The 2024 US Open was a highly-entertaining spectacle - of that there was no doubt. Bryson DeChambeau stood tallest to land a second US Open title - four years after clinching his first at Winged Foot.
Home to his second triumph, Pinehurst No.2 is one of the world's most iconic courses and has played host to three previous US Opens before this one, each fascinating in their own unique way.
Ahead of the fourth running, though, there was plenty of excitement among the fans - as well as concern among pundits - that it would play extremely tough and lead to unfair conditions which would ultimately frustrate the players rather than encouraging them to produce their absolute best.
But what did some of our team, who keenly watched all four days, think?
I saw some people on social media not happy with the set up but, personally, I loved it. This was probably the first tournament of the year that I was actually excited to watch and, following Valhalla, which was a birdie-fest, I enjoyed watching players having to earn their score.
Okay, there were instances where players got unlucky from good shots, but there were also instances where, off the tee especially, players weren't punished in the sand and shrubbery so, overall, I think the USGA got the set up pretty much spot on.
The US Open is supposed to be the most demanding of the four men's Majors and that is just what Pinehurst delivered, with fairways and greens being the mantra of the week to really test the world's best. Disaster was round the corner everywhere you looked, like on the short par 4 13th on Saturday where Ludvig Aberg and Tony Finau made triple bogeys.
Pinehurst delivered a supreme test of golf that made the US Open an enthralling watch. The burnt out fairways, waste areas and green complexes made it resemble links golf and showed us who really was playing the best golf this week, not who was putting the best. There were no complaints from the players. Greens didn't need to be over-watered to correct any errors. There were no real controversies that stemmed from the course and its setup - perhaps barring McIlroy on the 5th in round four.
It has to go down as a huge success and the leaderboard, thrilling final day and memories that the week created show that Pinehurst and the USGA did an exceptional job. The USGA are often criticized, and at times rightly so, but this time we have to tip our cap to them and the Pinehurst greens staff and say: "Well done."
The final leaderboard and the scores speak for themselves. It was a genuinely stacked top-10 full of current or future global superstars. I actually felt the course played a little tamer in places than it might have given the level of talk beforehand - bar a handful of brutal run-offs. But it's the same course for everyone so I really don't feel you could label it "unfair."
It was awesome to see those sandy waste areas lining the fairways, too, ultimately serving as an entertaining lucky dip for players who hit wayward tee shots. The USGA produced some extremely tough but interesting hole locations to ensure that scoring remained as close to par as possible, and the 120-person ground staff did a fantastic job of giving the layout *just* enough water throughout. I can absolutely see why Pinehurst will host several future US Opens in the next 25 years or so.
I'm usually defending the USGA as I find the 'US Open is unfair' arguments completely nonsensical and maddening. The course set-up and presentation was spot on – if anything, I think they could have made it slightly harder in round one.
Congratulations to Mike Whan and his team for continuing Mike Davis' legacy and producing a tough but playable course that produced a star-studded final leaderboard.
