Sheesh, for the tenth time, I said he was an unlikely winner, not an undeserving winner. He was unlikely even to get in, if you look at the stories about how three players in the Nelson had a chance to eliminate him from qualifying. But he was also unlikely because a Euro hadn't won in 40 years and he had just won his last event, which usually makes it difficult. Plus he had never won a major. That makes him definitionally unlikely. I'm guessing that Ladbrokes had some high odds on him before the championship. He's not an outlier, having won overseas and having compiled a great collegiate record, but there surely were dozens of more likely winners than he was. So my question is will he prove to be Michael Campbell or Retief Goosen? Is this the springboard or the swan song? Who knows? I'd like to think he's got some more hardware headed his way, but this is a fickle game.
As for the birdie, I thought he had one birdie and carded a 74. When is the last time that somebody won a major after trailing after 54 holes and finished his tournament with a three over score with only one birdie. Speaking of unlikely, that's a bit of a stretch for a final day "game story", but that's what happened. It's a testament to his grit and his ability to deal with the setup, the conditions and the unbelievable stress of a US Open, even if it wasn't all that predictable beforehand.