Hatton, Ortiz and Hovland had a shot at the US Open. Then Oakmont happened
OAKMONT, Pa. (AP) — Tyrrell Hatton, in the mix in the final round of a major for the first time in the late Sunday gloom at the U.S. Open, watched his tee shot on the 17th hole drift to the right and exhaled.
If there was a place to 'miss,' Hatton knew it was to the right of the green on the uphill, 314-yard par 4.
And he was right. At just about every place but Oakmont.
When Hatton reached the top of the hill, the fiery Englishman whose emotions are never too far from his sleeve discovered his ball had settled into the course's signature knotty rough on a downslope above a greenside bunker.
Just about anywhere else, the shot rolls into the sand below, and he splashes out with a chance to maybe even take the lead. Only there isn't anywhere else like the iconic links-style course carved out of the Western Pennsylvania hills.
Hatton's pitch from an impossible downhill lie didn't reach the green, and he slammed his club into the ground in protest. A chip and two putts later, he was two back. When his tee shot on the par-4 18th sailed into the rough again, it was over.
'What happened on 17 is going to hurt a lot for a long time,' Hatton said after tying for fourth at 3-over 283, four back of winner J.J. Spaun. 'It was the first time I've been in contention in a major, and that was exciting, and unfortunately, I feel like through a bit of bad luck I had momentum taken away from me and ultimately ended up not being my day.'
Asked about what exactly constituted the 'bad luck,' Hatton bristled but only briefly. He'd made his frustration about a course design that includes having most of its 160-plus bunkers well-guarded by an already penal rough well known on Saturday, when he was forced to take an awkward stance to hack out of a sand trap alongside the 15th green on Saturday, leading to a bogey.
What happened in the waning minutes of a rain-delayed and chaos-filled final 18 holes of the championship was just more of the same.
'I've missed it in the right spot and got punished, which ultimately I don't think ends up being fair,' Hatton said.
That's Oakmont. Besides, Hatton was hardly the only one who found himself creeping up the leaderboard as the frontrunners faltered, only to ultimately succumb themselves.
Carlos Ortiz, a member of LIV Golf like Hatton, was part of a five-way tie for the lead on the back nine. Ortiz's tee shot on the 503-yard par-4 15th sailed left, forcing him to punch out to the fairway. A wedge from 134 yards landed 40 feet short of the cup. Three putts later, he was on his way to a 3-over 73 finish and a tie for fourth.
'It was a great week, but obviously I'm disappointed right now the way it happened," said Ortiz, who became the first Mexican player since 1972 to place inside the top 10. 'I did everything I can.'
Viktor Hovland, who was out on the practice range nearly until dusk on Saturday night trying to find something — anything really — to build on, began the day two shots off the lead but never managed to get to pull even with the scrum in front of him.
The Norwegian, who was grouped with Spaun, 'saw a lot of stuff' as the leaderboard continued to shuffle and re-shuffle over the final 90 minutes. Keeping track was difficult, particularly with the electronic boards having 'dangerous weather" alerts splashed across them. Ultimately, Hovland couldn't find the rhythm necessary.
Instead, it was Spaun who delivered with a pair of birdies, including a 64-footer on the 18th that immediately etched itself into U.S. Open lore. In a way, the ending helped. Spaun went out and took a tournament up for grabs and grabbed it.
Hovland, who called the last of Spaun's 279 strokes 'absolutely filthy,' had to settle for third, his fourth finish inside the top three at a major. All without being the one standing on the green afterward with the trophy in hand.
Yet he tried to remain upbeat. He believes he's trending back to where he was in 2023, when he finished tied for seventh at the Masters and then tied for second at the PGA a month later. He's already won this year, though he complained about his form afterward.
There was none of that on Sunday. Oakmont is hard enough as it is. No need to pile on.
'I've been tearing myself down a little too much,' Hovland said. 'Even though I do know I need to work on some stuff and get back to where I used to be in a way mechanically, but in the interim, I can still perform at a really high level, and there's a lot of good stuff.'
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Added Gregory: 'I looked at him as he went to the tee and I said, 'Bud, you're a dad, this is Father's Day, you've got two beautiful babies, and you've got a chance to win the U.S. Open. You would've signed for this on Monday.' Spaun then stepped up on the par-4 ninth and flushed one, a perfect, little cut up the left side. Eddie didn't let him down from there. 'On the back nine, he was definitely there,' Carens said of his pops, 'and we didn't get a bad lie in the rough coming in.' Jun 15, 2025; Oakmont, Pennsylvania, USA; JJ Spaun celebrates with his caddie Mark Carens after putting on the 18th green to win during the final round of the U.S. Open golf tournament. Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-Imagn Images Bill Streicher-Imagn Images Spaun recounted a recent lunch with Max Homa back home in Arizona, during which Homa shared some advice from Tiger Woods, who told him the key to winning major championships was just sticking around. 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Thank God it wasn't like this all week.' Spaun's last challenger was a man who, by his own admission, didn't need any pep talks. 'I'm just a guy who believes,' Robert MacIntyre said, safely in the house at 1 over. When he wrapped up his final-round 68, MacIntyre had about a 60% chance to win, per the live betting odds. But as MacIntyre spoke with the media, a nearby television displayed Spaun hitting two of the best drives of his life – the first one at the short, par-4 17th, where his tee ball raced past the hole before Spaun two-putted from 18 feet for birdie; and the second at the par-4 finishing hole, where he split the fairway to leave himself 190 yards in. The wet turf was no issue for Spaun, whose feet, Schriber says, are his 'superpower.' As Spaun landed his approach on the left side of the green, MacIntyre finally was able to retreat to the scoring area, away from the still spitting rain, to watch the drama unfold on television. Most guys in Spaun's position – a former walk-on from Los Angeles who became an All-American at San Diego State and has made over $20 million on the PGA Tour – would be perfectly content. But when Spaun was courting Gregory, he told him, 'I want to be elite.' Another tweak Gregory made to Spaun's game was in his putting setup, getting Spaun's hands higher to fix the arc of his stroke. With a teach from Hovland, Spaun knew he had to hit his birdie putt on the last firm and with no fear. Schriber once shared a story with Spaun about a 15-year-old Kim, who had just lost a prestigious junior event by hitting his closing drive behind a tree while trying to avoid the water. Kim then said to Schriber, with conviction, 'If I go down again, I'm going down trying to hit it where I want to hit it.' 'I didn't want to do anything dumb trying to protect a three-putt or something,' Spaun said. '… About 8 feet out, I kind of went up to the high side to see if it had a chance of going in, and it was like going right in. I was just in shock, disbelief that it went in, and it was over.' J.J. Spaun carries his daughter away from the 18th hole while celebrating his US Open Championship win at Oakmont Country Club in Oakmont, PA on June 15, 2025. Michael Longo/For USA Today Network / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images Spaun's bomb, which capped a final-round 72, wasn't just the longest putt made all week at Oakmont; it was nearly 30 feet longer than anything Spaun had converted all season. When the ball disappeared, so, too, did Spaun's putter, which was launched into the misty air, freeing up Spaun's right fist to do its thing. As chaos ensued, Spaun then hugged Carens, still holding his umbrella as the two twirled around in celebration before Carens stopped to point to the sky. 'Just to finish it off like that is just a dream,' Spaun said. 'You watch other people do it. … To have my own moment like that at this championship, I'll never forget this moment for the rest of my life.' Inside but only about 100 yards away, MacIntyre heard the roars early and then could only applaud as he watched what they were for. 'He won the golf tournament,' MacIntyre told afterward. 'I mean, he's dreamed of it. I've dreamed of it. Everyone's dreamed of that moment. For him to pour in the winning putt, nothing I can do. Fair play.' Once Hovland finished out, Spaun rushed to his family – Violet appeared to be feeling much better – and grabbed his 4-year-old daughter, Emerson, lifting her into his arms as he walked up the catwalk to sign his scorecard, passing over a throng of fans chanting, 'J.J.! J.J.! J.J.!' Streaming down Spaun's face were a mix of rain and tears, mostly tears. Almost always, when Spaun returns from playing golf, Emerson asks him, 'Were you the winner today?' But not on this day. Emerson looked into her dad's eyes and declared, 'You're the winner today.' How lucky is he?
