US Open test includes the space between the ears

The U.S. Open aspires to be the complete test in golf, which goes beyond the physical skills to include the space between the ears.

Imagine playing the toughest test in golf and not even knowing the score for the last two hours of the championship.

After being told on the 12th tee that he might be penalized one shot for his golf ball moving on the fifth green, Johnson made it a point not to look at a leaderboard the rest of the way and instead play the shot in front of him.

If Johnson had made that eagle putt, or even had a chance in a Monday playoff at Chambers Bay, he could be going for three straight U.S. Opens next week at Erin Hills.

Not to be overlooked is the three-shot lead Johnson had at Pebble Beach in 2010.

Calamity found him early — a triple bogey on the second hole, including one of those seven shots that he tried to play left-handed — and he shot 82.

Johnson was penalized two shots on the final hole at the PGA Championship by grounding his club in sand without realizing it was one of a thousand bunkers at Whistling Straits.

There are moments of emotion for Nicklaus over the years, such as tossing his putter after winning at St. Andrews in a playoff or the "bear tracks" he left on the 16th green at Augusta National in 1975.

Two holes later I settled down and started thinking again, but I'd make a double bogey or bogey in between.

During his undefeated week at the Dell Technologies Match Play, the format most likely to elicit emotion, Johnson was asked to describe his pulse.