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OAKMONT, Pa. -- If the Masters doesn't start until the back nine on Sunday then the other three majors clearly don't start until a USGA rules official addresses an illegal stroke Dustin Johnson may or may not have committed earlier in his final round. Johnson led the 116th U.S. Open at Oakmont by one over Shane Lowry when he stood on the 12th tee box. A gaggle of USGA officials gathered around him to discuss a potential penalty he had committed on the fifth hole when his ball had moved on the green as he was addressing it.

The USGA told Johnson that the stroke in question would be addressed after his round, but everyone knew what that meant. Johnson and playing partner Lee Westwood scribbled on their scorecards. Better to be cautious than optimistic. And with that, the 2016 United States Open began.

The second one of those USGA rules officials opened his mouth to speak to Johnson, he became the story of the rest of the tournament. Whether he overcame what seemed like an inevitable stroke penalty or fell into a playoff -- or worse, lost -- because of a penalty that pretty much every single one of his peers said was a farce (including Tiger Woods), the narrative was all his to shape.

"They said they were going to look at it when we got done," said Johnson. "I felt like I wasn't going to be penalized, so I just went about my business. [I] just focused on the drive on No. 12 and from there on out.

"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."

Over the next few holes, the air was sucked out of what had to that point been a thrilling Sunday at the Open. Johnson played brilliantly on the front nine even as 54-hole leader Shane Lowry faltered. Things were tightening up quickly. In a disjointed week, we finally had ourselves a golf tournament. Sergio Garcia made a charge. Jim Furyk (!) made a charge. Jason Day made a charge. The Open was unfolding, and the USGA deflated it just as it was starting to get great.

As word spread throughout the property, an eerie fog settled over the fans in attendance. Part confusion, part disbelief and then absolute disgust at what they eventually learned would probably cost Johnson a stroke.

A man on one hole on the back nine screamed, "What's the call, ref?! What's the call, USGA?!"

Fans had their heads buried in their phones trying to figure out what in the world was happening. They were not alone. We were all desperate for information.

Fox reporter Curtis Strange approached one of the rules officials to inquire about what had been said to Johnson on the 12th tee. The official wouldn't tell him. "Really?" Strange said. "Well, it would be good for the telecast. But whatever!"

Lee Westwood stood by Johnson literally and figuratively the rest of the way to the house. Dustin's brother (and caddie) Austin would later tell us that Westwood is a "true gentleman" and supported Dustin the entire way in. He apparently even demanded to see the video shown to Johnson afterwards.

Social media took off, too. Twitter likely had to release some of their IPO money to purchase new servers for all the fire takes McIlroy, Spieth (and later Fowler and Tiger) were spitting. The whole thing was one of the most bizarre events I've ever seen at a golf tournament.

Of course, of all people this could happen to on the PGA Tour, Johnson is probably the least likely to be negatively affected. He kept pumping drives, but you could tell he was a little rattled. How could you not be? He bogeyed No. 14, and the buzz we felt at Augusta when Jordan Spieth fell apart was officially palpable. Disaster was setting in.

Then something funny happened. Once news unfurled down the back nine that Johnson was probably going to receive a questionable (at best) penalty from the USGA, they buoyed their man the entire way home. Chants of "D-J! D-J!" were mixed with "U-S-A! U-S-A!" cries. It was like a Trump rally. An intense nationalism combined with an anti-authoritarian aura (down with the USGA!) sent out in waves to get Johnson in the house two clear of the runner up so the penalty stroke would not affect the ultimate outcome of the tournament.

Johnson parred No. 15 and stepped to the plate at the 239-yard par-3 16th. Before he hit, one of his chasers, Shane Lowry, made bogey behind him. The pro-D.J. crowd rose their voices to a dull roar and Johnson hit yet another green, his 53rd of the week. He poured in a tough two putt and the momentum surged once again. People screamed in his direction, cheered for his fiancee Paulina Gretzky (who was two holes away) and chased after him while he chased after history.

Forget beer, nothing lubricates a United States Open crowd like an obscure rules penalty seemingly applied incorrectly to one of golf's superstars. Pandemonium reigned at Oakmont. Johnson rarely emotes, so his mild fist pumps hole after hole coming to the house felt like Tiger haymakers.

Another par from Johnson on No. 17 brought us to the closing hole. Johnson didn't know it at the time, but his lead was two with one to play and Lowry sputtering behind him.

"Just one more thing to add to the list, right?" said Johnson of how the penalty affected his mindset throughout the back nine. "Honestly, I knew I was in a good position, just from the way the crowd was. But I tried my best not to look at the leaderboard because no matter where I stood I was playing the golf course. I was playing each shot how I was going to play it no matter if I was one back or one ahead.

"This golf course, that's what it demands of you."

To that point, one birdie had been made at the 18th hole on Sunday. It was playing as the toughest hole on the course with 34 pars, 24 bogeys and four doubles. It's a vile finishing hole with a wily pin placement.

Johnson stood on the tee needing one of the great drives of his life to cement his week and skip the impending controversy awaiting him in the scorer's tent. The crowd rose as one as the dude they were riding all the way home strutted like a rapper from backstage to the mic. D.J.'s here. Ready to roll. Let's skip the penalty viewing on an iPad. Just throw the trophy in my plane and I'm out of here, Oakmont.

All he needed was this one drive.

He obliterated the thing.


Johnson didn't even see it land. He was picking up his tee and handing his weapon to Austin before it stopped rolling. He was borderline jogging after the thing. The beleaguered, embarrassingly great talent was on the precipice. Everyone basically ignored the fact that there was a pairing just behind him. They stomped over the ropes and surrounded the big-strutting, drive-piping superstar. It looked like Francis Ouimet's U.S. Open win had been reincarnated. The resume was nearly complete, but first, one more image in a week full of enduring ones.

The image of the 116th U.S. Open I'll never forget is Johnson addressing his shot from the fairway on No. 18. A breathless, sunburned crowd was still as stone knowing he likely only needed par at the last to win his first major championship. The collective air at Oakmont was heavy, as if it were about to be burst open with a thrilling victory.

Oakmont is a big game hunter. It only posts the monster pelts. Jack Nicklaus won here. Ben Hogan did, too. Johnny Miller kissed silver on these grounds after the greatest final round in major history. Ernie Els won his first here. These are grown-ass men of the game. Big boys.

Johnson stood over his ball ready to fling that athletically arrogant swing back and cock his hands over his head like a pistol ready to put a bullet in this championship. The air was thick and hot, and we all felt like we were about to see a moment. So Johnson stepped up, sidled his club up to his ball, looked up at the historic pin tucked into the back right of the green. Nobody was breathing.

Then somebody's phone went off.

Johnson stepped off his ball and looked behind him. He looked like wild animal ready to pounce on his prey and take it to the ground. He was not pleased. Not a player on the planet would have been.

This is how it goes with Johnson, though. Once you think it's within his grasp, an external force comes in and sweeps his feet out from under him. His outrageous talent is so often undermined by petty extracurricular moments. It has been the story of his major career and was the story of this day.

It was a fitting end really. After Johnson stared a hole through the person whose phone buzzed behind him, he turned around and addressed his ball again. No phone this time. Just that preposterous swing that for so long has promised so much. He stiffed what he would later call "one of the best shots I ever hit" to four feet.

There would be no need for a rules controversy. Rory McIlroy had a tweet fired off before the thing stopped rolling. "Take that, USGA," he said.


Dustin made his coronation walk, knocked the putt in for the second birdie of the day at No. 18 and hugged his son on Father's Day.

"I hit it absolutely perfect," said Johnson, who somehow had no idea he was leading at the time. "So I was definitely very happy to see it that close when I walked up. After I hit it in there close, I had to ask my brother, I'm like, 'Where do we stand? I'm pretty sure I'm ahead, but I had no idea.'"

As for the penalty controversy? Johnson, who was eventually docked a stroke to finish at 276 for the tournament -- three clear of Furyk, Lowry and Scott Piercy, sidestepped the question preferring to focus on his new trophy.

"It's nothing new at this point. It's happened so many times. I kind of expect it now. So for it to not affect the outcome is fantastic. It just shows how well I played. It couldn't be any better. I think it's well-deserved," he said.

"After everything that I've been through in the majors ... I've knocked on the door a bunch of times. To finally get that major win, it's huge. It gets me a lot more confidence going into every major to know that I can win."

This was how it had to happen. There was no other way. Oakmont got itself another one in a long line of epic champions, and this was a perfect ending for Johnson. Right in the middle of an ongoing controversy at the end of a long week when so much of his game, even from last year's ending at Chambers Bay, was called into question so often.

The end was inevitable.

Near the end of his press conference, Johnson was asked for the 100th time to sum up what will go down as one of the most infamous penalties in major history. Instead, he summed up his entire tortured history in major championships. All the close calls and heartbreaking whiffs. He summed it all up with 10 words and exuded why so many people have thought this day was coming for the last decade. He overcame Oakmont, and he overcame history. And frankly, he overcame a rule that bent against him on a day when it felt like everything was set to deny him once more.

"At the end of the day," Johnson said, "it doesn't [expletive] matter."

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Dustin Johnson was locked in on Sunday. USATSI