PITTSBURGH — There were some ghosts of collapses past going on during the final round at Oakmont Country Club, though it was difficult to distinguish who was being spooked the most.

Sam Burns, the 54-hole leader, got water-logged after a 96-minute weather delay. Adam Scott, trying to set a record for elapsed time between a first and second major, made as many bogeys in the final round as he did the first three days of the 125th U.S. Open.

But nobody tumbled faster, harder and more surprisingly than J.J. Spaun, who was spinning in mud when he made five bogeys in the first six holes — or three more than he combined to make in Rounds 1 and 3.

That, though, is what made Spaun’s comeback victory on Sunday as surprising as it was dramatic. While everyone else had trouble with the rain and soggy conditions, the 34-year-old from San Dimas, Ca., birdied the final two holes to win his first major championship — matching the same birdie-birdie finish by Ben Hogan 72 years earlier to win at Oakmont.

And he capped off his unlikely comeback with a 64-foot, 5-inch birdie putt at the 72nd hole, producing maybe the most dramatic ending of any of the 10 U.S. Open championships held at Oakmont.

Talk about ghosts.

“I couldn't even believe what I witnessed when that went in — kind of like a Nick Taylor moment but for the U.S. Open,” Spaun said.

His reference was to the Canadian-born Taylor winning the 2023 RBC Canadian Open with a 72-foot birdie at the final hole. But, as they say in Canada, this was bigger than Eruzione. Spaun is the fourth consecutive player to win his first major in the U.S. Open at Oakmont, joining Ernie Els (1994), Angel Cabrera (2007) and Dustin Johnson (2016).

“It's definitely like a storybook, fairytale ending, kind of the underdog fighting back, not giving up, never quitting,” Spaun said. “With the rain and everything and then the putt, I mean, you couldn't write a better story. I'm just so fortunate to be on the receiving end of that.”

Burns, who began the day with a one-shot lead, shot a final-round 78 and finished at 284, five shots behind Spaun. Burns was never the same after the weather suspension, playing the final 11 holes over in 6-over par.

It was a disappointing ending for the five-time PGA Tour winner, who was coming off a playoff loss last week in the RBC Canadian Open.

“Look, I went out there and gave it the best I had,” Burns said. “Golf's a hard game, especially on this golf course. At the end of the day, I can hold my head high.”

Scott, the 2013 Masters champion who was in position for his second major title, had problems with the course conditions after the rain delay, too. He immediately bogeyed the par-3 eighth when he missed the green in the right shaggy rough, beginning an 11-hole stretch in which he made five bogeys and a double bogey.

“It was just so sloppy the rest of the way,” Scott said. “Sam and I, we must have looked horrible, both of us playing like that. But that's what can happen in these things. If you get a little off, you're just severely punished.”

It didn’t bother Spaun.

He came out with a new outfit, made four birdies and only one bogey in his final 10 holes after the delay, and sloshed and hydroplaned his way back up the leaderboard.

It started at the par-5 12th when he made a 40-foot birdie putt from above the hole. When he made a 15-foot birdie at No. 14, Spaun emerged from a five-way tie to take a one-shot lead.

“All I was thinking was … Oh, dude, this is exactly what we need,” Spaun said. “And it was. I changed my outfit. I'm like, I'm done wearing those clothes. I just needed to reset everything, kind of like start the whole routine over.”

Then came the good stuff.

After a bogey at No. 15, Spaun drove the green at the par-4 17th and two-putted for birdie to reclaim his one shot lead. And, with MacIntyre in the clubhouse, waiting to see if there would be a two-hole aggregate playoff Monday morning, Spaun delivered the dramatic.

His 64-foot birdie from the left side of the green was one of the most pulsating endings to any U.S. Open championship, even at Oakmont’s hallowed hall of champions.

“About 8 feet out, I kind of went up to the high side to see if it had a chance of going in, and it was like going right in,” Spaun said. “I was just in shock, disbelief, that it went in and it was over.”

There would be no more near-misses.

After finishing runner-up in the Cognizant Classic in March and two weeks later losing to Rory McIlroy in a playoff at The Players Championship. Spaun climbed to the top of the golf world with a victory that seemed all but lost 12 holes earlier.

Spaun is the fifth player to win the U.S. Open with birdies on the final two holes, joining Hogan, Jack Nicklaus (1980), Tom Watson (1982) and Jon Rahm (2021).

“As bad as things were going, I just still tried to just commit to every shot,” Spaun said. “I tried to just continue to dig deep. I've been doing it my whole life. Fortunately, I dug very deep on the back nine, and things went my way, and here we are with the trophy.”

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