Dustin Johnson finally got the monkey off his back at Oakmont Country Club on Sunday, where he shot 69 to win the US Open by three strokes.
The 31-year-old was in the top 10 at five of the last six majors, but finally cracked the nut this week in Pennsylvania with a tournament score of four-under-par.
‘I had a lot of support out there. It definitely helped me coming down the stretch. I’ve been here a bunch of times and haven’t quite got it done, but today I did. It feels really good,’ he said.
In the final round the American’s ball moved on the fifth green while he prepared to putt, but his club was ungrounded. On the 12th tee box a rules official from the USGA informed him that the action would be reviewed in score recording. He was given a one-shot penalty.
Johnson shrugged off the incident and played superb golf down the stretch at Oakmont, arguably the toughest course on the US Open rotation. He won on four-under-par, leaving Shane Lowry, Jim Furyk, and Scott Piercy to share second place on one-under-par.
Branden Grace was unable to sink putts in the final round, despite creating a wealth of birdie chances. He signed for a one-over-par 71 to finish the tournament tied for fifth with Sergio Garcia on level-par.
Louis Oosthuizen and Charl Schwartzel both totalled seven-over-par and were part of a nine-way tie for 23rd place.
