one thing. Not knowing what you're waiting for is another. Here, Scott acknowledges what he knows. He's on the clock. 'I feel like I can keep this up for another 18 months, for sure,' he said. 'Then, at that point, I'll be 46. I think I can push myself for the next year and a half and then reassess, you know? That's a reasonable goal. It's not so long, but it's like, 'Are you ever going to do it?' I need to give myself a bit of a deadline, a bit of urgency, right?' In truth, he's long had that. It just feels different when time keeps moving.
