Dustin Johnson wins U.S. Open 2016 after birdie on 18th hole

Maybe Dustin Johnson is smarter than the average golfer after all.

Lowry endured the closing ceremony gracefully, clasping hands with Johnson and examining the silver medal for joining Scott Piercy and Jim Furyk in the tie for second before going over to give Johnson’s fiancee, Paulina Gretzky, a hug.

Garcia was even-par through 72 holes, and was lurking for most of the tournament. Up by four when he stepped onto the first tee, Lowry settled for a share of second after a 6-over 76 and a four-round total of 1-under 279, three shots back of the beaming Johnson.

“I think it’s very unfair to the player”, said Jack Nicklaus, who won the Open here in 1962 and greeted Johnson as he came off the green. “Feels really good. Feels well deserved”, Johnson said afterwards.

“I’ve had a lot of opportunities that I didn’t quite get done, so this one’s definitely really sweet”, said Johnson.

No one outside the USGA believed that Johnson should be docked a shot. “They said, ‘What did cause the ball to move?’ He said ‘I don’t know.’ We all know they can move anytime”.

By the time Lowry reached the 18th green, the winner’s welcome he anticipated felt decidedly anticlimactic.

“I knew I was swinging well, and I just kept thinking, ‘It’s just me and the course, ‘” he said. “If anything, I credit Dustin for playing the way he played on the way in, having that hanging over him, because I would have wanted to know straightaway if it was me”. It doesn’t matter now.

QUOTEWORTHY: ” I’ve knocked on the door a bunch of times.

Jordan Spieth: “Lemme get this straight”. Now you tell him he may have? Now? No penalty whatsoever for DJ.

McIlroy: “Let the guy play without this crap in his head”.

@JordanSpieth @McIlroyRory w/ you boys!

One hole later, the USGA informed they had questions about the ball moving on No. 5. It began with the PGA Championship at Whistling Straits in 2010 when he was penalized a shot on the last hole for grounding his club in a hazard.

We’ll never be certain that the USGA would have risked becoming as unpopular as Congress by sticking Dustin Johnson with a penalty for something that had no effect on the actual competition.

Lowry missed a 5-footer for par on 14, which started a string of three bogeys that ended his chances. “I was aware of what was going on”. Then, at 14, it spiraled out of control.

“Bitterly disappointed, standing here”, Lowry said. “If it was me, I wouldn’t hit another shot until this farce was rectified”. “It was there for the taking and I didn’t take it”.

Landry said he doesn’t regret a moment at Oakmont.

A pairing of former U.S. Open winners in Angel Cabrera of Argentina and Martin Kaymer of Germany closed their weekends with matching 71s to end up tied for 37th. The game’s best driver pounded one 303 yards then fired his ball just past the flag from 190 yards out. It’s a major. It’s our Kentucky Derby.

“And obviously, I’ve got The Open and the PGA in the next few weeks”.

That he didn’t says a lot about how smart Johnson might be about a game that can sometimes make you look awfully dumb. Spieth finished the tournament 9-over par after a 75.

Johnson finished at 4-under 276. “I just hope to get on with that”. “But thank you to all of those who supported me”. “I heard Lancaster, where I grew up”.