The 2018 U.S. Open at Shinnecock Hills became one of the most controversial majors in recent memory, with players openly criticizing the course setup. Two-time major winner Zach Johnson was among those who voiced their frustration.

Conditions were tough from the start at Shinnecock Hills, with only Dustin Johnson under par through 36 holes, and by the third round, Zach Johnson was among the players voicing their frustration.

"It's pretty much shot, which is unfortunate because it's -- in my opinion -- some of the best land and one of the best venues in all of golf, specifically in this country. It's as good as it gets. Shinnecock Hills is beautiful. Unfortunately, they've lost the golf course," Johnson told Sky Sports.

“When you have a championship that comes down to sheer luck, that’s not right,” he added.

In the third round, Johnson shot a 2-over 72 as the bright sun and constant breeze dried out the course after Friday’s rain, turning the greens brown, making putting nearly impossible, and leaving pin locations on the 13th and 15th holes dangerously close to the edge.

“I will tell you that we felt good about the setup when we left this morning when we were done with the setup,” said the then USGA CEO, Mike Davis.

“We felt that it would work well given the forecast we had, but I think that, now that I’m sitting here, we would say that parts of this test of golf simply were too tough.”

The third round had a scoring average of 75.328, lower than the first round's 76.474 despite widespread criticism of the course conditions.

Still, Koepka emerged victorious and later shared his thoughts on the course.

Brooks Koepka’s Win And What He Had To Say About The Course

American golfer Brooks Koepka successfully defended his U.S. Open title in 2018 and became just the seventh player in the sport’s history to win consecutive U.S. Opens.

“Yes, it did get very difficult. There wasn’t much grass on the greens. I think everyone will say that. And it did get very tough. It was very borderline. Depending on the gust of wind, sometimes you felt it maybe wasn’t, and whatever. I got this thing, so I don’t care,” said Koepka after securing the title. 

Koepka began the final round in a four-way tie for the lead with Dustin Johnson, Daniel Berger, and Tony Finau. Birdies on three of his first five holes ensured he took the lead, and he did not look back.

Finishing at 1-over par, Koepka secured the title by one stroke over England’s Tommy Fleetwood.

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Written by

Avishek Sarkar

Edited by

Pulkit Prabhav