Matt Fitzpatrick's U.S. Open win makes him king of The Country Club

"The feeling's out of this world. It is so cliché, but it's stuff you dream of as a kid. Yeah, to achieve it, I can retire a happy man tomorrow."

ICYMI: Each of the previous three U.S. Opens at TCC ended in a playoff, and it looked for a moment like this one would, too.

• Scottie Scheffler continued his torrid play, finishing at -5 just before the final pairing of Will Zalatoris (-5) and Fitzpatrick (-6) teed off on 18.
• Zalatoris hit a perfect drive while Fitzpatrick missed just his third fairway of the day, landing in a bunker 161 yards from the hole.
• But as he'd done all day, Fitzpatrick found a way to prevail, hitting what Nicklaus called "one of the great iron shots under pressure I've ever seen." It landed 18 feet from the pin and he two-putted for par.
• Zalatoris still had a chance to force a playoff, but missed his 14-foot birdie putt by half an inch, finishing as the runner-up for the third time in his past seven majors.

What they're saying: "I thought even going for it was going to be ballsy," Zalatoris said of Fitzpatrick's shot from the bunker. "[It's] going to be shown probably for the rest of U.S. Open history."

Between the lines: Fitzpatrick's superlative iron play helped him become just the third golfer in the past 30 years to hit 17 greens in regulation in the final round of a major win.

• He earned a record $3.15 million, part of a record $17.5 million purse.
• His caddie, Billy Foster, had never won a major despite spending nearly 40 years on the bag for some all-time greats. "Utter relief," he told ESPN's Michael Collins of finally winning the big one.
• Just four of 15 LIV golfers made the cut, none finishing higher than Dustin Johnson (t-24th).