SAN DIEGO - Whether it was destiny or karma, there was no relevance to Jon Rahm. He won the U.S. on Sunday at Torrey Pines. Won the Open, the right time and the right place to become a major champion.
How this unfolded was beyond his dreams.
Running a shot back and out of the hole, Rahm made a wide, left-to-right birdie putt from 25 feet on the 17th hole to tie for the lead, and closed with another bending 18-foot birdie putt. Which gave him a victory over hard-luck Louis Osthuizen.
In the last 120 editions of The Toughest Test in Golf, the U.S. has won until Rahm's storybook ends No one had birdied the last two holes to win the Open.
"It had to be in a beautiful setting like this," he said.
at Torrey Pines, where he made a 50-foot eagle putt on the final hole to secure his first PGA Tour win.
On Father's Day, holding his 10-week-old son and after his father arrived from Spain, Rahm won his first career Major to return to world No. 1.
And it came just two weeks after his six-shot lead at Memorial was wiped out due to a positive COVID-19 test, which ruled him out of the tournament and cut short his US Open preparations.
"It felt like such a fairy tale that I knew it was going to have a happy ending," said Rahm, after those two career-changing birdies gave him 4-under 67. "All I could tell was going down the fairway after that first tee shot, that second shot and that birdie, I knew there was something special in the air. I could feel it.
"I just knew I could do it and believed it."
He won two awards on Sunday. First, he had to cuddle young Kepa when he had walked off the 18th green and his ears were still roaring. Then, he hoisted that silver US Open trophy as Spain's first ever champion.
Rahm was on the practice boundary when Osthuizen, who fell two shots behind with the most untimely tee shot in the valley, causing a bogey on the 17th hole, finally failed to pierce his nail for Eagle.
Rahm said to his son, "Little man, you just don't know what that means." "You'll be soon enough."
The final round was so tight that at some point six players had their share of the lead, and 10 players were separated by one shot.
And then that particular brand of US Open chaos hit everyone, but Rahm was the only contender who didn't miss a shot on the last nine.
Four players who were within a shot of the lead in the last nine made double bogeys, a list that included a shocking meltdown by defending champion Bryson DeChambeau.
No one was safe from trouble. Oosthuizen, who took a two-shot lead after a 30-foot birdie put at number 10, was the last to fall.
Trailing by a shot, Osthuizen went for a bogie in the valley on the left side of the 17th fairway which left him two shots behind, and then missed the fairway on par-5 18 which sent him to the green to see the eagle. to force a playoff.
He settled for a birdie and 71. It was his second straight runner-up in a Major, and his sixth silver medal since winning the British Open at St Andrews in 2010.
"Look, it's depressing. It's depressing," Osthuizen said. "I'm playing good golf, but winning a big championship just isn't going to happen. You need to go out and play good golf. I played well today, but I didn't play well enough."
Just two weeks ago, Rahm was on the cusp of another big win. He tied the 54-hole record at Memorial and took a six-shot lead, only to go off the 18th green when he was informed that he tested positive for the coronavirus and had to withdraw.
Worse, his parents had come from Spain to see their new grandson, and Rahm was in self-isolation and couldn't be there for a special moment.
It was paid for on Sunday. His parents were there to see a world-class performance at Torrey Pines, one of the great finishes in US Open history.
"I'm a big believer in karma, and after what happened a few weeks ago, I've been really positive, knowing that good things are coming," Rahm said. "I didn't know what it was going to be like, but I knew we were coming to a special place.
"I felt like the stars were aligning, and I knew my best golf was to come."
For most of the last nine, it was utter chaos with blunders that plagued the U.S. Open can be defined.
DeChambeau, trying to become only the fourth player to win back-to-back US Open wins since World War II, took the lead with an 8-iron, inches away from a hole-in-one on a par-3 eighth. done. . But a series of poorly timed bogeys cost them 44 for nine for 77 on the day.
Mackenzie Hughes, a shot behind going past nine, had his tee shot on the par-3 11th bounce off a kart path and got stuck in a tree, causing a double bogey that ended his chances. Former PGA Champion Collin Morikawa cut his way to 13th place for a double bogey, which took him one shot behind and dropped out of the mix.
Rory McIlroy wasn't immune either. With the opportunity to end his seven-year drought in the Majors, McIlroy made a careless three-put to the bogey on day 11 when he was a shot behind, and then caught a nasty lie in the bunker, leading to No. Double bogeyed. 12.
Rahm's passion was on full display when the winning putts were dropped. When it was over, he never looked at peace with that US Open trophy.
"It's so unbelievable, so hard to believe, that this story could and will end so well," he said. "It almost feels like it's a movie that's about to end and I'm going to wake up soon."