Apparently, J.J. Spaun didn’t get the memo about how daunting Oakmont Country Club can be under U.S. Open conditions, or how it intimidates, bullies and bedevils the world’s best players.
Hosting this historic championship for a record 10th time this week, the venerable western Pennsylvania course has consistently lived up to its reputation for being one of the world’s most difficult. Case in point: before Thursday’s opening round on a sun-splashed mid-June day, only seven players had managed bogey-free rounds in the nine previous U.S. Opens at Oakmont. Even Johnny Miller’s remarkable final-round 63 to win the 1973 championship included a bogey.
Spaun, a 34-year-old from Los Angeles who has enjoyed a breakout season on the PGA Tour, joined that exclusive fraternity, producing a blemish-free, 4-under-par 66 for a one-stroke advantage over Thriston Lawrence.
Lurking two strokes back are two-time champion Brooks Koepka, Sungjae Im and Si Woo Kim. The group at 1-under 69 includes 2021 champion Jon Rahm; Ben Griffin, a two-time PGA Tour winner in 2025; this year’s WM Phoenix Open champion Thomas Detry; Rasmus Neergaard-Petersen and qualifier James Nicholas, the 2019 Ivy League Player of the Year (Yale).
Past champion Jordan Spieth (2015), and major champions Adam Scott and Collin Morikawa carded even-par 70s.
Oakmont, however, was indeed punishing to some of the game’s biggest names. The world’s top three players – Scottie Scheffler (73), Rory McIlroy (74) and Xander Schauffele (72) – were a combined 9 over par. Defending champion Bryson DeChambeau carded a 73, along with 2019 champion Gary Woodland. Past champions Wyndham Clark (74), Matt Fitzpatrick (74), Lucas Glover (74), Dustin Johnson (75) and Justin Rose (77) will need better results in Friday’s second round to give themselves a good chance to make the cut.
Success at Oakmont requires precision and patience. Finding fairways is paramount. Playing too often from the 5-inch primary rough and the bunkers is a recipe for disaster.
Spaun managed his game well, hitting 8 of 14 fairways and 12 of 18 greens. When he was off target, he managed to convert eight par putts of 7 feet or more and was second in strokes-gained putting (+ 4.0). He also holed a chip from the greenside rough on his opening hole of the day, the par-4 10th, to kickstart a first-nine 31 that also included an 11½-footer for birdie on the 327-yard, par-4 17th. He parred his last 10 holes.
“I putted really well,” said Spaun, the owner of one PGA Tour victory, the 2022 Valero Texas Open. “I think today was one of my best putting days I’ve had maybe all year, especially inside the makeable range putts, inside 12 feet or so. That’s huge for momentum and keeping a round going, and that’s kind of what happens here at U.S. Opens.”
Spaun doesn’t have much of a U.S. Open history. His only previous appearance was a missed cut in 2021 at Torrey Pines, just down the road from San Diego State, where he was an All-American and the 2012 Mountain West Conference Player of the Year. There have been sporadic low rounds in major championships, including a 67 and 68 in the 2018 PGA Championship, and a 68 last month in the PGA at Quail Hollow.
But his 2025 season has been a breakthrough, despite no victories. In March, he battled world No. 2 McIlroy in a three-hole aggregate playoff at The Players Championship, which came just after he tied for second at the Cognizant Classic in The Palm Beaches. He also shared third in the season’s first full-field event, the Sony Open in Hawaii, and tied for sixth in last month’s Charles Schwab Challenge.
With improved confidence and a No. 25 world ranking, Spaun arrived at Oakmont in a much different place.
“I don’t know why this is happening already or happening at this point in my career,” he said. “I’ve been consistently right there. And everyone knows that the more you put yourself there, the better you’re going to have results and the better you’re going to play, and eventually turn one of those close calls into a win.
“The Players was a kind of spring into the self-belief because it wasn’t like I faked it. To do that at The Players, a course where I’d never done well historically, and go head-to-head with Rory on Sunday, and then the playoff, was great for my confidence.”
Lawrence, a 28-year-old South African with four victories on the DP World Tour who is making just his second U.S. Open start, showed that birdies can be plentiful at Oakmont. His six on Thursday were the most by any competitor in Round 1.
“Birdies on this golf course are nice,” said Lawrence, who could be the second from his country to win a U.S. Open at Oakmont, following Ernie Els in 1994. “Doesn’t matter if it’s easy or tough. There is a lot of chances if you’re playing well, but I don’t think it’s going to happen too often, especially when it firms up. To make a couple birdies was quite fun.”
Im briefly took the lead at 5 under par with consecutive birdies on Nos. 1 and 2, his 10th and 11th holes of the round. He also had three consecutive birdies on his first nine. But he made three bogeys over his final seven holes. His countryman and past Players champion Si Woo Kim offset four birdies with two bogeys. It’s the first time since 2011 that two players from Korea placed in the top 5 at a U.S. Open after any round.
Koepka, a five-time major champion who captured consecutive U.S. Open titles in 2017 and ‘18, birdied his final two holes to put himself in position for a run at his third U.S. Open title. The Floridian has not seriously contended in a major since winning the 2023 PGA at Oak Hill Country Club.
-Written by
David Shefter
USGA
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