The US Open is perhaps one of the most intriguing challenges on the golfing calendar, with the very best players in the world often seeing their games put through the most intense test.
Oakmont lies in wait for the likes of Scottie Scheffler, Rory McIlroy and Bryson DeChambeau next week. It is the golf course which has hosted the US Open on the most occasions. Meanwhile, there has never been a better winning score at the venue than five under par.
There have been reports that the rough is already six inches deep, while Ben Griffin suggested that he was making double bogeys during a practice round at Oakmont.
It has the potential to be a brutal challenge. But the organisers will hope that there is none of the controversy which threatened to overshadow the final day the last time the US Open headed to Oakmont.
The US Open ‘farce’ which led to criticism from Tiger Woods, Jordan Spieth and Rory McIlroy
The 2016 US Open saw Dustin Johnson claim his first major title. The American won by three shots, but clearly, many felt that it should have been a four-shot victory.
Johnson called in a rules official on the fifth green after his ball moved ever so slightly just as he had addressed it with his putter.
Initially, he was cleared of doing anything wrong. However, he was then informed a few holes later that the incident was being investigated again as it had been deemed that Johnson may have caused the ball to move himself.
He played the back nine with little idea of what his lead actually was – or whether he had a lead at all – until finally managing to shake off the challenge of Shane Lowry.
Johnson seemed unfazed as everything was going on around him. But some of his peers were not at all impressed.
Rory McIlroy wrote on X: ‘This is ridiculous… No penalty whatsoever for DJ. Let the guy play without this c–p in his head. Amateur hour from @USGA‘
Meanwhile, Jordan Spieth was baffled by everything going on.
And if the governing bodies were in any doubt over the feeling amongst the players, Tiger Woods‘ congratulatory message to Johnson included its own criticism of the situation.
How Dustin Johnson reacted to rules controversy at the 2016 US Open
It must not be forgotten that Johnson had had a handful of nightmare moments in majors before the US Open nine years ago.
He had shot an 82 to blow a three-shot lead in the final round of the 2010 US Open, while he was denied a place in the playoff at the PGA Championship later that year after grounding his club in what turned out to be a bunker on the 72nd hole.
And given that he three-putted the final green at the 2015 US Open to lose by one, Johnson would have been forgiven for losing his cool one year later.
However, he confirmed afterwards that he never let the situation knock him off his stride.
“They said they were going to review it after I was done. So at that point, I just — there’s nothing I can do about it, so let’s just focus on this shot and go from there. So all I tried to do was just focus on that tee shot on 12, trying to get it in the fairway there. So that’s what I did. And, you know, that’s what I just tried to do from there all the way to the house,” he said.
“I know this golf course, it’s very difficult, and it’s very difficult to close. So, you know, from 12 to 18, all I was trying to do was just one shot at a time and not worry about what anybody else was doing, just focus on what I was doing. And I just kept telling myself, it’s just me and the golf course. You know, I’m just playing the golf course today.”
From the outside, Johnson appears to be one of the most laidback characters in the game. It was surely a good thing that that was the case as all of the controversy carried on around him the last time the US Open headed to Oakmont.
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