2010 US Open

Final Scores and Recap of the 2010 US Open

Graeme McDowell of Northern Ireland celebrates with the trophy on the 18th green after winning the 110th U.S. Open at Pebble Beach Golf Links on June 20, 2010
2010 US Open winner Graeme McDowell with the trophy. Donald Miralle/Getty Images

The last-man-standing test posted by a firm and fast Pebble Beach Golf Links at the 2010 U.S. Open was passed by Graeme McDowell of Northern Ireland.

McDowell had not previously won on the USPGA Tour prior to the 2010 U.S. Open, but he did have five wins on the European Tour, including the tournament he played just prior to the USGA championship.

The best score of the championship was 66, first posted by Phil Mickelson in the second round. That got Mickelson into contention, with McDowell the leader. McDowell and Dustin Johnson - the winner of the prior two tournaments played at Pebble Beach - played the third round together as the last pairing, and Johnson fired his own 66 to take a 3-stroke lead, 6-under to McDowell's 3-under.

The biggest story in the third round was another 66, however, one by Tiger Woods. It was easily the best Woods had played since his return from a scandal-induced absence. He looked like the Tiger of old, hitting big shots, sinking big putts, making big fist pumps, drawing huge cheers.

So the picture entering the final round showed Johnson on top by three, McDowell in second, Woods in third, with Mickelson, Ernie Els and Gregory Havret in the mix. But Johnson was five ahead of Woods, six ahead of Els and seven ahead of Mickelson. If any of those big names were going to have a chance, they needed help from Johnson.

And they got it. Johnson, who appeared so in control in the first three rounds on a course he had won on twice before, collapsed early and often in the final round. He triple-bogied the second hole, then hit his drive on No. 3 way left and into heavy brush. The ball was lost, and Johnson's hopes were pretty much lost at that point, too. He finished with an 82, 16 strokes higher than he scores in the third round.

McDowell remained patient and solid. Els tied McDowell at 3-under for the lead after his sixth hole, but a streak of bogey-double bogey-bogey at the turn severely damaged Els' hopes.

Mickelson and Woods simply never made anything happen. With Johnson's collapse, and with McDowell giving a couple strokes back, the two superstars were never out of the mix, they just weren't able to make any birdies. It was a very frustrating day for both.

And perhaps especially for Els, who bogied the 17th hole and missed a good birdie try on the last. He posted 2-over for the clubhouse lead. Then Havret - who played best among the final-round leaders - reached the 72nd hole, and he missed a birdie putt. But he posted 1-over.

That left McDowell in the 18th fairway at even par, needing to make par to win the 2010 U.S. Open. And make par is what he did.

McDowell's victory was the first by a European golfer in this tournament since Tony Jacklin won the 1970 U.S. Open.

Sixty-year-old Tom Watson, who received a special exemption from the USGA to play, and who won the 1982 U.S. Open at Pebble Beach, finished tied for 29th. It was likely Watson's final U.S. Open appearance.

2010 U.S. Open Golf Tournament Scores
Results from the 2010 U.S. Open golf tournament played on the par-71 Pebble Beach Golf Links in Pebble Beach, California (a-amateur):

Graeme McDowell 71-68-71-74--284 $1,350,000
Gregory Havret 73-71-69-72--285 $810,000
Ernie Els 73-68-72-73--286 $480,687
Phil Mickelson 75-66-73-73--287 $303,119
Tiger Woods 74-72-66-75--287 $303,119
Matt Kuchar 74-72-74-68--288 $228,255
Davis Love III 75-74-68-71--288 $228,255
Brandt Snedeker 75-74-69-71--289 $177,534
Martin Kaymer 74-71-72-72--289 $177,534
Alex Cejka 70-72-74-73--289 $177,534
Dustin Johnson 71-70-66-82--289 $177,534
Sean O'Hair 76-71-70-73--290 $143,714
Tim Clark 72-72-72-74--290 $143,714
Ben Curtis 78-70-75-68--291 $127,779
Justin Leonard 72-73-73-73--291 $127,779
Peter Hanson 73-76-74-69--292 $108,458
a-Scott Langley 75-69-77-71--292
Lee Westwood 74-71-76-71--292 $108,458
Jim Furyk 72-75-74-71--292 $108,458
a-Russell Henley 73-74-72-73--292
Charl Schwartzel 74-71-74-73--292 $108,458
Sergio Garcia 73-76-73-71--293 $83,634
Shaun Micheel 69-77-75-72--293 $83,634
Angel Cabrera 75-72-74-72--293 $83,634
Padraig Harrington 73-73-74-73--293 $83,634
John Mallinger 77-72-70-74--293 $83,634
Ricky Barnes 72-76-74-72--294 $67,195
Robert Karlsson 75-72-74-73--294 $67,195
Stuart Appleby 73-76-76-70--295 $54,871
Henrik Stenson 77-70-74-74--295 $54,871
Robert Allenby 74-74-73-74--295 $54,871
Tom Watson 78-71-70-76--295 $54,871
Jason Dufner 72-73-79-72--296 $44,472
Ryan Moore 75-73-75-73--296 $44,472
David Toms 71-75-76-74--296 $44,472
Kenny Perry 72-77-73-74--296 $44,472
Brendon de Jonge 69-73-77-77--296 $44,472
Soren Kjeldsen 72-71-75-78--296 $44,472
Ryo Ishikawa 70-71-75-80--296 $44,472
Bo Van Pelt 72-75-82-68--297 $34,722
Ross McGowan 72-73-78-74--297 $34,722
Seung-yul Noh 74-72-76-75--297 $34,722
Vijay Singh 74-72-75-76--297 $34,722
Stewart Cink 76-73-71-77--297 $34,722
Bobby Gates 75-74-71-77--297 $34,722
Paul Casey 69-73-77-78--297 $34,722
Jim Herman 76-73-81-68--298 $23,385
Rafael Cabrera-Bello 70-75-81-72--298 $23,385
Chris Stroud 77-72-76-73--298 $23,385
Jason Gore 76-73-74-75--298 $23,385
Thongchai Jaidee 74-75-74-75--298 $23,385
Jason Allred 72-73-76-77--298 $23,385
Scott Verplank 72-74-75-77--298 $23,385
K.J. Choi 70-73-77-78--298 $23,385
Luke Donald 71-75-74-78--298 $23,385
Ian Poulter 70-73-77-78--298 $23,385
Edoardo Molinari 75-72-72-79--298 $23,385
Steve Stricker 75-74-77-73--299 $18,368
Retief Goosen 75-74-76-74--299 $18,368
Lucas Glover 73-73-77-76--299 $18,368
Hiroyuki Fujita 72-77-74-76--299 $18,368
Yuta Ikeda 77-72-73-77--299 $18,368
Gareth Maybin 74-75-76-75--300 $16,672
Toru Taniguchi 73-76-76-75--300 $16,672
Steve Wheatcroft 74-73-77-76--300 $16,672
Jerry Kelly 72-70-81-77--300 $16,672
Eric Axley 75-73-75-77--300 $16,672
Steve Marino 73-75-73-79--300 $16,672
Erick Justesen 74-74-80-73--301 $15,651
Camilo Villegas 78-69-79-76--302 $14,921
Fred Funk 74-72-77-79--302 $14,921
Matt Bettencourt 72-74-77-79--302 $14,921
David Duval 75-73-74-80--302 $14,921
Rhys Davies 78-70-79-76--303 $14,045
Kent Jones 73-76-78-76--303 $14,045
Nick Watney 76-71-77-81--305 $13,608
Matthew Richardson 73-75-80-78--306 $13,023
Zach Johnson 72-77-78-79--306 $13,023
Craig Barlow 73-75-77-81--306 $13,023
Mike Weir 70-79-83-75--307 $12,293
Ty Tryon 75-74-78-80--307 $12,293
Pablo Martin 73-76-83-79--311 $11,707
Jason Preeo 75-70-82-84--311 $11,707