Scottie Scheffler hovered at the US Open. Jon Rahm surged. It just wasn't enough for either

Hindustan Times

7 hours ago

OAKMONT, Pa. — Scottie Scheffler and Jon Rahm fought to find their form at the U.S. Open. Neither managed to do so long enough to surge into contention on the weekend.
Neither, however, is complaining after taking different paths to a tie for seventh behind winner J.J. Spaun.
The top-ranked Scheffler made 'silly mistakes' over the first two rounds but posted even-par 70s on both Saturday and Sunday. If not for another roll or two on a couple of putts or a poor tee shot on 18 Sunday that led to a closing bogey, Scheffler believes he might have inched a bit higher up the leaderboard.
'If I had four days like I did today, I think it would have been a different story,' Scheffler said. 'I was playing kind of behind the 8-ball most of the week hitting the ball in the rough. Overall, proud of how I battled, gave myself a chance, but ultimately didn't have enough.'
There is little Scheffler hasn't accomplished during his three-year run atop the sport. Figuring the U.S. Open out is one of them. He hasn't broken par in each of his last nine rounds at the national championship, dating back to the final round at Los Angeles Country Club in 2023.
Rahm, who was near the top of the leaderboard on Thursday after opening with a 1-under 69 before following it up by going a combined 8-over on Friday and Saturday, closed with three straight birdies to close the final round. His 3-under 67 tied with Rory McIlroy for the best round of the day.
The 2021 U.S. Open champion also had the luxury of finishing before rain stopped play for more than 90 minutes. Rahm's 4-over total held up for quite a while. How long? He was still hanging around outside the locker room with his golf bag when Spaun finally seized the tournament some five-plus hours after Rahm had walked off 18.
'It's crazy because it doesn't feel like I played that different every other round,' Rahm said.
Rahm had a great strategy for playing the longest par 3 in major championship history.
'You most likely take a head cover off one of your clubs and hope it goes straight,' he said.
Indeed, there was nothing to be ashamed of using a wood to conquer the 301-yard eighth hole at Oakmont — a monster of a hole on a monster of a course.
The USGA set the distance at exactly 301 yards for Sunday's final round; that was one yard longer than the previous record of 300, also set by No. 8 at the 2007 Open won by Angel Cabrera.
It has been hard to find many fans of the uber-long par 3s.
Even Jack Nicklaus, who won at Oakmont in 1962, before No. 8 turned into quite the monster it is today, said tongue-in-cheek, 'I haven't played it since they lengthened it to be a short par 5.'
Whatever Rahm did was working. He played No. 8 at even par over the four days; that included a birdie Saturday.
With about half the field through No. 8 on Sunday, the hole was the third hardest of the tournament, playing nearly a half stroke above par.
Cameron Young had to birdie his last two holes and win a playoff in qualifying just to reach this U.S. Open. That won't be necessary next year after Young finished tied for fourth at 3 over, assuring him of a spot in the field next June at Shinnecock.
Everyone inside the top 10 automatically earned a return trip next year, a group that included Carlos Ortiz. Ortiz also tied for fourth, earning him a Masters spot next April. As a member of LIV Golf, Ortiz would be unlikely to make it to Augusta any other way.
'A really great week,' Ortiz said. 'Obviously, when you have a chance, you really want to take advantage of it. I feel like I played good enough. I just made a few mistakes that cost me. Overall pretty proud.'
Justin Hastings made a bit of history by capturing low amateur honors. The 21-year-old became the first player from the Cayman Islands — a self-governing British Overseas Territory located in the Caribbean about 275 miles south of Havana, Cuba — to take home one of the biggest prizes in amateur golf.
Hastings, who earned his way into the tournament by winning the Latin American Amateur Championship in Argentina in January, was the only amateur to reach the weekend and finished his four days at Oakmont with a total of 15-over 295.
Heady territory for a player whose home country has all of 27 holes of golf. It also served as another confidence boost two months after he fired a respectable even-par 72 during the second round at the Masters, where he missed the cut by just two shots.
'I think just reaffirmed that, when I have my golf game, I can kind of compete out here," he said.
Hastings had planned to turn pro after finishing up his senior year at San Diego State this spring. His Latin Am victory changed those plans. Next up, is a trip to Royal Portrush next month to play in the British Open, he's also locked into a spot in the U.S. Amateur if he wants.
'Obviously, the easy answer is we want to get on the PGA Tour as soon as possible,' he said. 'My coaches like to say that good golf takes care of all that, so we're going to focus on playing as well as we can, and when we get opportunities the next few months, hopefully we can take advantage of it.'
Xander Schauffele tied for 12th at 6 over, giving him a ninth straight U.S. Open finish inside the top 15, matching Sam Snead's run from 1947-55.
The only players with longer streaks of coming in 15th or higher since 1920 are Jack Nicklaus , Ben Hogan and Bobby Jones .
Schauffele needed a final-round 69 to pull into a tie with Brooks Koepka and Chris Kirk.
Philp Barbaree finished his second U.S. Open start with a fashionable flourish.
The 26-year-old, the 2015 U.S. Junior Amateur champion whose wife Chloe doubles as his caddie, made the cut on the number early Saturday morning. While Oakmont pushed him around over the weekend, it hardly seemed to get to him.
Barbaree traded the pink pullover he wore for most of his final round for a Pittsburgh Pirates jersey with the No. 25 and his last name on it on the 18th green, and the gallery roared when he tapped in for par to finish up a 12-over 82.
While Barbaree doesn't have any ties to Pittsburgh, another LSU alum does: Pirates ace and LSU graduate Paul Skenes.
Golf Writer Doug Ferguson, National Writer Eddie Pells and Sports Writer Noah Trister contributed to this report.
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