Hatton, Ortiz and Hovland had a shot at the US Open. Then Oakmont happened

OAKMONT, Pa. — Tyrrell Hatton, in the mix in the final round of a major for the first time in the late Sunday gloom at the U.S. Open, watched his tee shot on the 17th hole drift to the right and exhaled.

If there was a place to ‘’miss,’’ Hatton knew it was to the right of the green on the uphill, 314-yard par 4.

And he was right. At just about every place but Oakmont.

When Hatton reached the top of the hill, the fiery Englishman whose emotions are never too far from his sleeve discovered his ball had settled into the course’s signature knotty rough on a downslope above a greenside bunker.

Just about anywhere else, the shot rolls into the sand below, and he splashes out with a chance to maybe even take the lead. Only there isn’t anywhere else like the iconic links-style course carved out of the Western Pennsylvania hills.

Hatton’s pitch from an impossible downhill lie didn’t reach the green, and he slammed his club into the ground in protest. A chip and two putts later, he was two back. When his tee shot on the par-4 18th sailed into the rough again, it was over.

‘’What happened on 17 is going to hurt a lot for a long time,’’ Hatton said after tying for fourth at 3-over 283, four back of winner J.J. Spaun. ‘’It was the first time I’ve been in contention in a major, and that was exciting, and unfortunately, I feel like through a bit of bad luck I had momentum taken away from me and ultimately ended up not being my day.’’

Asked about what exactly constituted the ‘’bad luck,’’ Hatton bristled but only briefly. He’d made his frustration about a course design that includes having most of its 160-plus bunkers well-guarded by an already penal rough well known on Saturday, when he was forced to take an awkward stance to hack out of a sand trap alongside the 15th green on Saturday, leading to a bogey.

What happened in the waning minutes of a rain-delayed and chaos-filled final 18 holes of the championship was just more of the same.

‘’I’ve missed it in the right spot and got punished, which ultimately I don’t think ends up being fair,’’ Hatton said.

That’s Oakmont. Besides, Hatton was hardly the only one who found himself creeping up the leaderboard as the frontrunners faltered, only to ultimately succumb themselves.

Carlos Ortiz, a member of LIV Golf like Hatton, was part of a five-way tie for the lead on the back nine. Ortiz’s tee shot on the 503-yard par-4 15th sailed left, forcing him to punch out to the fairway. A wedge from 134 yards landed 40 feet short of the cup. Three putts later, he was on his way to a 3-over 73 finish and a tie for fourth.

‘’It was a great week, but obviously I’m disappointed right now the way it happened," said Ortiz, who became the first Mexican player since 1972 to place inside the top 10. ‘’I did everything I can.’’

Viktor Hovland, who was out on the practice range nearly until dusk on Saturday night trying to find something — anything really — to build on, began the day two shots off the lead but never managed to get to pull even with the scrum in front of him.

The Norwegian, who was grouped with Spaun, ‘’saw a lot of stuff’’ as the leaderboard continued to shuffle and re-shuffle over the final 90 minutes. Keeping track was difficult, particularly with the electronic boards having ‘’dangerous weather" alerts splashed across them. Ultimately, Hovland couldn’t find the rhythm necessary.

Instead, it was Spaun who delivered with a pair of birdies, including a 64-footer on the 18th that immediately etched itself into U.S. Open lore. In a way, the ending helped. Spaun went out and took a tournament up for grabs and grabbed it.

Hovland, who called the last of Spaun’s 279 strokes ‘’absolutely filthy,’’ had to settle for third, his fourth finish inside the top three at a major. All without being the one standing on the green afterward with the trophy in hand.

Yet he tried to remain upbeat. He believes he’s trending back to where he was in 2023, when he finished tied for seventh at the Masters and then tied for second at the PGA a month later. He’s already won this year, though he complained about his form afterward.

There was none of that on Sunday. Oakmont is hard enough as it is. No need to pile on.

‘’I’ve been tearing myself down a little too much,’’ Hovland said. ‘’Even though I do know I need to work on some stuff and get back to where I used to be in a way mechanically, but in the interim, I can still perform at a really high level, and there’s a lot of good stuff.’’

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AP golf: https://apnews.com/hub/golf