<
        >

          Quick 9: Assessing Dustin Johnson's week at the U.S. Open

          play
          Did You Know: Johnson joins some elite company with win (0:23)

          Did you know Dustin Johnson joins Jim Furyk, Rory McIlroy and Lee Trevino as the only golfers over the last 50 years to earn their first major win by three strokes or more at the U.S. Open? (0:23)

          • Bob Harig, ESPN Senior WriterJun 5, 2016, 01:52 PM ET
            Close
            • Senior golf writer for ESPN.com
            • Covered golf for more than 20 years
            • Earned Evans Scholarship to attend Indiana University

          1. Give it up for DJ

          Dustin Johnson is understandably being applauded for the way he handled the adversity he faced on Sunday at Oakmont during the final round of the U.S. Open. The ruling and subsequent fallout stemming from a penalty on the fifth green and the doubt that hung over him for the remainder of the round was nearly as formidable as the course itself.

          But digging deeper into the numbers, Johnson simply played some phenomenal golf through one of the world's more exacting tests.

          Yes, the Thursday rain softened the place to the extent that scores were lower than expected. But in the end, only four players broke par -- compared to none in 2007 -- and Johnson was three strokes better than any of them, even with the penalty stroke assessed due to his ball moving on the fifth green.

          "I had a lot of confidence in my game coming into this week,'' Johnson said. "I've been driving it well. I've been hitting my irons well. I've been kind of doing everything well.''

          And it showed. Johnson led the field in driving distance (316 yards) and in greens in regulation (55 of 72), an always strong combination. He was also tied for 18th in driving accuracy, hitting 36 of 56 fairways. His putting average tied for 49th, perhaps the only thing holding him back from an even bigger victory. For the week, he made 11 birdies -- Justin Thomas led the field with 17 -- but Johnson had just five bogeys and a double-bogey over 72 holes. In the opening round, he was the only player without a bogey, shooting 67. And he made just two bogeys on Sunday, when the pressure was greatest.

          2. How tough might it have been?

          The rain that pounded Oakmont during the opening round took the fire out of the course for at least two days and led to easier scoring than the last time the U.S. Open was there in 2007. Still, imagine how difficult the scoring might have been if conditions had been like they were on Sunday for the entire week?

          Only six players broke par during the final round and only four players finished under par for the tournament, with Johnson finishing at 4 under and three others at 1 under. That's it. There were 10 players who managed to break par in round one.

          3. When the playing partner concurs

          Among the more troubling aspects to the USGA decision on Sunday to assess Dustin Johnson a one-stroke penalty is the fact that his playing competitor, Lee Westwood, agreed that Johnson did not cause the ball to move.

          Under the new way Rule 18-2b was written effective in 2016, there is room for interpretation. Previously, the ball moving would have all but certainly meant a penalty for Johnson. But in changing the rule, it appears the USGA might have brought too much judgement into play.

          Johnson didn't think he did anything to make the ball move. After all, he did not ground the club behind the ball -- only to the side of it. And the ball moved backward. But Westwood believed the ball didn't move due to anything Johnson did -- and said so to the rules official. Strongly.

          At that point, Westwood -- who would go on to shoot 80 -- was very much in contention. If he thought the ball moved, it was his duty to say so, to "protect the field." It would seem the word of Johnson and that of his competitor and caddie in the group would be enough.

          Apparently not.

          4. Getting defensive

          Dustin Johnson had plenty of support when it came to the rules violation. "I don't think it was a lot [of players],'' said Rickie Fowler. "I think it was all."

          Fowler was among those who chimed in, along with Jordan Spieth and Tiger Woods. But Rory McIlroy was probably the most vocal.

          .

          5. Tough loss

          Shane Lowry would have taken four pars over the closing holes of the third round on Sunday morning at Oakmont. But he did better than that, making two birdies to give himself a four-shot advantage heading into the final round.

          But the pressure of the moment and the difficulty of the course made it tough to hold on. Lowry shot 76 -- with just one birdie -- when a score of 73 would have gotten him into a playoff. He ended up in a tie for second with Jim Furyk and Scott Piercy.

          "I really feel like I let it go," Lowry said. "And it's a great disappointment. The more I think about it, the more upset I'm getting. It's one of those that is going to be hard to take. It's going to be a tough few days. I led by four shots in the tournament going into the final round. I had a lead with five holes to play."

          Making matters more difficult was the fact that the Irishman had a corporate day scheduled in Dublin on Monday. He took an overnight flight back to Ireland Sunday night. He then returns to the U.S. next week to defend his title at the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational.

          6. The Bridgestone fallout

          The PGA Tour's decision to schedule the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational next week, two weeks prior to The Open and the same week as the (golf) French Open, was met with defiance from the European Tour.

          The event has been sanctioned by both tours; a start previously counted on the PGA Tour and European Tours, as did any money or points earned.

          But the European Tour opposed the date change that was made to accommodate golf in the Olympics. It offered up other solutions not made public. Because the PGA Tour would not budge, the European Tour took the extraordinary step of not sanctioning it. That means European Tour players, such as Shane Lowry, won't get European Tour credit or Ryder Cup points. In fact, the European Tour is counting the French Open as two events toward membership and doubling Ryder Cup points earned in the event.

          Three of the top 12 in the world will not be at Firestone next week. Rory McIlroy is playing the French Open while Henrik Stenson and Sergio Garcia are skipping both events.

          Although scheduling issues are never easy to resolve -- sponsors, television, and other tournaments factor in -- there seemed a simple way to resolve this: play the WGC-Bridgestone either the week prior to or the week after the U.S. Open. Pittsburgh is a mere 112 miles from Akron, Ohio. Either date would have worked well with the top players competing in the U.S. Open at Oakmont. Why the tournament is not this week remains a mystery, as the Quicken Loans National has traditionally been played two weeks after the U.S. Open.

          7. White House salute

          All 12 members of the U.S. Solheim Cup team and captain Julie Inkster made it to the White House on Monday to be honored by President Obama for their victory over Europe last year. Paula Creamer helped spread the word.

          8. Cinderella story

          The best underdog tale of the U.S. Open was Andrew Landry, who shot a first-round 66 to lead and was in contention until late on the front nine Sunday, trying to become just the third player since Francis Ouimet captured the 1913 U.S. Open to win a major title in his first major start.

          Landry shot a 78 that included no birdies to tie for 15th, letting a couple of excellent opportunities pass. A top-10 finish would have gotten him into next year's U.S. Open, while finishing among the top 4 would have meant a Masters spot.

          Landry did earn $152,234, by far the biggest paycheck of his career. But he jumped from 203rd in FedEx Cup points to just 182nd, still well outside the top 125 with just nine weeks remaining in the PGA Tour's regular season.

          "Obviously it's my best finish of the year," Landry said. "I'm taking it as a positive and move on to the following weeks and just continue to prepare. I've been in this situation, so I'm going to learn from it."

          9. Aces for Charity

          Rickie Fowler has made a couple of pretty significant holes-in-one over the past year, neither of which did much for him personally -- although he did finish second at the Quicken Loans National last year when he aced the ninth hole.

          That hole-in-one came with a prize as part of a Quicken Loans promotion in which registrants who are drawn get a year of mortgage payments. Beneficiary Bernie Walkowsy was at Congressional Country Club on Tuesday to thank Fowler personally.

          Earlier this year, Fowler made an ace as part of a charity tournament being played for Ernie Els' Foundation, Els for Autism. That one was huge, as Fowler's ace meant $1 million for the foundation. Fowler said he has made two aces in competition and seven overall but never one that involved any great prize for himself other than the crystal you receive for aces during the Par 3 Contest at the Masters.

          "Justin [Thomas] and I made 1s at Augusta, where you get crystal," he said. "We got a small gift from Jordan [Spieth] as well. We might have had a friendly bet on the side for 1s. But that's three [aces] in the last year. I'll take that. I'll take three per year for the rest of my life."