The 2025 US Open will be remembered for the carnage on the back nine where JJ Spaun emerged from the pack and holed a 65-footer to win his maiden Major title.
It is up there with one of the best golf viewing experiences in recent memory but it's one I could not have predicted even when the final group teed off just after 2pm local time on Sunday.
Oakmont is regarded as one of the most difficult courses in the world and we were promised a tough test for the world's best, but not quite in the way I fully expected.
I hoped the Pittsburgh layout would be firm, fast and bouncy with glass-like greens but the weather didn't allow. The area reportedly received one of the wettest springs on record and cloudy conditions for the first day-and-a-half made for a fairly drab viewing experience.
The rough was as long and thick as promised and a fairly soft Oakmont still proved incredibly difficult for the world's best who were tested to the extreme. It was a fascinating watch up until Sunday afternoon but it wasn't the US Open I pictured when which golf course was hosting.
We also barely saw the sun all week, which made for a fairly subdued view every time we stuck on the TV. The atmosphere wasn't coming across great through the TV either, especially as fans were allowed refunds on Saturday and warned that conditions were so wet that it might not be worth turning up.
I think the weather on-site makes a big difference to viewing experiences as well as the conditions, and neither were really in the fans' favor.
Can you imagine how difficult Oakmont would have been had it been in the high 80s and sunny all week? The course would have been unfathomably difficult, which would have (sorry pros) made for phenomenal viewing. Better weather would have likely contributed to a better atmosphere, too.
Justin Thomas, who comfortably missed the cut in Pennsylvania, gave us a hint as to what the winning score might have been had the weather played ball. The two-time Major winner was tweeting along during the final round, where he said it is "hard to express how difficult/borderline Oakmont would be if it was firm."
He later predicted the winning score could have been in the range of seven-to-ten-over-par had it been firm and fast.
After (kind of) playing it for 2 days, and watching over the weekend… it’s hard to express how difficult/borderline impossible Oakmont would be if it was firm. Not even rock hard, but just the slightest bit of firmness in the greens would make it 🤯June 15, 2025
While I certainly would have loved seeing hot, sunny conditions and Oakmont playing as 'borderline' and 'impossible' as Justin Thomas says it might have, I am very thankful for what we got to witness on Sunday.
Rain stopped play midway through the final round and the course looked almost unplayable after the restart when more rain began to fall. It reminded me of a club competition with standing water and wet fairways in play but somehow the course managed to withstand it.
I expected the course to become easier due to the softer conditions and a more pedestrian finish, but how wrong I was.
Sam Burns got unlucky with a ruling but the players have to be commended for battling their way through sodden fairways, juicy rough, wet bunkers and spinny greens in what turned out to be absolute carnage.
The golf course had just got incredibly longer due to the heavy air and zero run and the rough was truly 'hack out' levels due to the moisture.
From three-and-a-half days of fairly subdued golf, cloudy weather and a leaderboard lacking the likes of McIlroy and DeChambeau, the US Open suddenly became absolute box office.
In the blink of an eye we had five players tied for the lead, nobody under-par and even Jon Rahm's completed score of four-over-par, eight behind Sam Burns' 54-hole total, looking like it could have had a chance.
The seven-or-so players in contention were having real difficulties out there and I, watching from the comfort of my home, was loving it.
Burns was going backwards quickly, as was Adam Scott, and JJ Spaun, who was five-over-par for the round at one stage, suddenly found himself within one stroke of the lead after seemingly playing himself out of the tournament.
There was a good 10-minutes or so that I was convinced Robert MacIntyre was going to become a Major champion, too.
Spaun completed his phenomenal comeback to finish birdie-birdie and lift the trophy in what has to be one of the most bizarre and entertaining final rounds in a Major I can remember.
We had players duffing chips, chopping it out of the rough, getting no run on their tee shots and water-balls flying through the green due to a lack of spin. Very unique conditions but it was true must-see TV.
Sure, it wasn't McIlroy winning at Augusta or even DeChambeau vs McIlroy last year at Pinehurst, but it was right up there in terms of out-and-out entertainment.
Nobody had a clue who was going to win and after three-and-a-half days of the weather kind of ruining the US Open, it rewarded us with a finish for the ages.
