The Golf Blog: Graeme McDowell wins US Open after Dustin Johnson implodes, and Ernie Els, Phil Mickelson, + Tiger Woods falter
The Golf Blog says: Graeme McDowell became the 1st European to win the U.S. Open in 40 years. He won it with a conservative 3 over 74, even for the tournament. Surprisingly, the closest competitor was Frenchman Gregory Havret, who finished 2nd at +1 and who had the best round of anyone in the final 3 pairings. Havret was a qualifier for the U.S. Open and barely snuck in by sinking a 50 foot bomb to get into a playoff.
The big guns–Ernie Els, Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson–all faltered. Ernie actually was tied for the lead at -3, but a bogey on the 9th and then double bogey on the 10th derailed him completely. Ernie hit a terrible drive off the cliff on 10, and then hit his next shot back into the hazard. Meanwhile, Phil’s round was derailed after he drove the 4th green–only to 3 putt it for par. After that, Phil couldn’t get anything going (even though he birdied the 1st hole with a long putt from off the green). Tiger Woods played the worst of the 3 big guns, shooting a 75.
And then there was poor Dustin Johnson. The 3rd round leader made a complete mess of the 2nd hole, trying to pitch the ball out of the greenside rough left handed and then right handed. Dustin tripled the hole, and then the wheels came completely unhinged. He doubled the 3rd and bogeyed the 4th. For the rest of the round, Dustin was pretty much a dead golfer walking, rattling off 5 more bogeys and no birdies, for an 82. Ouch.
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