Ultimately penalised for a rules infraction on the fifth green after his round ended, Johnson displayed nerves of steel over the closing stretch, making several clutch putts on a day when the entire field struggled on lightning-fast greens.
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No penalty was assessed at that time, although the official did say a penalty was still possible.
All week Johnson insisted he’d moved on from Chambers Bay, that last year’s disappointment and the ones that came before didn’t haunt him. It was a lot of fun.
The manner in which the USGA handled the matter was widely criticized and caused PGA Tour players to take to social media to express their anger.
Rory McIlroy, Jordan Spieth, Luke Donald and even the usually painfully bland Tiger Woods led a string of star names who closed ranks to launch stinging attacks on the USGA organisers. Seven holes later, Johnson was notified that the USGA was taking a look at what happened and would assess it after the round was over.
“You either have (a penalty) or you don’t have one, that’s my feeling”, the 18-times major champion said. “It’s a tough situation, we did the best that we could and we feel pretty comfortable with the process that we had in place”. “But I still didn’t want the penalty because I didn’t think that I did anything to cause the ball to move”.
Lowry, meanwhile, was left to rue the major that got away after blowing a four-stroke lead.
“Bitterly disappointed, standing here”. Shane Lowry was also tied-second as was Scott Piercy, while Sergio Garcia was fifth and Lee Westwood was done in the final round.
Johnson has finished in the Top-10 of at least one Major each from 2009 to 2016 Masters before claiming his first one at Oakmont.
He walked into the scoring area with a two-under 68 on his final round and a five-shot lead. “I mean, either you have a penalty or you don’t have one, that’s my feeling”.
“The championship deserved to have clarity at that time, and simply put, we didn’t provide that clarity”, Davis said.
“I don’t know what it is yet, but when I’m in that position again, and I know I will be, I’ll handle it probably a little bit better”.
Asked if he could now fulfil his ambition to be a great player, Johnson added: ” It’s definitely a good start.
Johnson’s talent has never been in doubt, but his temperament certainly has after he squandered numerous chances to win some of the game’s biggest events.
“But no, it didn’t affect the way I played”.
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With the crowd lining the 18th hole chanting “D-J, D-J, D-J”, the long-hitting Johnson finished a sparkling week with a birdie on the final hole to finish a final-round 1-under 69. I’m playing against the course and I can’t control what anyone else does. Well yes, it did happen.
