OAKMONT — It may go down as the only time in U.S. Open history that a crowd lustily produced boos during the trophy presentation ceremony.

That was the strange electricity at Oakmont Country Club late on Sunday evening — one that you’d usually only feel in a massive stadium, with fans edgy with elation and anger. On this day, there were thousands on Team D.J.

They were thrilled that Dustin Johnson had finally overcome his major championship woes with a stirring victory, while angry that he had to overcome the knowledge that a one-stroke penalty might greet him at the end of the round.

“Let ‘em play!” someone yelled.

“Take back the penalty!” screamed another.

The U.S. Golf Association officials wearing blue blazers on the 18th green might as well have been dressed in black-and-white stripes.

After the round, after meeting with rules officials to review video, Johnson was penalized for unintentionally causing his golf ball to move on the fifth green. He made that moot by still shooting a 1-under-par 69 that he polished off with an emphatic birdie on the 18th hole.

The 31-year-old captured his first major with a 4-under total on a course made somewhat softer, but no less daunting by 3 inches of rain earlier in the week.

“Feels really good. Feels well deserved,” Johnson said. “I’ve had a lot of opportunities that I didn’t quite get it done. So this one’s definitely really sweet.”

Only four players finished under par, with Jim Furyk (66), Scott Piercy (69) and Shane Lowry (76) tying for second. Furyk was again runner-up at Oakmont after placing second behind Angel Cabrera in 2007.

Lowry looked the most downtrodden of the trio in the aftermath because the Open was his to lose when play began in the afternoon. The Irishman had a four-stroke lead forged when he finished up his third round on Sunday morning with two birdies in three holes to shoot 65 to get to 7 under.

Still in the thick of the tournament on the back nine of the fourth round, the Irishman faltered with three straight bogeys at Nos. 14-16.

“Bitterly disappointed,” Lowry said. “It’s not easy to get yourself in a position I got myself in today. It was there for the taking, and I didn’t take it.”

Johnson knew that feeling.

If Lowry had somehow held on and tied Johnson, the USGA faced a controversial storm the likes of which it has rarely seen. It was looking as if Johnson might have his heart broken again after losing the 2010 PGA Championship due to a penalty and squandering the U.S. Open last year by three-putting the 72nd hole.

Johnson was clearly a crowd favorite, the fans chanting “D-J! D-J” throughout his round.

Word circulated on the course via social media that Johnson faced the penalty from the fifth. He had put his putter beside his ball to practice his putt, and when he moved to address the ball, it slightly oscillated. Johnson stood up and called over a rules official.

In audio heard on the broadcast, the official asked Johnson if he had caused his ball to move. He said he didn’t believe he did. The rules official accepted that and told him to play on.

It was not until the 12th tee that Johnson was informed that there would need to be a video review at the end of his round to determine if a penalty occurred.

USGA Executive Director Mike Davis, standing at the back of the 18th green after the round, said it was the “obligation” of the USGA to inform Johnson and the other players.

“We have to protect the other 155 players in the field,” Davis said.

“If we don’t tell him,” Davis said of Johnson, “we’d be accused of holding something back from him.”

Davis said the video showed that the ball moved as soon as Johnson picked up his putter from beside it.

Among those criticizing the USGA for the way it handled it was 18-time major winner Jack Nicklaus, who said Johnson performed admirably despite “going through all that crap.”

“The rules official asked him if the ball moved. He said no. Those greens are so fast anyway, the ball could have moved on its own. That should be the end of it,” Nicklaus said. “This is a game of honor.”

Nicklaus said he had never faced such a situation. “Not yet,” he said with a smile.

A few minutes later, Nicklaus, as the honorary chairman of the tournament, handed Johnson the Jack Nicklaus winners’ medal.

“He played beautifully,” Nicklaus said.

Johnson couldn’t make a birdie on the early par-4s despite having a wedge in his hand. He birdied the par-5 second and when he made an 8-foot birdie at the ninth, he was tied with Lowry.

Johnson got a favorable ruling on the next hole, the par-4 10th, when he was allowed to take a drop out of the rough and onto the first cut because he said a TV tower was in his way. He ended up carving his ball over the tower anyway and made par.

“I knew I was swinging well, and I just kept thinking, ‘It’s me and the course,” Johnson said. “I’m playing against the course. I can’t control what anyone else does.”