Oakmont was almost unplayable Sunday afternoon in the rain. But in the end, it was exactly what Spaun needed to become one of the unlikeliest U.S. Open champions.

On a day built for umbrellas, J.J. Spaun reversed his own free fall, took advantage of everyone else’s and hit two shots that turned him into a major champion.

The deluge turned out to be a fortuitous occurrence, the sheets of rain and corresponding delay a perfect opportunity for J.J. Spaun to turn chaos into calm.While a crew of groundskeepers and volunteers were working on the saturated Oakmont Country Club with hand towels and squeegees and whatever else they could find to remove water from fairways and greens,