James Piot won, but Oakmont stole show at U.S. Amateur

James Piot was told his clubhead speed ramped up substantially on a few of his drives Sunday during the championship match of the 121st U.S. Amateur at Oakmont Country Club.

The fifth-year senior at Michigan State is not an exceptionally long hitter, but a glimmer appeared in his eye as he responded to the data update.

“Really?” the 22-year-old champion said. “Not bad for a little guy. I feel like I have another gear in the back of my bag that I can go to every once in awhile.”

So does the golf course he just played.

Oakmont also found another gear for another national championship, once again shining brightly with the world watching. The 5-foot-9 Piot changed the complexion of the 36-hole finale with a thrilling final-nine comeback to rally past North Carolina junior Austin Greaser, 2 and 1, and hoist the Havemeyer Trophy.

NBC’s live broadcast Sunday ended prematurely — and conversely interrupted a NASCAR race on a sister station — causing many disgruntled watchers to miss the drama at the 17th hole. But those who saw the action live can attest to the spirited conclusion.

Oakmont drew thousands for the weekend matches. Again, nothing new for the fabled venue. People would buy tickets to watch the club championship at Oakmont.

“This place was so special,” said amateur Michael Thorbjornsen, who reached the Round of 32 at Oakmont. “This is one of the toughest golf courses I’ve played, and definitely one of the most fun just because of how tough it is.”

As for that finish, Piot found two greenside bunkers on the uphill, par-4 17th but made a 20-foot putt to save par on the 35th hole of the final — with his dad’s old Ping putter he resurrected from his basement.

When Greaser missed an 8-foot birdie putt, the match ended and a throng of Michigan State faithful converged on Piot, who was 3-down with nine holes to play but won four straight holes to take control.

As Hendrix put it, “Move over, Rover, and let Jimi take over.”

“I just tried to stay confident in myself,” Piot said. “I wanted to play the back nine in 4-under, and I ended up playing it in 3-under.

“After making that putt on 17, I was just like, ‘Oh, my God.’ I might’ve done it. It feels phenomenal (and) shows the hard work I’ve done is paying off.”

What a day at Oakmont.
(???? Chris Keane/USGA) pic.twitter.com/ci6WdmBOyY

— Spartan Men's Golf (@msumensgolf) August 16, 2021

Storylines made the record-tying sixth U.S. Amateur at Oakmont what it was:

• The long, weather-plagued week began with 312 players, and the field was reduced to 64 for match play. A 12-men-for-one-spot playoff decided the 64th seed.

• Mark Goetz, a fifth-year senior at West Virginia and local player from Greensburg, stole the spotlight from a global field as he won medalist honors with a low stroke-play total of 8-under-par 132.

He was the lone Western Pennsylvania player — out of 11 — to advance to match play.

• Midweek news broke that reinforced Oakmont’s royal standing with the USGA: The club was awarded the 2028 U.S. Women’s Open, ’33 Walker Cup Match, ’34 U.S. Open, ’38 U.S. Women’s Open, ’42 U.S. Open, ’46 U.S. Women’s Amateur and ’49 U.S. Open.

Oakmont is now a USGA “anchor” site. The 2025 U.S. Open will be the next USGA event there, the club’s record 10th U.S. Open.

• Then there was this thing where players were hitting drives to adjacent fairways to create “better” angles and to take sand traps out of play.

As Oakmont pro Devin Gee noted, grandstands and rough would prevent players from doing this in a U.S. Open, and that, ideally, he would rather have seen the amateurs follow the course map. But the gameplan worked at the wide-open, links-style course bereft of the thousands of trees it had until the early 2000s.

Sightlines are endless at Oakmont now, and so are approach lines.

• Oakmont let down its guard a bit with heavy rain and storms, but the course quickly bounced back as conditions improved, winds picked up and the greens were rolled — and rolled again.

Match play is about beating your opponent, not the course. But this week, it was about both.

• Interestingly, Piot didn’t lose the 10th hole all week. When he won the 670-yard, par-5 12th, the 30th of the final match, it broke a streak of 10 consecutive par 5s either won or halved by Greaser, whose caddie was Carter Pitcairn, a senior at Central Catholic who carries bags at Oakmont.

Said Greaser about the week and reaching the final: “It’s a very unique experience, an opportunity of a lifetime. Who knows if I’ll ever be standing back up here like this again. It’s something that I’m going to cherish for a long time.”