A large, fast, deep, rough, recap of the U.S. Open at Oakmont

They do it on purpose you know. Who does what, you ask? The USGA makes course conditions extremely difficult for the U.S. Open. They always have and they always will. Now you may not like the concept, but it is not going to change any time soon.For their trademark event, the USGA believes that it should be a very tough track. Impossible? No. Treacherous? Yes. And in 2025 Oakmont Country Club, located near Pittsburgh, delivered. Considered one of the toughest courses in the country, Oakmont has hosted 10 U.S. Opens now. It will host more in the future.Oakmont's greens are large, undulating and fast – very, very fast. On the Stimpmeter, these greens can register as high as 15. If you are interested, for greens to be considered fast they must register 13.5 on the Stimp. It is interesting that this unique device used to measure green speeds was invented at Oakmont in 1953. A club member by the name of Edward Stimpson noticed how much trouble golfers were having judging the speed of Oakmont's greens in the U.S. Open that year and concocted a machine to give us an idea just how fast the greens were back then. It is still used today.Fast greens can be tough, add undulation and they become even more difficult. Throw in the size of Oakmont's greens and a player can be faced with a near impossible putt. Of course that also gives a player the chance to make a miraculous putt… more on that later.The roughs for this year's event were eight inches deep in some places. The bunkers were deep and unyielding, including a series of traps that are called the Church Pews on the front side. It is a crazy tough course (by design) that leaves the best of professional golfers infuriated. I have no idea what it would do to you or me!Much was made this past week about the decorum (or lack thereof) by some golfers. At first glance the unhappiness seemed to come from the U.K. Rory McIlroy (Ireland) smashed a tee box after an errant drive. Tyrell Hatton (England) and Shane Lowry (Ireland) were criticized for using foul language and whacking away at the course after poor shots.So was it just those guys that lost it? Not at all. Jordan Spieth flailed at the rough a couple of times. And none other than Scottie Sheffler damaged a fairway after flubbing a shot. I won't be critical of these guys – I have had similar meltdowns on the links. Then again I have not played before a large television audience or a huge gallery. Doesn't make my actions any more justified, but fewer people can emulate my bad behavior.Perhaps the worst thing that happened, speaking of aberrant behavior, was the damaging of lockers in the clubhouse by an unhappy golfer. A quick outburst on the course (most of us employ the five second rule) is one thing; taking out your frustration in the clubhouse afterward is quite another. Rumor has it that it was an American, so let's not be too hard on those from across the pond.Enough of the negative. There was some great moments at Oakmont. Some incredible shots were pulled off and it was a great tournament. Let's look at the highlights.An albatross was recorded at this year's Open. Patrick Reed hit a three wood some 250 yards into the hole for a two on a par 5. It is the rarest accomplishment in golf. If you saw the shot, Reed could not see the cup from his vantage point in the fairway and was a bit shocked to find out that it went in the hole.The final round was delayed by weather, but the tournament finished on Sunday. And what a finish it was. Several golfers were in contention with just a few holes to play. One of those was JJ Spaun. A loser at the Players Championship to Rory McIlroy earlier this season, Spaun opened with a bogey free round and stayed near the top of the leader board the whole tournament.He faltered a bit on Sunday but came back with a birdie on 17 to go up by one shot. Then came the finishing hole. Spaun found himself facing a 64-foot birdie putt. He needed to two putt to win. Now I would bet that if I faced that putt I would two putt maybe twice in 20 tries. Making it would never happen, right?Spaun struck his putt and then waited. He had time to watch it as did the gallery and the ball started tracking. It finally disappeared into the hole and JJ Spaun had his first major victory at one under par.That score is correct. If you could play the tournament in even par you would have finished second – alone! No one else could do that and it was a win for the ages.Two memorable events made the week for me. Sitting in the scoring tent watching was Robert MacIntyre from Scotland. He was plus one for the tournament and needed a three putt from Spaun to get into a playoff. From 64 feet that was a distinct possibility. Instead a video of MacIntyre showed him applauding when the ball dropped and mouthing the word wow. It was a really cool display of sportsmanship and made me forget (for the most part) the temper tantrums of some other golfers.Maybe the coolest thing to happen was also on Sunday. The tournament employs people to station themselves along the edges of the fairway to find a ball that might find its way into that deep rough. They have little flag markers that they stick into the ground so the golfer can locate his ball.Well, on one drive the ball nestled itself deep into the long grass. An elderly worker searched carefully for what seemed like a long time. Finally, he located the ball, placed his flag in the ground and then thrust his arms into the air in victory.Such is the case on a U.S. Open course!