US Open 2025 - Oakmont

Will Rory McIlroy's revival resume, or will someone else win (more likely, let's face it)?

Didn't he shoot an 81 in the practice round

However in the opening round he's presently in joint 2nd place.
But he's only played 4 holes.

Oakmont is the beastliest beast of all.
No room for error on any hole.
Accuracy is critical. Must avoid rough, must avoid ditches and bunkers.
Approach shots liable to slide off greens that are undulating and fearsomely quick. It's long, it's brutal, it's penal and I note one player described it as a test of sanity. Apart from that it's a complete piece of cake .

To put it into context I was listening to BBC Golf correspondent Iain Carter last night on the radio. He had looked into the numbers in terms of what regular club golfers might play off with a handicap index system.
He was saying if for example you normally played off 10 on that index system it can be adjusted to reflect the difficulty of the course.
Usually this would mean on a more difficult course you might play off 12 or 13 as opposed to 10. If it's an easier course you might play off 7 or 8.

Apparently converting playing off 10 to Oakmont would mean you would actually be playing off...... Get this....

22!!

^That's what I listened to last night as well, I would have walked off the course after 3 holes! I can see Rory being seriously tested mentally by the course.

Name me a course that is Oakmont's UK equivalent.

Patrick Reed has hit an Albatross

J J Spaun (-4) is at the top of the leaderboard after round one, South Africa's Triston Lawrence is a shot back. Korean's Kim & Im are joined by Koepka on -2.
European players in contention include Rahm, Detry & Neergaard-Peterson all stand at -1. Just 10 players were below par, a furthrer group of 9 at even par includes Bob McIntyre.

The halfway cut is set at 60 players & tied, with a group 13 on +3 tied in 49th place just inside the cut-line & another group of 17 tied on +4 in 62nd place outside the cut which includes, Rory, Fleetwood, & Fitzpatrick. It will be an almighty scrabble to get to play this weekend.

At the back of the 156 player field lies George Duangmanee on +16 who is ranked 2323.

Sam Burns leads after round 2 on -3 with J J Spaun on -2 & Vikor Hovland on -1 being the only players below par.

Rory made the cut by 2 shots on +6, Fleetwood sadly missed the cut by 2 shots on -9, with Fitzpatrick scraping in on the cut-line at +7.

Duangmanee finished last in the field on +35 after a +19 2nd round.

Adam Scott and Brooks Koepka seem the only big names at the top of the leader-board, so maybe a new winner on the way?

The overall scoring in the 67 player field seemed marginally lower with a good number managing to break par on the day. Burns -4 & Spaun -3 consolidated their positions by both picking up one shot. Adam Scott closed the gap after a -3 round & is tied 2nd with Spaun. Hovland is the only other player to be under par, placed 4th on -1. Carlos Ortiz from Mexico had a -3 round & moved into 5th place on even par.
Europeans Hatton +1, Neergaard Peterson +2, & MacIntyre +3 all still have an outside chance of winning the title, they will all need a good start on the easier front nine, so many rounds have been derailed on the brutal finish with bogeys, doubles & worse.

JJ Spaun overcame a horror start to win the US Open. He bogeyed 5 of the first 6 holes, before a rain delay shortly after halted play for 90 minutes & chance to regroup. It still required a strong finish. After a birdie on 17 Spaun held a one shot lead & needed to 2 putt from 64 feet to take the title, no easy feat a 3 putt would be more likely, but by some miracle he holed for a birdie as Bob MacIntyre the then clubhouse leader show his sportsmanship by applanating his efforts. MacIntyre started 7 back, made his own drama when he holed from 60 foot for an eagle on the 4th. Hatton was also in contention before he was derailed with a bogey, bogey finish. Hovland had poor front nine with some short putts missed, but a strong finished secured 3rd place.
On the back nine 5 players were tied for the lead on +1, including overnight leader Sam Burns, until the 15th when he was twice denied relief from standing water after a 2nd opinion, a double-bogey was the result & his round fell away.

The conditions were borderline unplayable at times, both before & after the rain delay, the resumption brought more rain & the course flooded again. Officials were clearly keen to finish on Sunday to avoid coming back today as any further stoppage would've reqired an extra day with light fading. The elements played a part in the drama & undeniably affected the result.

It seeded fitting that the Spaun was the only player to finish the tournament under par. His nightmare start included a bad break when a wedge shot from inside 100 yards clattered into the flag stick & rolled back off the green to finish 50 yards away, his ball also hit a rake to find more trouble.
It was a tale of 2 halves for Champion Spaun who covered the front nine in 40 & the back nine in 32.