US Open talking points: Can McIlroy or DeChambeau show the necessary patience to stop Scheffler?
Sam Snead's old chestnut about the maddening undulations of Oakmont Country Club recounted that he 'put a dime down to mark my ball…and the dime slid away".
Arguably the most storied expanse of rolling and wild green in North America, the Pittsburgh course has seen a thousand dreams slide away over its 122-year existence.
More, actually. A total of 1385 players have teed it up at Oakmont for a US Open. Just 28 have finished under par. For those who struggle with numbers, that's just 2%.
As an already unforgettable 2025 major season makes its third stop on the hallowed but, for pros, horrific Pennsylvania turf, more number crunching will be required.
"I think people turn on the US Open to see a guy shooting 8 over and suffer,' was how Xander Schauffele put it.
Certainly. But there are many more reasons to tune in…
Can the big three stand tall in the long grass?
Tiger Woods is missing a third major championship in a row this week yet that feels barely worthy of a headline now. Only once since 2020 has he missed four in a row but golf has successfully navigated the awkward phase of moving on from the big cat.
How so? With the help of its new big three. For the first time in history, Scottie Scheffler, Rory McIlroy and Bryson DeChambeau have pitched up to one of the four biggest weeks in the calendar as reigning major champions.
Three distinctly different personalities with three distinctly different ways of playing the game, they've arrived for the greatest test that American golf can provide at a fascinating juncture in all of their careers.
With three wins in his last four, including a third career major, Scheffler looks unstoppable. Quail Hollow provided a perfect portrait of his quiet brilliance.
That couldn't have been in more stark contrast to McIlroy's chaotic deliverance at Augusta in April. As reigning champion and loudest personality on the property, DeChambeau will defend in a week where he has teased his future may not be on the LIV fringes.
It is the fringes of Oakmont that have put the fear into all of the pros this week. Expect Scheffler, McIlroy and DeChambeau to handle the notorious knee-deep rough in their own distinct ways.
Bob Ford, club pro at Oakmont for 37 years, insisted this week that 'the bomb and gouge is not going to [work]' but DeChambeau, particularly, has matured from that approach.
Scottie Scheffler tees off on the 13th hole. Pic: AP Photo/Seth Wenig)
McIlroy insisted Tuesday that 'the person with the most patience and the best attitude is the one that's going to win'.
He may not have meant it but it sounded like an apt description of the only man above him in the world rankings.
Rolling up for Rory's drive-in sequel
While DeChambeau has spent his practice days busily filming bright-eyed and bubbly content for his legion of social media followers, McIlroy watchers have been piecing things together from grainy witness footage.
The most useful of the Zapruder tapes come from behind when McIlroy has the big stick in hand. Equipment chatter can get so granular that the film is suddenly out of focus but a somewhat clear consensus suggests that going back to his TaylorMade Qi10 driver has helped the Holywood man off the tee.
Practice ain't the pressurized space of major tournament golf, of course, but McIlroy needs to find some kind of fluidity with his driver to get the bounce that has been missing since Augusta.
Another consensus is that the company will help, paired with Shane Lowry and Justin Rose for a late-early Thursday and Friday.
McIlroy missed the cut at Oakmont nine years ago but has since developed a real grá for the event. Will the romance of it all be enough for him to find his spark again? Only the tape will tell.
Faithful Lowry needs rub on greens
Some of the initial reaction to the pairing of McIlroy and Lowry may well have rankled the Offaly man. At Augusta, it was a pushy question ignoring his own round and instead focusing on his friend that had sparked Lowry to cut an interview short.
The tendency of some Stateside scribblers to see him as an emotional support mascot for McIlroy sells him absurdly short. The world No.12 is playing arguably the best golf of his life, even if he doesn't have nearly enough to show for it.
'I know what I know: I'm very happy with where my game is at and how I'm hitting the ball going into it,' Lowry told the Examiner in a sit-down last week.
Shane Lowry chips on the sixth hole. Pic: AP Photo/Charlie Riedel
He insisted he's not seeking revenge for a cruel Sunday slump at Oakmont in 2016 when the rain gods turned on him. A similarly wet weekend is potentially in store this time.
Runner-up then, Lowry is many a pundit's pick this week. But to give our broken record another spin, he simply must find his putting mojo to justify those selections.
A flair for first-time champions
As much as the faces of the big three dominate so much breathless build-up as Thursday's opening tee shot approaches, there are twin intertwined trends that point to something else.
Oakmont has a tendency to offer both a crowning and breakout moment. Five of the last six winners of an Oakmont US Open became major champions for the first time, including the likes of Jack Nicklaus and Ernie Els.
The modern history of the US Open is a quirky thing too. Since Tiger Woods won on half a knee at Torrey Pines in 2008, this exacting test has crowned a lot of one and (so far) done winners: Lucas Glover, Graeme McDowell, Webb Simpson, Justin Rose, Gary Woodland, Matt Fitzpatrick and Wyndham Clark. That's a hefty sample size.
Cross-check those trends with this field and the skill set required for Oakmont and who do we get? Ludvig Aberg's frame looms large. His fellow Scandinavian Viktor Hovland fits the bill too. Sepp Straka is another European threat while Sam Burns has the most reliable putter in the game if he can drive it well.
Lefty and the LIV brigade bring history
A sport that bathes in its history has once again gathered at a place tailor-made for looking back before forward. Pittsburgh is officially in the eastern time zone but Oakmont's clocks are permanently set to old times.
The most modern existential threat to golf is on site too but even the LIV brigade bring the nostalgia rushing in.
Just one player in this week's 156-strong field also played in the 1994 US Open at Oakmont — Phil Mickelson. That edition, fully 31 years ago, happened to be the final US Open appearance of Arnold Palmer, at the age of 64. The opening day ended with Tom Watson out in front and Nicklaus one shot back.
That sacred lineage is unlikely to last much longer with Mickelson's exemption expiring after this year and his 55th birthday arriving Monday. Needing the US Open to complete his career slam, Lefty has been runner-up six times but a little vintage magic on LIV duty last Sunday has some dreaming.
It's much more likely that the breakaway tour will be best represented by Jon Rahm, whose Sunday challenge at Quail Hollow last month was somewhat lost in the Scheffler adulation.
Chilean Joaquin Niemann has also been tearing it up in the Saudi shadows but Rahm has the pedigree. His last five finishes in the tournament: 3rd, T23, 1st, T12, T10.
The Spaniard spoke honestly on Monday about the asterisk that must be applied to his LIV performances. They were the words of a man who knows these major weeks mean everything to his standing — and legacy.
Asked to weigh up Oakmont's challenges in the same press conference, Rahm gave perhaps the best nine-word tee-up to the tournament: 'A lot of unfortunate things are going to happen.' Sure are. Time to savour every misfortune.
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Irish Daily Mirror
2 hours ago
- Irish Daily Mirror
Rory McIlroy practises with Shane Lowry as friends paired for opening two rounds
Rory McIlroy and Shane Lowry were first out on the course at Oakmont on Tuesday morning ahead of the first round of the US Open. The close pals were in high spirits as they played some holes together early in the morning on the notoriously challenging layout. McIlroy was followed around by his putting coach Brad Faxon, while Shane Lowry's coach Neil Manchip was also with the group. It has been a strange couple of weeks for McIlroy, who has struggled for form following his sensational win at the Masters. At last week's Canadian Open, McIlroy slumped to his worst-ever finish on the PGA Tour as rounds of 71 and 78 saw him finish on nine-over-par and miss his first cut since the 2024 Open Championship. But McIlroy will be hoping to be inspired by Lowry, whom he practised alongside before his historic win at Augusta. The close pals were in high spirits as they played some holes together on the notoriously challenging layout. McIlroy was followed around by his putting coach Brad Faxon, while Shane Lowry's coach Neil Manchip was also walked the course. The pair have also been paired together for their opening two rounds at the US Open. But McIlroy will be hoping to be inspired by Lowry, whom he practised alongside before his historic win at Augusta. McIlroy claimed his first and only U.S. Open title in 2011 but struggled in the tournament for several years afterward, missing the cut four times between 2012 and 2018, including at Oakmont in 2016. But the Holywood man has not finished outside the top ten since 2018 and has gone agonisingly close to winning his second US Open in recent years. At the Los Angeles Country Club in 2023, he lost a duel with Wyndham Clark, finishing one stroke behind the American. And last year, McIlroy was disconsolate after two missed putts from inside five feet saw him defeated by Bryson DeChambeau at Pinehurst. He returns this year, though, as only the sixth man to ever complete the career grand slam.
The 42
3 hours ago
- The 42
JJ Spaun leads at US Open as Pavon attacks, Scheffler struggles
JJ SPAUN was starting to feel intimidated by Oakmont horror stories heading into his first experience of the iconic layout at this week's US Open. Spaun, however, took his nervous energy and channelled it into a bogey-free four-under-par 66 on Thursday to equal the best US Open first round ever fired at the famously challenging course. 'I didn't really feel like I'm going to show a bogey-free round four-under. I didn't really know what to expect especially since I've never played here,' Spaun said. 'But yeah, maybe sometimes not having expectations is the best thing, so I'll take it.' The 34-year-old American began on the back side, made birdies on four of the first eight holes, then closed with 10 pars, some of them grinding long putts or rescues from rough to ease his worries. 'All you've been hearing is how hard this place is, and it's hard to not hear the noise,' Spaun said. 'I was actually pretty nervous. 'But I actually tried to harness that, the nerves, the anxiety, because it kind of heightens my focus, makes me swing better, I guess. 'I get more in the zone, whereas if I don't have any worry or if I'm not in it mentally, it's kind of just a lazy round or whatever out there. 'I like feeling uncomfortable. I ended up feeling pretty comfortable towards the end of the day, but there's a long way to go still.' Advertisement Spaun won his only PGA Tour title at the 2022 Texas Open and this year was second at the Cognizant Classic and Players Championship, losing a playoff to second-ranked Rory McIlroy. 'I didn't win, but it was great for me to lean back on that experience and know I can perform on the biggest of stages and handle it with the pressure,' Spaun said. 'There's going to be a lot of pressure this week, too, and hopefully I can rely on those experiences. '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, eventually turn one of those close calls into a win.' South Africa's Thriston Lawrence is one shot adrift of Spaun on 67, with France's Matthieu Pavon making a charge and top-ranked Scottie Scheffler struggling. Alongside Lawrence at three-under was nack-nine starter Pavon, who birdied 12 from inside three feet, the 14th from just inside eight feet and drove the green at 17 for a tap-in birdie. Scheffler endured a roller-coaster round as favourites tumbled, standing on one-over after 12 holes with four bogeys and three bogeys. Two-time Masters champion Scheffler, whose nine wins last year included Paris Olympic gold, has won three of his past four starts, including last month's PGA Championship. He is trying to become the first man to capture consecutive majors since Jordan Spieth in 2015. South Africa's Lawrence, third in last year's European Tour Race to Dubai, drove the green at 17 and sank a four-foot birdie putt then escaped the right rough to par 18 and shoot 67. 'I like a tough test,' he said. 'I feel like it fairly suits me.' World number two Rory McIlroy, who completed a career Grand Slam by winning the Masters, fired a 74. The back-nine starter birdied 11 and 12 but made four bogeys and a double bogey on his second nine. Defending champion Bryson DeChambeau shot 73 with five bogeys and two birdies. 'Pretty disappointed with how I played,' DeChambeau said. Six-time US Open runner-up Phil Mickelson, who turns 55 on Monday, opened with a 74 in his bid to complete a career Grand Slam. - Reed makes an albatross - American Patrick Reed made the fourth albatross in US Open history from the fairway from 286 yards on the fourth hole, the first at any major since Nick Watney in the 2012 US Open at Olympic Club. Ireland's Shane Lowry holed out from the fairway from 160 yards for the first US Open eagle at Oakmont's third hole, but it was his lone bright spot in a round of 79. American Maxwell Moldovan made the first US Open eagle at the first, holing out from the fairway from 189 yards, then looking to the heavens with a smile. He fired a 76. You can view the full leaderboard here – © AFP 2025
Irish Examiner
3 hours ago
- Irish Examiner
Rejuvenated Koepka and Rahm lead chase as late wave feel Oakmont's wrath too
For Brooks Koepka this hadn't been a long time coming but an intense time coming. After all, the 35-year-old American was a major winner just two years ago, storming to the PGA Championship and becoming the first LIV golfer to win one of golf's big four in the process. However this year he missed back to back major cuts and it stung, deeply. On Thursday Koepka was arguably the pick of an afternoon wave which struggled just as mightily as their morning counterparts as the opening day of the US Open took casualties aplenty. Oakmont was in unforgiving mood and may even more ruthless Friday. Koepka was among just five of the late half of the field who would post a score in the red numbers. They joined four from the early brigade which meant that a grand total of nine of the 156 golfers gathered in western Pennsylvania left the opening day with an under-par score. JJ Spaun remained out in front with his sparkling, bogey-free 66 setting the Thursday pace. A shot further back was South African Thriston Lawrence with Koepka joining a pair of Koreans on 2-under, Si Woo Kim and Sungjae Im doing a far better job at taming American golf's toughest test than most of the locals. Jon Rahm joined Koepka as not just the only other LIV player among the under-par cohorts but also as the only other major winner who didn't come back in the black. Scottie Scheffler tried but also toiled, the world No.1 carding a 3-over 73 which featured as many as six bogeys, just one shot better than Rory McIlroy whose early 74 was looked to have left him with plenty of work to do but by day's end was enough to sit just inside the top half of the field in a tie for 62nd. Playing partner Shane Lowry is the one with it all to do when the Irish duo set off in the afternoon wave on Friday, his opening 79 leaving him languishing well outside the top 130. But back to Koepka. A man with five majors to his name, he has often saved his absolute best for the US Open. Twice a winner, his last 10 visits to the tournament has seen just two finishes outside the top 20 and zero missed cuts since 2014. Missing the weekend at Augusta earlier this year and following it up with a miserable showing at the PGA Championship at Quail Hollow left him in a dark place. He wasn't good company. 'I would say from the first weekend in April until about last week, you didn't want to be around me,' he said Thursday after the first round of the U.S. Open. 'It drove me nuts. It ate at me. I haven't been happy. It's been very irritating.' Koepka made a 42-foot putt for eagle on the par-5 fourth, and after falling back to even par, he finished with birdies on Nos. 17 and 18. 'I thought I played pretty consistent, drove it really well. Iron play was pretty good. When I did miss it, I felt like I missed it in the correct spots. A couple of good bunker shots,' Koepka said. 'I'm really happy with the way I finished, and hopefully it leads into tomorrow.' Koepka hasn't finished in the top 10 in a major since winning the PGA Championship in 2023 at Oak Hill. His last LIV Golf victory was August of last year. So he's had plenty of reasons to be frustrated. And his coach, Pete Cowan, has had reasons to be exasperated with him. Koepka said Cowan gave him a good scolding in a bunker Monday. '(Justin Thomas) thought he had to come check on me in the bunker. We were in there for about 45 minutes, and he was on the other side of the green,' Koepka said. 'I wasn't happy with it, but it was something I think you need to hear or I needed to hear at the right time. It's not the first time he's done it.' Ryder Cup stars Jordan Spieth and Collin Morikawa were among the steadier performers in the later wave both carding even-par 70 and hoping for some handier conditions when they return early Friday. At the other end of the spectrum was George Duangmanee. The American had only made his PGA Tour debut last month in South Carolina and successfully made the cut. It's fair to say a weekend stay looks beyond him at Oakmont. The former University of Virginia star sits 156th of 156 after a peer-at-the-scorecard-if-you-dare 86, 16 over par. His round featured seven bogeys, three double-bogeys and a closing treble-bogey 7 on the 18th. With files from AP
