U.S. Open 2025: Dustin Johnson is still (rightfully) salty about his final score from 2016
Andy Lyons
OAKMONT, Pa. — If there were ever a golfer to NOT hold a grudge, it would be Dustin Johnson, who won the last U.S. Open held at Oakmont in 2016 in dramatic fashion. A big part of the reason for that drama, however, was a semi-bogus rules issue that hung over Johnson's head like a storm cloud for a large portion of his final round.
The controversy began on the fifth hole on Sunday, where Johnson, at the time two off the lead, missed a short birdie putt and was left with a knee-knocker for par on one of Oakmont's slickest putting surfaces. Johnson took two practice strokes, then went to address his ball and noticed it was slightly moving. He quickly pulled the putter head away and chaos ensued after.
An official notified Johnson at the time that while the ball did move, it wasn't Johnson's fault, so there would be no penalty under Rule 18.2. Unfortunately, the official in question hadn't realized that earlier that year, Rule 18.2 changed so that there would be an automatic penalty if it was "more likely than not" that the player caused it to move. Johnson played on for seven holes not knowing this until he was informed on the 12th hole that after video review, he would be hit with a one-stroke penalty (Golf Digest's Ron Kaspriske broke down the whole situation in great detail here).
As it turned out, Johnson won by three strokes anyway, but it was still a brutal look for the USGA, not to mention the fact that it changed Johnson's final score from five under to four under. Who cares, right? Well, a five-under total would have matched the all-time scoring record to par in a U.S. Open held at Oakmont, a record shared by Ernie Els, Johnny Miller and Ben Hogan. Johnson does, however, own the record for low 72-hole total, with a score of 276.
Could DJ possibly still even care about this? You'd think absolutely not, but on Monday he was asked A. if this was the hardest course he's ever played, and B. if so, how did he shoot five, er, four under on it back in 2016?
Perfectly handled. DJ's version of "salty." He's not mad, he's actually laughing. Give this man his five under to par total. And while we're at it give Armando Galarraga his perfect game, too. You can just fix these things. It's not hard.