The 2016 major was held at Oakmont, where it returns this year after a ball movement barely visible to the human eye dogged its last edition.

All you need to know about 2025 US Open at Oakmont

That year’s event was won by American Dustin Johnson – the first of two career majors – and that he still took the win given what was happening in the scorer’s tent showed the laser focus of a deserving champion.

Johnson was facing overnight leader Shane Lowry for victory on the final day but as he was pulling ahead drama struck, although no one on the course or sidelines was aware why.

Going for his putt on the fifth green Johnson made two practice strokes and when he went for his shot, the ball moved.

Noticing the tiny touch, he called over referee Mark Newell who cleared him of any infringement, as did playing partner Lee Westwood.

Trouble averted? Not in the slightest.

Johnson would continue his championship round, only dropping one shot to record par and put Lowry’s challenge to bed with a three shot lead.

The South Carolina native could’ve been forgiven for getting nervous ahead of what would be his first major, never mind the distraction that came next.

Little known to everyone on the course, while Johnson was heading towards triumph, United States Golf Association [USGA] official Craig Winter had been reviewing the ball movement on the fifth and had called in Thomas Pagel, the USGA’s chief governance officer.

Rule 18.2 stated that if it was ‘more likely than not’ that a player caused the ball to move then they should be given a penalty.

Winter and Pagel came to an agreement, which they then had to communicate to Johnson just before he teed off on the 12th.

As the shock became clear to those watching, one of them, Rory McIlroy, expressed his dismay on social media.

“This is ridiculous… No penalty whatsoever for DJ,” he wrote. 

“Let the guy play without this crap in his head. Amateur hour from USGA.

“This isn’t right for anyone. If it was me I wouldn’t hit another shot until this farce was rectified.”

Jordan Spieth was in agreement, adding: “Lemme get this straight. DJ doesn’t address it. 

“It’s ruled that he didn’t cause it to move. Now you tell me he may have? Now? This is a joke?”

Somehow, Johnson didn’t let the moment bother him, and even stepped up his game, recording his first birdie of the round to end the tournament four strokes ahead of Lowry.

No one knew what was happening or if there would even be a penalty with Johnson unable to celebrate and called in for a meeting with USGA staff.

There was a penalty, but thankfully for those watching and in attendance it was just a single stroke, giving Johnson his first major win in the most dramatic of circumstances.

Explaining what went through his mind after being informed of the possible penalty, he said: “I just told myself, We’ll worry about it when we get done.

“I didn’t think I was going to be penalised. They said they were going to review. 

“There was nothing I could do about it. Just focus on this next shot. I tried to do that from there, all the way to the house. It was just me and the golf course.”

A statement later issued by the USGA offered an apology of sorts as they said: “Upon reflection, we regret the distraction caused by our decision to wait until the end of the round to decide on the ruling. 

“It is normal for rulings based on video evidence to await the end of a round, when the matter can be discussed with the player before the score card is returned. 

“While our focus on getting the ruling correct was appropriate, we created uncertainty about where players stood on the leader board after we informed Dustin on the 12th tee that his actions on the fifth green might lead to a penalty. 

“This created unnecessary ambiguity for Dustin and the other players, as well as spectators on-site, and those watching and listening on television and digital channels.”

Six months later the USGA and R&A announced a complete overhaul of the Rules of Golf’s 34 laws.

One of them covered a repeat, as from January 1, 2017, tournament officials at all levels could invoke a Local Rule which eliminates the penalty when a ball is accidentally moved on a putting green.

While changes to the Rules of Golf were already being made, Pagel later said the Johnson incident created a ‘sense of urgency’ as they ‘had to do better’.

Thankfully for them Johnson couldn’t have done much more himself, with his four stroke lead ending any chance of one of the biggest robberies sport has ever seen.