‘Greatest shot in the history of golf' – World No284 unlocks secret of Oakmont with insane 122-yard PUTT before US Open
GOLF star Zac Blair has come up with a genius plan to tackle the "hardest course in the world".
The US Open gets underway at Oakmont Country Club, Pennsylvania tomorrow.
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Zac Blair has unlocked an Oakmont hack
Credit: @AndyTFE
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Fans have called it the 'best shot in history'
Credit: @AndyTFE
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He putted straight onto the green from 122 yards
Credit: @AndyTFE
Build-up to the third major of the year has been dominated by concerns from top players over the conditions of the course.
The sloped greens have been called "lightening quick" and the incredibly thick rough stands at five inches tall.
But Blair has a method to get around the problem on hole one.
The world No284 took to the course for a practice round today and pulled out his putter 122 yards away from the hole.
He gave the ball a firm whack and it rolled all the way down the steep fairway and onto the green, stopping in a perfect position.
Fans were left stunned, with one saying: "No exaggeration, that might have been the greatest shot in the history of golf."
Another added: "This is the play."
A third commented: "That's elite."
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Blair, 34, who hails from Salt Lake City, has never won a PGA Tour title.
Several of his rivals have voiced concerns over the course, with world No1 Scottie Scheffler branding the venue the "hardest course in the world".
DeChambeau and Rose's response to how club golfers would cope at Oakmont US Open course
Two-time US Open winner Bryson DeChambeau said: "This course doesn't just challenge your game, it challenges your sanity."
Former major champion Jordan Spieth added: "This course is built to be like this.
"You hit a good shot, you get rewarded for it here. And if you don't, you're in big trouble. It's pure golf, no funny business about it.'
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Thick rough is set to give players a nightmare
Credit: EPA
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Times
an hour ago
- Times
Rory McIlroy fades fast as Oakmont brings best to their knees
For a couple of hours all the talk of Oakmont's terrors seemed overstated and this near mythical beast by the Allegheny River looked about as dangerous as a stuffed fish on a marble plinth. The reputation has been well-earned, though, and by the end of the first day at a sun-baked US Open, players were using words like brutal and bloodbath, and Rory McIlroy's promising start had faded into more anti-climax. After a bogey-free first nine, he dropped six shots, finished at four over par and was not in the mood for discussing it afterwards. The frustration was palpable as he again walked past journalists shaking his head. For the fifth consecutive round at the majors, the man who inspired post-Augusta paeans had scribes sheathing their pens. Scottie Scheffler was just starting out on his own troubled path at that point, and JJ Spaun was talking into a camera after setting the clubhouse lead with a round of 66, some eight shots clear of McIlroy. It was very much a round of two halves for McIlroy. After all the talk about having to replace his 'non-conforming' driver at last month's US PGA Championship and his own questions about motivation, he began with the requisite calm and control. Playing the easier back nine first, he was able to open with an iron off the tee and on his third felt able to bludgeon a 392-yard drive down the middle. The ensuing eagle chance went awry but he was two under in three holes. The toughest course in the world? Pah. But as the day lengthened, that 'ugly old brute' of a course got under the skin and scraped the scabbing from weakness. Tiger Woods had warned that there is no faking it here, and it duly provided a true test of technique, strategy and psyche. It is a course where you need to make putts from inside ten feet to stay afloat and, significantly, McIlroy missed three from within seven feet after the turn. And then came his penultimate hole, the much-vaunted long par-three measuring 279 yards and due to get longer. He missed the green right and needed two swipes to get out of the dense rough. That double bogey was the final blight on a day of dwindling promise. One of the keys to winning here is damage limitation and the 4th hole, McIlroy's 13th, was a little odyssey. It took some time to locate his ball and, deep in trouble, McIlroy ignored caddie Harry Diamond's suggestion to take a drop. He could only hack his ball some 20 yards forward and the next shot was even worse, his relatively serene progress in danger of unravelling in one, disastrous hole. In fairness to McIlroy, he then managed to get up and down from 180 yards for what was a bonus bogey, but he had started to creak. It will be no consolation that he was better than his playing partners. Shane Lowry, who started the final round of the 2016 US Open here four shots clear, was nine over, despite an eagle from 160 yards, and Justin Rose was only two shots better. It meant a trio with a combined seven majors finished at a collective 20 over par. Pretty beastly, that. Although 23 of the past 24 US Open winners have been within four shots of the lead after the opening round, McIlroy was in good company in the trauma ward. Tommy Fleetwood and Matt Fitzpatrick were among those on the same score, while Gary Woodland, the 2019 champion, was another whose flying start segued into an Icarus descent after six dropped shots in six holes. Bryson DeChambeau, the defending champion, was alongside him at three over par after struggling with his putter, but predicted that could be the winning score if the rain holds off over the weekend. The sun and breeze sapped the course of any lingering moisture, and anyone finishing under par had cause for a panoramic smile. Bob MacIntyre, the pride of Oban, was one of those delighted to walk away at even par. 'You shoot four level-par rounds, you're walking away with a medal and a trophy,' he said. 'That's up there in the top ten rounds I've played. It's just so hard. Honestly, every shot you're on a knife edge. I felt I played beautifully and I drove it as good as I can drive the golf ball.' His excitement with a 70 shows the scale of this challenge. Belgium's Ryder Cup hopeful Thomas Detry, one of the select bunch in the red numbers, warned that it could even become 'a bloodbath' if the wind starts to blow harder. The rough is part of it, but the speed and slopes of the greens provide a potent combination. So Spaun deserved huge credit, as did Thriston Lawrence who was only a shot behind with Kim Si-woo , another stroke adrift. Spaun, beaten by McIlroy in the play-off at The Players in March, chipped in for a birdie on his opening hole and that set the tone for a scrambling round. 'I rode that momentum through the day,' he said. As for McIlroy, he does not need to rewind very far for proof that he can overcome first-round deflation. At the Masters he was written off by many after making two double bogeys down the first-round stretch. Opportunities for salvage streaks are scarcer at Oakmont, though, and his first task is to make the cut. Failure to do so would spawn more enquiries about how he can rekindle his fire after achieving his career goal. Even Scheffler said the post-major comedown last month left him feeling like he had been hit by a bus due to the heightened emotion. He probably felt something similar after a string of early bogeys had him fighting fire and rarely-seen foible. Patrick Reed was another suffering the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune with his 286-yard albatross from the fourth fairway straddled by bogeys. For all the suspicion that McIlroy needs time to regather his mojo, he hates the thought that anyone might think he is not up for golf's hardest tests and, indeed, after three missed cuts at the US Open, he has not been out of the top ten for six years. But Oakmont is tougher than the rest. John Bodenhamer, the USGA's chief championships officer, said with a tinge of sadism that part of the place's appeal is psychological. 'Oakmont is relentless,' he said. 'It's a grind and there are limited opportunities to catch up when you are behind.' They will all try to keep on hanging on today.
Daily Mail
an hour ago
- Daily Mail
Rory McIlroy chewed up by course that's like rabid tiger as he suffers back-nine meltdown to trail early US Open leader JJ Spaun by six shots
First, he tickled the belly of the beast and then he was introduced to its teeth. If nothing else comes from Rory McIlroy's trip to the US Open, at least he will have a battle story to tell about Oakmont. Will that be shared with the media? We have to wait on that, because for the fifth major round in succession he bolted without saying a word. But given the tribulations of his opening 74, and indeed his mood of late, that snub was no great shock. More surprising was the meltdown on his back nine, which launched McIlroy from two-under-par and one off the lead at the turn to four-over by the close, six shots behind leader JJ Spaun. Such a journey from contention to cold shoulders was a messy tale of duffed chips and missed putts, amplified by a new driver that behaved as badly as its recent predecessors. Even for this place, and for all we have raved about its reputation, a return of four bogeys and a double from those inward nine holes was a nasty way to end an afternoon. JJ Spaun had a superb opening round at Oakmont and finished up at four under par With a face like thunder, McIlroy then walked straight past the microphones, presumably in need of a lie down and the sort of inspiration that pulsed through Spaun. It was Spaun who McIlroy defeated in a play-off to win the Players' Championship three months ago, in what became an important staging post in his journey towards Masters glory. Here, it was Spaun who proved the toughest course in major golf can be navigated without loss of blood as he emerged from the first wave of tee times to set the target at four-under. The world No 25 did not drop a shot in his 66. To contextualise the feat, the last time a US Open was played at Oakmont, in 2016, there was only one bogey-free round among the 443 completed. That belonged to Dustin Johnson, the eventual winner, and so Spaun's first-round accomplishment warrants great recognition, particularly for the manner in which he missed six greens and scrambled to make par each time. Does Spaun's score and a number of other sub-par rounds mean Oakmont is playing slightly easier than normal? It is like trying to identify differences between a rabid tiger and an angry one. For instance, Bryson DeChambeau, the defending champion, laboured to a 73 and needed three shots to escape greenside rough at the 12th. Scottie Scheffler? He was among the late starters and found himself two-over through 10 holes. Shane Lowry, tipped to win by many this week and playing alongside McIlroy, had a rough day. He benefited from a chip-in par on the 17th and an eagle from the fairway on the third and yet still signed for a 79. Lowry's round was proof of Oakmont's many challenges — despite hitting 10 of 14 fairways, thereby avoiding too much extra time in the five-inch rough, he was still trending towards a missed cut, battered by his failure to find greens and an inability to thrive with the putter. When one tripwire is navigated on this course, a dozen more await your next step. Lowry's exasperation was best shown when he yanked an on-course microphone from the ground and hurled it as he approached the turn. The third member of the group, Justin Rose, who has been runner-up in two of the previous three majors, shot 77 — combined, he, Lowry and McIlroy were 20-over. So make no mistake, even in sedate weather, Oakmont is a brute. Just ask Matt Vogt, an American amateur who qualified with a good yarn to tell, for he is a former caddie here and these days works as a dentist. He needed 82 shots — you can make your own gags about pulling teeth. Of the British interests among the earlier starters, Robert MacIntyre had the best of it. He closed with a bogey, but after hitting 11 of 14 fairways in a level-par 70 he was well placed. McIlroy? Not nearly so much, which only extends the gloom of his post-Masters lull. Starting on the 10th, he opened well with a 30-footer for birdie on the 11th and another stroke followed when he reached the par-five 12th in two. At that stage, his game from the tee was showing a degree of improvement after switching to his fourth driver configuration in the space of three starts. By the turn, he was also showing plenty of grit, which was necessary because the latest driver had gone cold. He had hit only two fairways, but was saving pars. Alas, it unravelled spectacularly. On the first hole, his 10th, he three-putted back to one-under and on the par five fourth, the easiest on the card, he drove miles off line to the right, which was his pattern for the day. Buried in long grass, McIlroy ignored the advice of caddie Harry Diamond, who suggested a penalty drop in a better spot, and instead hacked into the grassy face of a bunker. The third shot then travelled barely 15 yards and eventually a 32-footer dropped for a six. It could have been worse. Difficulties in the sand on the sixth brought McIlroy back to one-over, a three-putt at the next extended the rut and the final indignity came on the eighth, an excessively long par three of 300 yards. Taking aim with a three wood, he sliced it into the deep stuff on the right, duffed his pitch and required another three to get down. The story of his post-Masters revival might have to wait for a kinder location.
South Wales Guardian
2 hours ago
- South Wales Guardian
Deja vu for Rory McIlroy after tough first round at the US Open
The Masters champion, trying to shake off the hangover of his Augusta National win in April, came to the Pittsburgh course last week on a scouting mission and carded an 81. While he fared slightly better in Thursday's first round, his four-over-par 74 dealt a blow to his hopes of winning the third major of the year. McIlroy felt the full force of the unforgiving Oakmont, which has widely been described as the hardest golf course in the game, and his round disintegrated after the turn. But in the end, Rory does his best salvage job with a bogey putt from 30+ feet. — U.S. Open (@usopengolf) June 12, 2025 Starting on the back nine, it seemed to be going all too well for the Northern Irishman as he made the turn at two under after birdies at the 11th and 12th. But it quickly unravelled as he played holes one to nine in 41 shots, which included four bogeys and a double bogey. His playing partners Justin Rose and Shane Lowry did not fare any better as Rose went round in a seven-over 77, with the Irishman a further two shots back, and both facing the prospect of missing the cut. McIlroy's struggles make JJ Spaun's record-equalling round of 66 even more impressive. There was nothing spawny about his excellent card, where he was able to tame Oakmont with accuracy off the tee and fairways. Watch and learn! 👇👇👇 Every televised shot from J.J. Spaun's bogey-free 66, just the 8th flawless round in U.S. Open history at Oakmont. — U.S. Open (@usopengolf) June 12, 2025 His four birdies in a blemish-free round, which is the joint-lowest first-round score in the US Open on this course, made him the early leader. This was the 34-year-old American's first outing at Oakmont, which left him feeling nervous. 'All you've been hearing is how hard this place is, and it's hard to not hear the noise and see what's on social media,' he said. 'You're just kind of only hearing about how hard this course is. '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 just tried to kind of take what the course gave me. I hit a lot of good shots and tried to capitalise on any birdie opportunities, which aren't very many out here. J.J. Spaun… still bogey-free! Impressive par save from our leader on a big bender from 16 feet. — U.S. Open (@usopengolf) June 12, 2025 '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. 'I'm just overly pleased with how I started the tournament.' McIlroy was not alone in struggling as defending champion Bryson DeChambeau was three over while world number three Xander Schauffele was two over. Unfortunately for amateur Matt Vogt, who is a dentist by trade, it was like pulling teeth. The 34-year-old, who made it through qualification, used to caddie at Oakmont but that did not help much as he carded a 12-over-par 82 and will be back in the dental practice next week.
