Jon Rahm wins the US Open as he beats Louis Oosthuizen by one shot at Torrey Pines to claim his first ever major title

Jon Rahm finally clinched his first major title by winning the US Open on Sunday, thanks to two brilliant birdies at the end of his round.

He edged South African Louis Oosthuizen by one stroke in a wild battle of attrition that finally turned into a two-man race as several other contenders came unglued on the difficult back nine at Torrey Pines.

In doing so he became the fourth Spanish major champion following in the footsteps of Seve Ballesteros, Jose-Maria Olazabal and Sergio Garcia.

Rahm was the only contender to avoid a bogey on the inward half, and he timed his run perfectly by sinking lengthy, sharply-breaking putts at the 17th and 18th holes.

He shot 67 for a six-under-par 278, and was confirmed as the champion when Oosthuizen was unable to eagle the par-five 18th.

Jon Rahm dedicates his win to Seve Ballesteros

Speaking after his victorious round, the 26-year-old dedicated his triumph to Ballesteros – who died a decade ago of brain cancer. Ballesteros won five majors, but never the US Open.

‘This is definitely for Seve. I know he wanted to win this one most of all,’ said an emotional Rahm.

The win comes a fortnight after Rahm was withdrawn from the Memorial tournament after testing positive for coronavirus before the final round. He had a six-shot lead at the time.

‘I’m a big believer in karma and after what happened a couple of weeks ago I stayed really positive knowing big things were coming,’ he said.

‘I didn’t know what it was going to be but I knew we were coming to a special place. I got my breakthrough win here and it is a very special place for my family.’

While Rahm celebrated, Oosthuizen pondered another major near-miss.

Though Oosthuizen birdied the final hole for a 71, it was another bitter pill for him to swallow. He also finished runner-up at last month’s PGA Championship, and now has six career second-placings in the four tournaments that comprise the grand slam.