Jordan Spieth’s second major championship success was not the biggest talking point at the 2015 US Open at Chambers Bay.
Spieth won the US Open just weeks after his victory at The Masters and was already halfway towards the career Grand Slam at only 21 years old.
The tournament went down to the 72nd hole, where Spieth and Dustin Johnson both missed solid eagle chances, before the latter also missed his four-foot birdie putt.
This remarkable finish saw Spieth lift the trophy on the 18th green at Chambers Bay, but the tournament will always be remembered for something else.
The 2015 US Open will be remembered for the greens at Chambers Bay
Chambers Bay had never hosted a major championship, or even a PGA Tour event, before the US Open in 2015, and it hasn’t since.
That’s possibly because the golf course’s reputation remains marred by the criticism of the greens during that tournament.
The US Open competitors were appalled by the standard of the poa annua-surface greens and were not afraid to tell everyone about them.
Sergio Garcia tweeted: “I think a championship of the caliber of the US Open deserves better quality green surfaces than we have this week, but maybe I’m wrong!
“If my problem is saying what everyone thinks but they don’t have the guts to say it, then I’m guilty of that for sure.”
Perhaps Garcia’s comments applied to Rory McIlroy, who simply said, “They are not the best that I’ve ever putted on.”
Meanwhile, defending US Senior Open champion Colin Montgomerie was probably the most vocal about the “extremely poor” greens at Chambers Bay.
“The greens themselves, that is the poorest part of this,” he ranted, via GOLF.com. “I don’t want to be critical in any way because of everything that has been done here. But the greens are very, very poor.
“The quality of the surface of the greens is extremely poor. That is going to take away the consistency of the putts. The 10-footers that you see people hole all the time, that won’t be happening this week.
“The greens are extremely poor. A course of this demanding nature had to be in perfect condition, and unfortunately, it is not.”
Jordan Spieth’s comments after winning the 2015 US Open
While the greens at Chambers Bay were not befitting of a US Open venue, the issue did not take anything away from Spieth’s impressive victory.
Every player in the field had to deal with the same conditions, and he finished on top, narrowly ahead of Johnson.
“I don’t know right now,” Spieth explained his feelings after winning the tournament. “I can’t seem to wrap my head around the finish of today.
“I’ve tried to think about it since it ended, and boy, I feel for Dustin. It’s the same feeling I had on 17; I just was able to have another hole to rebound.
“I mean, this is incredible. It’s incredible. It will take a little bit to sink in. I didn’t think this would be over, and I would be holding the trophy. Definitely didn’t think that at the time. Obviously pleased.”