John McHenry: Chambers Bay took players out of their comfort zone

Chambers Bay, as a venue, was always going to be controversial because the USGA had once again changed the script. They wanted the golf course more links-like, with wider fairways than the norm.

The fact that the US Open venue was somewhat “tricked up’ by changing pars and distances, and by the speed of the dried-out crusty putting surfaces, all lent to the sense of havoc wreaked on the touch of the world’s best players who thrive on consistency.

The reality — which seemed to be lost on many of the players and many esteemed commentators last week — was that there was a major championship, the US Open, to win and regardless of public opinion, the USGA was not for turning.

Their vision for the US Open in recent years has moved away from a penal to more of a mental test and was true to their mantra. No-one can argue but that Chambers Bay took the players out of their comfort zone but in doing so it also delivered no shortage of emotional drama, pain, excitement and despair before crowning the best possible winner, from an American perspective, in Jordan Spieth.

From the off, there were storylines aplenty, from Tiger Woods and Rickie Fowler’s disastrous opening rounds of 80 and 81 to the human drama of Justin Day’s collapse in the second round with vertigo. No one could argue with the pedigree of the leaderboard though, with most of the game’s best featuring at or near the top throughout.

If the leaderboard suggested that the USGA had got things more or less right, then it was very encouraging they also provided the players with every opportunity to attack the course for Sunday’s final test — something we don’t usually associate with the USGA and US Open venues.

Mike Davis must have been a remarkably relieved man on Sunday when Rory McIlroy lit up the course early doors, playing a brand of golf we more usually associate him with. Suddenly his putter was hot and after 13 holes, he was a legitimate if unlikely contender. Rory playing well with a hot putter is an almost unbeatable combination but when the putter turns cold — as it did over the closing stretch when it mattered most — it has a detrimental impact in that his palpable frustration leads to costly errors. Sunday’s missed birdie opportunity on 14 and three-putt on 15 ultimately saw him finishing the closing holes in two over par at a time when a strong finish on an easy closing stretch may just have forced the leading players out of their comfort zone.

Shane Lowry was undoubtedly the best Irish performer of the week. New to the world stage, no one should doubt this man’s pedigree and potential. While he is still finding his feet on this stage, he is undoubtedly more comfortable now with his surroundings and his performance suggests that he is a very serious candidate for the Open Championship next month.

To progress, he still needs to back himself more as a player who now belongs in this elite league of players, while also working on a number of key areas, such as his propensity to drop silly shots at key moments. These little lapses have hampered him and if he can eradicate them without losing his natural aggressiveness, Lowry is dangerous.

Much like Rory McIlroy, Shane also needs to become a far more consistent putter. Both players are natural ball strikers but putting pays the bills and if they can ever reach the putting consistency of their peers like Spieth, Mickelson and Woods in his prime, then we can seriously look forward to many majors championships from both players for years to come.

The great loser over the weekend was Dustin Johnson and no one quite knows how he will react to this latest setback. If he can takes the positives out of his performance, he has more than proven his credentials to be a major champion. But having played a stellar front nine holes to put himself in complete control, the erratic nature of his back nine suggests that, mentally, he still has a long way to go if he is to truly fulfil his potential.

On their day, Dustin Johnson and Rory McIlroy are leagues ahead of even Jordan Spieth in terms of their raw ability to strike a golf ball but competitive golf, especially in the environment of a major championship, demands far more.

Winning major championships demands patience and creativity. It demands self-belief and a sound game plan.

It also demands a great short game but most importantly, it demands the ability to be flexible enough to deal with the many unknown curve balls that will be thrown your way.

Jordan Spieth overcame his own demons by making a title-winning birdie on the last hole, having had a minor meltdown on the penultimate hole. His composure won the day.

In doing so he has now firmly established himself as Rory McIlroy’s greatest American rival, and that is good for world golf.