Jon Rahm won the 2021 U.S. Open at Torrey Pines, becoming the first Spaniard to claim the championship. He birdied the final two holes to finish one stroke ahead of Louis Oosthuizen, securing his first major title with a closing round of 67.
A two-shot swing on the 17th
Rahm arrived at the par‑4 17th hole trailing Oosthuizen by one. He struck his approach to 25 feet and rolled the putt dead centre, while Oosthuizen drove into a penalty area and made bogey. The two-shot swing flipped the leaderboard and sent Rahm to the 18th tee with a share of the lead.
From the sand to the silver trophy
The par‑5 closing hole demanded one more moment of precision. Rahm’s second shot found a greenside bunker, but he splashed out to 18 feet and holed the birdie putt to post six‑under‑par. He then waited as the final groups failed to match his total of 278.
Oosthuizen needed an eagle on the last to force a playoff. His third shot flew 10 feet past, sealing a sixth career runner‑up finish at a major. Harris English finished two strokes further back in third, while defending champion Bryson DeChambeau collapsed with a back‑nine 44.
Torrey Pines, a career landmark
Rahm had won his maiden PGA Tour title at the same venue in 2017, holing a 60‑foot eagle putt on the 72nd hole at the Farmers Insurance Open. This U.S. Open victory made him the first player since Tom Watson in 1982 to win the championship with birdies on the final two holes.
Two weeks earlier, Rahm had been forced to withdraw from the Memorial Tournament with a six‑shot lead after testing positive for Covid‑19. “After what happened a couple weeks ago, I stayed really positive knowing big things were coming,” he told reporters afterwards. “I didn’t know what it was going to be, but I knew we were coming to a special place.”
The win was his first major. It arrived at a course that had already shaped his American career, and it opened the door to a green jacket two years later.
