James Piot rallies to defeat Austin Greaser at the U.S. Amateur at Oakmont Country Club

Oakmont Country Club isn’t all nightmares and ghosts from the past.

The storied venue and USGA holy ground is also a place where dreams can come true.

Right, James Piot?

“I still can’t believe I am holding this trophy,” Piot said. “I still think I’m dreaming.”

Piot, 22, a Canton, Mich., native and fifth-year senior at Michigan State, rallied from a 3-down deficit with nine holes to play Sunday to edge North Carolina junior Austin Greaser, 2 and 1, and win the 121st U.S. Amateur at Oakmont.

Thousands of fans were treated to a thrilling finale between two of the game’s rising stars, who played their seventh round in six days and capped a long week that saw 10-plus hours of rain delays.

Oakmont quickly returned to its forbidding form as greens sped up and drives bounced in the fairways.

Playing in front of a large Michigan State contingent, Piot won five of six holes on the inward nine and closed out Greaser with a nerve-racking par on the 17th hole, ensuring the 36-hole final didn’t make it to the 18th.

“It’s just a phenomenal feeling,” Piot said. “As an amateur, it’s the best thing you can do. I had to qualify to get here, and I was second at my qualifier. It’s more of a grind for a guy who wasn’t highly sought after and is now a U.S. Amateur champion.”

Piot, using an antiquated Ping putter his father bought him 10 years ago, slammed the door on Greaser with a 20-foot par putt on the 35th hole after playing out of two greenside bunkers.

Not bad for a kid who played No. 2 on his high school team.

“My friends call it the garbage putter,” Piot said. “It has a line on it. Other guys have their Scotty Camerons and fancy grips. Mine’s been regripped like four times. I was too cheap to buy a new putter.”

The way his career is headed, Piot might be able to buy a putter company some day.

“(Piot) didn’t do a lot of wrong out there,” said Greaser, 20, who had a significant edge in driving distance over his opponent. “I made more bogeys today than I think I made all week. Give him credit. He made a 25-footer for par, and I missed.”

Piot, who said people think he looks like Jordan Spieth, is the sixth champion to win the title at Oakmont, joining Nick Flanagan (2003), Steve Melnyk (1969), Willie Turnesa (1938), Bobby Jones (1925) and Davidson Herron (1919) as past winners on the iconic course that has hosted 17 USGA championships.

Piot, the first U.S. Amateur champion from Michigan, won four straight holes to make his run at the Havemyer Trophy and gold medal.

He was 3-down after 27 holes but stuck his approach at the 10th for a tap-in birdie, then made pars at 11 and 12, the latter after a Greaser lip-out, to square the match.

After the ball purely left his clubface from the 10th fairway, Piot yelled, “Be as good as you look,” and it was. He won the 10th hole seven times this week, without a loss.

“I smashed that drive down 10,” Piot said. “He was still past me with a 3-wood, but that’s OK. I just thought to myself, ‘Let’s repeat that motion.’ ”

Piot and Greaser played the 11th hole from the 10th fairway, following a play-from-an-adjacent-hole practice that became common all week.

“At 12, I had a lot of momentum on my side,” Piot said.

On 13, he made a birdie on the par-3 to take a 1-up lead before a halve at 14 with birdies. Piot hit a nifty, low-checking chip from just in front of the right greenside bunker.

After Greaser won 14 with a 25-foot birdie putt, Piot added another win at the 502-yard, par-4 15th, the 33rd hole of the match.

Piot sealed it on the driveable 17th, but not before some drama. He and the 20-year-old Greaser both drove into the right greenside bunker. Piot splashed out from the soft sand but saw his ball roll into the opposite-side bunker.

He hit out safely this time and put all the pressure on Greaser by connecting on a 25-foot putt that was as calm as it was cool. Greaser missed his 8-foot birdie putt to end it.

“I didn’t want to go to 18,” Piot said. “I just thought, ‘Let’s just stay in the moment.’ ”

When Greaser missed, Piot became the first currently enrolled Big Ten player to win a U.S. Amateur since John Cook of Ohio State in 1978.

Piot earns exemptions into next year’s U.S. Open and Open Championship and is expected to get an invitation to the Masters, as well.

Greaser also will be exempt into the U.S. Open and also should receive a Masters invitation.

“It was the experience of a lifetime,” Greaser said. “The best (amateur) golfers were here this week, and to be one of the last two is pretty special. A lot of kids wish they were standing where I am today.

“I will be in the classroom Wednesday. Back to reality.”

A large Michigan State contingent — men’s and women’s players — showed up to watch Piot.

“We drove five hours to get here this morning,” said Piot’s teammate, sophomore Tyler Eedy. “We wanted to surprise him. We decided (Friday night) to make the trip here and support him. We left at like 4 (a.m.) and made it to see him tee off.”

Piot took a 1-up lead into the afternoon round. They were all square heading to the 18th hole.