Oakmont president pleased with difficulty of course, how it handled rain

Before the 125th U.S. Open began, Oakmont president John Lynch wanted a difficult course to challenge the world’s best golfers, with the winner shooting near even-par.

Lynch and the Oakmont membership got their wish: a great finish, a worthy champion and a course that stood up to the weather.

Despite a heavy rain that interrupted the final round, who will forget the run of J.J. Spaun, including his historic 64-foot putt to win the tournament with a 1-under-par Sunday?

“We are so pleased,” Lynch said. “You know, again, I think in a perfect world, you would have hoped for less rain than we had over the last month, in the last week, but the course held up well.

“I just walked all 18 holes with Devin (Gee), our head professional, and of course, it looked great. We had a great final. We are all excited, but, of course, the golf course was in outstanding shape.”

The thousands of fans watching the tournament saw players pull off some outstanding shots, and they also witnessed some of the best players struggle with the high rough and slick greens.

Oakmont showed the field no mercy. It penalized errant shots and forced players to find unusual ways to navigate the course.

“First of all, the toughness is part of our DNA,” Lynch said. “You know, this is our 10th U.S. Open. We have got three more coming. We are used to this and very proud of it, and we know we have a tough course.

“The players kind of tell us as well that this is as tough as it gets, and we love to hear that. So, yeah, it is in the DNA of the membership, and we are ready for this. It is an inconvenience, in a sense, to the membership for X number of days, but we realize that and are very happy to have another Open under our belt. And the USGA has been phenomenal partner for us, too.”

The U.S. Open returns in eight years in 2033 after the Women’s U.S. Open is back in 2028. So Oakmont officials are already preparing for future tournaments.

Was Lynch disappointed that some of the big names (Justin Thomas, Bryson DeChambeau, Justin Rose, Phil Mickelson and 2016 champion Dustin Johnson, for example) missed playing on the weekend?

“Well, great question,” Lynch said. “In a perfect world, obviously, you would love all those guys to be on the leaderboard, fighting for the for the championship.

“We had good guys up there, though. I believe we still had a great champ.”

Lynch agreed that some players’ egos played a role in some of their woes.

“There are guys who are notorious for beating the driver as long as they can,” Lynch said. “Well, when you have 5½ to 6 inches of rough, good luck beating that driver. Instead of playing really smart golf, they let their ego get in the way, and that may be why a few of them paid the price this week as well.”

Former Oakmont pro Bob Ford defended the course.

“You’ve just got to go get it, and keeping the ball in play is the biggest thing,” Ford said.

Lynch said the key to playing Oakmont is keeping the ball in the short grass.

“If you are in the fairway and you are hitting a green, you are absolutely going to shoot, or have the opportunity to shoot, a decent score,” Lynch said. “If you are in that rough, forget it. Scores are going to be quite high. So, yes, indeed, fairways, greens, two-putts, and you are in the running for the championship.”