Rory vs. Jordan -- it's on, and it's great

UNVERSITY PLACE, Wash. -- It happened so quickly. No, not the three-putt par from Dustin Johnson on the 72nd hole of the 115th U.S. Open after having an eagle putt moments earlier that would have won him his first major.

Fans around the world who had spent the better part of four days wondering why the U.S. Open was at Chambers Bay got their answer when Johnson’s miss gave a second straight major title to Jordan Spieth, who had had come through the 18th a few minutes earlier with a birdie that helped him recover from a double-bogey on 17. In the span of 15 minutes, everything changed and changed back again.

But all that isn’t what I’m talking about. Spieth’s win did come as a shock, considering most were already changing flights for Monday and preparing for a playoff that would answer, for the moment, who the best young American golfer really is

What happened so quickly started in late November 2014, when Jordan Spieth, without a win in 2014, got going in Australia.

Spieth had a great 2014 by most standards on Tour, nearly winning the Masters before falling late to Bubba Watson. He finished in the top 25 an astonishing 18 times in 27 starts, but it was that trip to Australia where something clicked.

A closing 63 at the Australian Club was so good that the No. 1 player in the world took notice. Rory and Jordan weren’t a thing yet, but finally we had seen Spieth play well in an event that included McIlroy and go on to win it.

Rory let him know he appreciated the effort.

And then the Hero World Challenge. A 10-shot win for Spieth there at last woke up the golf fans that had been hibernating since Y.E. Yang took down Tiger Woods at the PGA Championship in 2009.

Is golf back? Do we finally have the heir apparent on this side of the pond?

On Sunday, all the ideas and thoughts behind what golf has needed for a decade were answered.

Two men, err, young men hold all four major championship trophies at the same time. Two. After ending a stretch at the 2012 PGA Championship of 16 different major winners taking home the trophy, Rory turned himself into a different player a year ago with his back-to-back major wins at the British and PGA. Rory was the best player in the world, it was clear, and that wasn’t changing.

But nobody saw this coming. Nobody saw the 21-year-old on the other Ryder Cup team going bananas like this in majors. Not this quick. Now, for the first time since Jack Nicklaus and Tom Watson, golf has a rivalry. A real, true rivalry. A 26-year-old with the billion-dollar potential and the push to be the best in the world for a long time. A 21-year-old who never says the wrong thing, immediately thanking the fans at Chambers Bay and mentioning on Father’s Day that he just hopes his dad is proud of him. (Jordan, I think we all know the answer to that.)

Though Nicklaus had Watson by 10 years, the five-year difference matters a bit to this as well. Rory, the wiser and more experienced player, already had his major meltdown before bouncing right back to claim his first in 2011. Spieth, who had a chance a year ago to win the Masters at 20, came right back to Augusta National and dominated from the opening tee shot.

It’s Rory and Jordan’s game now, and that was never more clear than during the final day at Chambers Bay. Jordan was battling without the same A-game we saw at the Masters, and Rory, struggling until Sunday, started to make a charge up the leaderboard.

McIlroy had four birdies over his first 10 holes, then two more on 12 and 13, the latter coming with a putt that had someone who was following the group tell me it was the loudest roar he had ever heard. It looked like Rory might post some ridiculous number and force the leaders, an ever-changing host of names, to continue to look up at the name “McIlroy” next to a 63 or -- could it really happen? -- a 62.

But Rory faltered. That short birdie putt on the 14th was probably it, given that he needed all the circles he could get on the way into the clubhouse. After that, two bogeys on the par-3s and no birdies on the gettable 16th and reachable par-5 18th. And just as Rory started to fade, it was Spieth, the No. 2 player in the world, who made his move.

Everything else is history, really. The birdie-double-birdie finish for Spieth. The wait as Johnson made an incredible par save on the 15th, stuffed it on 17 to get to 4-under and tie Spieth momentarily. And then, of course, the “what just happened” moment on the 72nd, where Johnson gave the championship to Jordan.

Rory currently holds the Claret Jug and Wanamaker Trophy, Jordan, the green jacket and U.S. Open. The two players with the most upside in golf are now the two who are hands down the best in the world.

We’re finally here, in a place where there’s no more worrying about the future of this game, and soak in all that is happening in the present. It’s Jordan and Rory’s world now. That’s pretty fun, isn’t it?