Next week, Oakmont Country Club will host its 10th U.S. Open championship. This week at “Breakfast with Benz,” we are flashing back to memories of each of the last five U.S. Opens that have been held at the course in our podcast series with David Moore, a golf historian and the curator of collections at Oakmont.
The final entry of our series recaps the 2016 Open won by Dustin Johnson.
As was the case with four of the previous five U.S. Open champions at Oakmont, Dustin Johnson would use the rugged Western Pa. course as the stage to claim his first major championship.
“From 2010 through 2020, Dustin is really one of the best players of that generation,” golf historian David Moore said. “He won a ton of tournaments, but he just never could win a major. He had so many heartbreaks. There was a lot of talk of, ‘He’s a choker. He can’t get it done in the big moments.’”
However, as Moore pointed out, Johnson shook that reputation on the biggest of stages of one of the most difficult courses in the country.
“He got so much better with his short irons, so much better with his wedges. He really was able to take advantage of the length that he had off the tee because, at that point in 2016, he still was one of the longest players on the tour,” Moore said. “The focus on his wedge game really changed everything.”
Johnson ended up winning the tournament by three strokes over Jim Furyk, Shane Lowry and Scott Piercy. The Coastal Carolina alum posted a 4-under 276.
However, for a while on Sunday, Johnson thought he’d be one stroke better than that.
“He goes to putt on the fifth green and his ball moves. He calls in the rules official,” Moore recounted. “They say, ‘OK, just play on.’ Dustin is about to tee off No. 12, and he’s informed by the USGA, ‘We’re going to have to take a look at this when you, when you get done and come into scoring, there may have been a penalty. We want to make sure you sign for the proper scorecard.’”
Despite the uncertainty of the ruling as Johnson played through the back nine, he fired a 69 to close out the day in style.
“A total testament to Dustin,” Moore says. “He goes on and plays the last six holes in one under par and just emphatically shuts the door on the 72nd hole. Driver straight down the middle. It’s a 6-iron to about 12 feet. Drains the birdie putt. He’s the U.S. Open champion by a couple of shots.”
Also, during our final podcast in the series, Moore and I talk about how weather once again was a factor at Oakmont, how technological advancements have helped golfers battle the course over the years, and how this tournament helped launch the career of Scottie Scheffler.
