U.S. Open 2012: Webb Simpson Wins 1st Career Major

Shortly after deflecting the fan who crashed his trophy ceremony on Sunday night, newly crowned U.S. Open winner Webb Simpson posted a photo on Twitter of himself with the guy who stormed the dais as Bob Costas was intoning solemnly into the microphone.

“My new friend,” Simpson tweeted about the man who goes by the handle “Jungle Bird” and describes himself as an “activist dedicated to raising awareness of deforestation.”

This was the worst idea ever. About halfway through the third round of the U.S. Open, I began to have doubts. The plan was to follow Tiger Woods around at The Olympic Club, from practice rounds with Casey Martin to the final round of the tournament. Through two days, the plan was working out quite nicely: Tiger had a share of the lead and was generally playing well.

It was amazing how quickly everything fell apart. As soon as he struck his first shot on Saturday, it was clear trouble was ahead. He’d been perfect off the tee the two days prior, turning in solid rounds to go along with them. This time, there was immediate frustration and disdain for the shot he hit to open his round.

The 2012 U.S. Open is over, one long week, two completely sore legs and a pair of red feet later. From Tuesday to Sunday, The Olympic Course beat the heck out of me, just as it did to the golfers who tried to tame it. The hilly terrain, toasty weather and miles logged each day (somewhere around 10) were absolutely exhausting. And every minute of it was incredible.

So what was learned in San Francisco this week? Here are the final thoughts from the tournament.

With his win in the 2012 U.S. Open, Webb Simpson climbed up the World Golf Rankings, as the 26-year-old is now ranked fifth in the world. The North Carolina native rose nine spots from No. 14 with his win on Sunday.

The top four golfers remained constant, as neither Luke Donald, Rory McIlroy, Lee Westwood nor Tiger Woods made much headway this weekend, even if Woods was tied for the lead after the second round.

You could feel the gravity of the situation in the air. Perched the 18th green, watching Webb Simpson stand over a ball that was buried in the rough, it was clear this would be his do-or-die moment. What Simpson didn’t know was that Jim Furyk was a few hundred yards away from him, making a mess of the 16th hole. If Simpson was able to somehow get up-and-down from the deep rough, odds were he’d at least end up in a playoff.

Simpson had left his approach right, just about hole-high but sitting down in deep grass. The green sloped away from him, then towards a false front a few paces past the hole. With the ball buried, there was no telling what would happen as Simpson made contact: The grass has a tendency to twist the club face, and if Simpson chopped at the ball, it could be sent flying past the hole and off the green altogether.

Beau Hossler, the popular 17-year-old who said Saturday that he liked his chances of winning the U.S. Open, fell back to Earth in Sunday’s finale at Olympic Club and ended up the runner-up for low-amateur honors.

The high school junior from California -- who began his round in a tie for eighth -- ran into sand trouble and a double-bogey on 18. That mishap handed the amateur honor to University of Texas sophomore Jordan Spieth. Spieth, who was instrumental in his friend Hossler choosing Texas as his college of choice, posted an even-par 70 in his final round to close at 7-over, two shots better than Hossler, who closed with a 76.

Jim Furyk and Graeme McDowell are going to need near miracles to force a playoff at the 2012 U.S. Open. Furyk bogeyed the 16th hole to fall to two-over par, then sunk a difficult par putt at the 17th hole to keep his chances at a title alive. McDowell went to the 17th hole three-over par and made a birdie, giving himself an outside chance to force a playoff on the final hole as well.

The man they’re facing is Webb Simpson, who finished his day at one-over for the championship. The 18th hole has only yielded six birdies on Sunday, while Furyk has not birdied yet, so Simpson has to like his chances at avoiding a playoff and winning the title outright.

Webb Simpson has pulled off an impressive par on the 72nd hole to go into the clubhouse as the leader of the 2012 U.S. Open at 1-over par. This means that the previous leader in the clubhouse, Michael Thompson, won’t be winning the tournament, while the players currently at 3-over have quite a bit of work to do if they want to force a playoff.

Jim Furyk is currently tied with Simpson at 1-over, but he hit a poor tee shot on the 16th hole and has a lot of work to do to save par. Ernie Els and Graeme McDowell are both still on the course at 3-over par, though Els is on the 18th and has little to no chance to equal Simpson’s score. It’s going to take some spectacular play from Furyk and McDowell to keep Simpson from at least getting to a playoff.

Jim Furyk is still in a good position to win the second major of his career, but he’s no longer alone in the lead at the U.S. Open. He bogeyed the 13th hole to drop to 1-over par for the tournament. That ties him with Webb Simpson, who is 1-over through 16 holes of play.

Simpson has had an excellent day, shooting 2-under par for his fourth round, which is exceptional considering his terrible start. He was 2-over through his first five holes and answered with a string of three birdies on the 6th through 8th holes, and he added another birdie on the 10th.

Through two days, Tiger Woods looked like the old Tiger Woods. There was a buzz in the air, an excitement around The Olympic Club. Tiger was atop the leaderboard, and fans were lining up 10 deep hoping this major would be the one.

But as the real work began on Saturday, Tiger faded quickly. He hooked his tee shot on No. 1 into the rough and never recovered, firing a 5-over 75 that dropped him from the top of the leaderboard to off it completely.

The race for the title at the 2012 U.S. Open is beginning to heat up during Sunday’s final round. Although Jim Furyk is clinging desperately to his lead, he is having to contend with a pesky Webb Simpson.

Simpson is 2-under for the day and is at 1-over, just one stroke off the lead. Close behind at 2-over are Graeme McDowell, Michael Thompson and Ernie Els.

On Sunday, Tiger Woods has completed his fourth and final round in the 2012 U.S. Open. Woods entered the third round with a share of the lead, but by the beginning of the day on Sunday, he was on the verge of falling out of contention. Woods’ start on Sunday was so rough that he ensured he would be out of contention by the time he finished his first three holes.

Woods started his round with a bogey, bogey and double-bogey in his first three holes and ended up being over par on five of his first six. Woods turned things around admirably after the tough front six, but of course the damage had already been done. After three birdies the rest of the way, Woods finished his final round at 3-over for the day and wrapped things up at 7-over for the tournament, in a tie for 21st place before all golfers have finished.

Through seven holes in Sunday’s final round of the 2012 U.S. Open, Jim Furyk is clinging to his lead, but the field is getting ever tighter. Furyk is at 1-over for the day following a bogey on the par-4 sixth hole.

Close behind are a quartet of golfers tied at 2-over. Michael Thompson has had a fantastic round and is 3-under through 16 holes. John Peterson is at 1-under through 12 holes and Webb Simpson is at 1-under through nine. The co-leader at the beginning of the day Graeme McDowell has bogeyed on three of his first seven holes but is still in the running.

On Sunday’s final round in the 2012 U.S. Open, Tiger Woods has finally settled down and managed a consistent run. Unfortunately, it has come too late to make any sort of legitimate run at his fourth career U.S. Open title. Through his first 13 holes on Sunday at the Grand Slam event, Woods is 9-over.

Woods’s awful start knocked him out of any serious contention, as he was over par on five of his first six holes. Woods managed to settle down after the turn and birdied on eight. He has made par on all holes after his sixth, but is still 5-over for the day and in a tie for 31st place in the tournament.

The fourth and final round of the 2012 U.S. Open is well underway on Sunday at the Olympic Club in San Francisco. The day has turned foggy and windy, but the course remains just as diabolical as it has been all week. Tiger Woods is falling further and further off the pace as his day progresses. Through Woods’s first five holes, he’s already at 5-over for the day.

Tiger was over par on four of his first five holes and fell victim once again to the tough front six at Olympic Club. Now at 9-over, Woods is well out of contention for his fourth career title.

Tiger Woods entered Sunday’s final round of the 2012 U.S. Open with an outside shot at capturing his fourth career title at the event. He was only five strokes off the lead as he teed off on the final day; that’s not an insurmountable lead, but is a plenty difficult order. Woods, however, has gotten off to a terrible start.

Woods bogeyed the first hole on Sunday, bogeyed the second and then double-bogeyed on the third. He is now 4-over for the day through his first three holes and drops all the way down to a tie for 33rd place at a cumulative 8-over. It is exceedingly unlikely he will be able to sniff the lead again after this start.

The leaders have yet to tee off on the final day of the 2012 U.S. Open on Sunday, but there’s progress being made at the Olympic Club in San Francisco.

The biggest ground-gainer in the early going of Sunday’s fourth round is K.J. Choi, who is 2-under through his first nine holes and has moved into a tie for 17th place at 5-over. While Choi still has plenty of work left to do, being under par through the spectacularly tricky first nine holes is a good indication that he’s on top of his game today. Choi may be making a late move and is certainly someone to keep an eye on.

The leaders and those in contention of the 2012 U.S. Open have yet to tee off, but there’s plenty of excitement being generated from the action out at the Olympic Club Sunday afternoon.

Despite playing well off the lead as they close out the weekend, American golfers Rickie Fowler and Patrick Cantlay have both eagled the 294-yard par 4 seventh hole.

Just got done walking a couple holes, watching USGA executive director Mike Davis and his crew put the finishing touches on The Olympic Club. You’d think setting up a hole is a relatively simple task: Find the pin location, punch a hole, fill the old hole and stick a flag in the ground. But not so.

Davis and his crew are painstakingly meticulous, scouting out each hole location to fractions of an inch, then making sure everything is set how they want it to be. There’s the tee boxes, measured and calculated. Using one tee box may require a left-to-right shot off the tee while picking out one a little closer to the hole may require a different shape or trajectory.

The 2012 U.S. Open at Olympic is midway through the final round and players are still struggling to get a handle on the course. Canadian Stephen Ames is the furthest along on the day through 13 holes and he’s playing better on Sunday than he did in the first couple of rounds, shooting a 1-over on the day, but his total on the tournament is still an abysmal 17-over.

American Joe Ogilvie is right on the heels of Ames on the course and the leaderboard, as Ogilvie is shooting a 7-over through 13 holes and shooting a 21-over on the tournament as a whole.

From the moment Tiger Woods struck his first shot on Saturday, it was clear something was off. Not way off, mind you, but a slight tick the wrong way. And at The Olympic Club, being even just a little bit off can quickly cause an otherwise superb tournament to spiral downhill.

Watching Tiger on the range, there was no sign that we might be seeing him stumble on Saturday. He went through his bag like normal, striking solid shots and intently watching the ball flight, taking mental notes. There was no frustration or dissatisfaction. Just a normal warmup before the round, free of meticulous mechanical tweaks or obvious swing thoughts.