Pro Hogs

Landry comes unglued in U.S. Open final round

Andrew Landry hits a chip on the second hole during the final round of the U.S. Open golf championship at Oakmont Country Club on Sunday, June 19, 2016, in Oakmont, Pa. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)
Andrew Landry hits a chip on the second hole during the final round of the U.S. Open golf championship at Oakmont Country Club on Sunday, June 19, 2016, in Oakmont, Pa. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)

OAKMONT, Pa. (AP) — Andrew Landry's opening drive rocketed into the right rough alongside the fairway. From there, his first approach shot nosedived into the left rough alongside the green.

Somehow, things went downhill from there.

By the time the final round was over, what began like a story line cribbed from the movie "Caddyshack" — "Cinderella boy about to become the U.S. Open champion!" — turned into an all-too-familiar, crash-and-burn tale from more than one final round of a major championship.

"I'm taking this as a positive," Landry said after signing for a 78. His 285 total was nine shots behind winner Dustin Johnson and left him in a tie for 15th place.

"Obviously, it's my best finish of the year. So I'm taking it as a positive and move on to the following weeks and just continue to prepare," he added. "I've been in this situation, so I'm going to learn from it."

It turned out to be quite an education. Landry was playing in his first U.S. Open in his first year on the PGA Tour. He came to Oakmont as the 624th-ranked player in the world. His best finish during the brief foray out on Tour was a tie for 41st.

Yet he promptly navigated his way through Thursday's on-again, off-again rain delays and improbably grabbed the overnight lead. Not just that, his 66 was the best number any player had posted in the opening round of a major at the punishing Oakmont Country Club layout.

Here are a few of the names who played here and never matched it: Tiger Woods, Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer, Ben Hogan and Sam Snead.

Better still, Landry's father, Dwain, recalled in an interview with ESPN how tough his 28-year-old son was, beginning as a pint-sized competitor at the hardscrabble golf course near their Texas home. Then he recalled a conversation they had just days before Andrew left to play.

"Dad," Andrew said, "I'm going to win this tournament."

Early Sunday afternoon, it still seemed possible. Landry went off in the final pairing with leader Shane Lowry at 3 under, four strokes from the top of the board and fell out of contention almost immediately. Then he kept falling.

The pressure on the Texan made even the toughest NCAA Tournament rounds, and those on the mini-tours up and down the Americas, seem like fond memories. Five bogeys and a double bogey on the front nine for a 42. Another bogey to start the back nine.

Landry finally showed some of the grit he displayed climbing back into contention in Rounds 2 and 3 — he birdied 17 and 18 both days — by running off eight straight pars to close out the back. He didn't need reminding that it came too late.

"Walking down 18, I was like, man, I wish I could just take a picture of this because it's like the coolest view from a player," Landry said.

"It was pretty awesome to watch," he added, "to be there first-hand and be in the moment."

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