The 125th US Open Championship tees off on a course that ‘challenges your sanity’
By Kyle Feldscher and David Close, CNN
Oakmont, Pennsylvania (CNN) — All week in the build-up to the US Open, the course at Oakmont Country Club outside Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, was touted as a beast – a track so difficult that the world’s best might look like weekend hacks trying to navigate it.
As Thursday’s opening round ended, just 10 players were under par and the course had lived up to its reputation.
American JJ Spaun led the way with a 4-under 66, nailing his first-ever bogey-free round in a major. He entered the tournament having not played at Oakmont before, and he thought that helped.
“I kind of came out here with no prior history at Oakmont, not really knowing what to expect even US Open-wise. This is only my second one,” he said after the round. “I don’t know if that freed me up in any aspect, but I just tried to kind of take what the course gave me. I hit a lot of good shots and tried to capitalize on any birdie opportunities, which aren’t very many out here.”
“But I scrambled really well, too, which is a huge component to playing well at a US Open, let alone shoot a bogey-free round.”
Chasing Spaun were South African Thriston Lawrence at 3-under; Si Woo Kim, Brooks Koepka and Sungjae Im at 2-under; and Ben Griffin, Jon Rahm, Thomas Detry, Rasmus Neergard-Petersen and James Nicholas at 1-under.
Most of the field wasn’t as pleased as Spaun as many of the tournament’s biggest names and the world’s best players felt Oakmont’s wrath early and often.
World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler and others were beaten up by the long rough and wicked fast greens, dried out by a day of beating sun and warm temperatures. The US Open is always considered the toughest major to win each year and Oakmont has only made that more difficult for the 125th edition of the tournament.
Even Scheffler, who has calmly dominated the sport as of late by winning three of his last four PGA Tour tournaments, was visibly frustrated on Thursday as he finished the day seven shots out of the lead with a 3-over 73. There was ample warning of what was to come; prior to the season’s third major, the tournament’s defending champion, Bryson DeChambeau, cautioned those who dared attempt to tame the track, “This course doesn’t just challenge your game. It challenges your sanity.”
Household names like DeChambeau, Rory McIlroy, and Justin Rose all felt the sting of Oakmont’s test with its unforgiving five-and-1/4-inch thick rough, infamous bunker known as the “Church Pews” – where wayward golf balls must feel like they’ve landed in golfing purgatory – and a 9th hole green that is the approximate size of four NBA-sized basketball courts.
On the positive side, the weather presented warm and dry conditions, but judging by how few players scored red numbers, it was a small consultation. And with Oakmont’s sloping greens, those dry conditions made for tough putting.
While world No. 2 McIlroy got off to a solid start – including a booming 392-yard drive on 12, the longest drive of the season for him – he ran into the perils that lurk at Oakmont. He found himself in super thick rough in a ditch on his fourth hole. He chose to hit out of the hazard, which yielded mere yards. The next shot out of the rough only advanced a few feet. At this point, a bogey on the hole would be a massive relief considering the tribulations to reach the green. The Northern Irishman did just that, rolling in a 30-foot putt for a six.
McIlroy would go on to card a 4-over 74.
Maxwell Moldovan, having recently completed his eligibility at Ohio State University in 2024, made the most of his first round start on Thursday. As the morning revealed itself with the rising sun in his face, the 23-year-old looked to have tamed the rugged test of one of golf’s toughest courses with just his second shot of the day.
He hit a blind 189-yard approach that landed short of the hole but rolled straight into the cup for a delightful eagle. At first, Moldovan didn’t seem to realize his fortune but as the early-rising crowd cheered, Moldovan gave his caddie a solid high-five with a smile.
“I couldn’t really see it but I heard people start cheering and then I walked down the hill and I saw it go in and everybody’s hands go up,” he said after his round.
As the day unfolded, the Ohio native must have thought the course at Oakmont doesn’t appear to like being shown up. He scored bogey-bogey on the next two holes. He would go on to finish the day with a 6-over 76.
Shane Lowry also experienced a yo-yo day as depicted on a scorecard filled with joy and pain. Lowry became the first player to eagle the par-4 3rd hole, just after a double bogey on the previous hole. He’d go on to have five more bogeys and two more double bogeys for a 9-over 79. At one point, he was seen tossing an on-course microphone into the thick rough in frustration.
Perhaps the most compelling story entering this tournament was that of Dr. Matt Vogt, as his patients in Indiana affectionately call him.
The self-confessed “math and science geek” who once quit his college golf team, the full-time dentist who found the perfect formula when it came to qualifying for the chance to play the course he once caddied, is the fan favorite playing back in his hometown. However, he struggled out of the gate with double bogeys on two of his first four holes. He carded an 82 on the day that he admitted afterwards felt like he had gotten beat up at his old stomping grounds.
“My goodness, honestly, I came in with such optimism for this golf course, but it is so hard,” the 34-year-old said. “It’s just so, so hard.
“I’d say in the moment you feel like you get punched in the face, but ultimately, yeah, I’d say it was fun.”
Despite the clear challenges put forth for the 156 participants, LIV Golfer Patrick Reed produced a historic score on the par-5 fourth hole that made the game and course look easy.
After a 332-yard drive, he cranked a 286-yard second shot that appeared to be magnetized to the cup. The ball took a couple of bounces on the green and rolled straight home.
Reed didn’t know he had just hit the fourth-ever recorded albatross in US Open history but after hearing the crowd cheer for the rare feat, he shrugged and produced a big smile. He finished with a Reed finished with a 3-over 73.
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