ROBERT MACINTYRE suffered the same Oakmont heartbreak as boyhood hero Colin Montgomerie as JJ Spaun pushed him into second place at the US open.
At the fearsome course where Montgomerie was edged out in a play-off by Ernie Els in 1994, MacIntyre looked like going one better after a brilliant closing round of 68 saw him take the clubhouse lead at one over par.
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Spaun, who was also on one over with two holes to play, was the only man with a realistic chance of denying the young Scot.
And he produced a wonder shot at the driveable par four 17th, smashing a 309 yard drive to within 18 feet of the flag.
The eagle putt rolled past the hole, but Spaun showed nerves of steel to sink his three footer for birdie, and claim the outright lead.
The stocky American still needed to make at least a par at the ultra-tough 18th to avoid a play-off.
And maybe the memories of what happened to him at The Players Championship a few months ago meant he was determined to avoid that outcome.
Spaun left a putt for victory at Sawgrass hanging in the jaws of the final hole – and he was blown away by Rory McIlroy when they returned for a three hole shoot out the next day.
He made absolutely sure that could not happen again by sinking a bomb from 65 FEET at the last for a two shot victory.
At one under par he was the only man to finish in red figures.
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Spaun, who was 120/1 with the bookies at the start of the week, also had the distinction of firing the only bogey-free round of the week with his first round 66.
He hung tough after that, produced a fantastic finishing flourish, and the world No 25 is now a worthy Major champion.
It was hard on MacIntyre, who was the only player in the final SIXTEEN groups on the course to break par on day four.
His weekend rounds of 69-68 would have made him a worthy winner, if world No 25 Spaun had not shown such grit after a horror start saw him drop five shots in the first six holes.
MacIntyre knew he could not have done any more.
He commented: “All I can say is that I’m absolutely delighted with the way I played today.
“I got off to a rough start with a couple of early bogeys, but sinking a sixty footer for eagle on the fourth showed you can never tell what is going to happen next here
“I could see no-one was getting away from me among the guys who started out in front of me, so I had to dig in, dig in, and dig in some more. I did that. I did my best.”
