Spaun grabs early US Open lead, McIlroy two back
OAKMONT, Pennsylvania :J.J. Spaun emerged as the surprise early first-round U.S. Open leader on Thursday at Oakmont Country Club where Rory McIlroy was two shots back, defending champion Bryson DeChambeau opened with a bogey and Scottie Scheffler had yet to start.
Spaun, who started on the back nine and completed 11 holes on the notoriously challenging Oakmont layout, was four under on the day without a bogey on his card and sat one shot clear of 2019 U.S. Open champion Gary Woodland (through eight holes).
McIlroy reached the turn bogey-free at two under and was part of a five-player group who were in a share of third place while DeChambeau was a further two shots adrift.
Much of the talk ahead of the U.S. Open was how Oakmont, with penal rough framing narrow fairways that lead to slick greens, would keep scores in check, and while many players struggled there was more red on the leaderboard than expected.
McIlroy picked up his first stroke at his second hole, the par-four 11th, where he walked in a 27-foot birdie moments after getting a good read on the putt from playing partner Justin Rose, who missed his attempt to the left.
The Northern Irishman followed that with his longest drive of the season, a monstrous 392-yard strike down the 12th fairway that got a helping hand by a generous bounce en route to a birdie that gave him a share of the early lead.
McIlroy followed that with a string of six pars.
DeChambeau got his title defence off to a shaky start with a bogey, got back to even par with a birdie at the fifth, moved into red figures with a birdie at the seventh where his approach shot settled six feet from the cup and then bogeyed the ninth.
Australian Adam Scott, whose 96th consecutive major start this week is the longest streak among active players, was two under through his first 10 holes and part of the group in a share of third place.
Tournament favourite Scottie Scheffler, who counts the PGA Championship among his three wins in his last four starts, will head out at 1:25 p.m. ET alongside two-times major winner Collin Morikawa and world number 14 Viktor Hovland.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Straits Times
30 minutes ago
- Straits Times
Scheffler sets out early with hopes of moving into U.S. Open contention
Jun 13, 2025; Oakmont, Pennsylvania, USA; Scottie Scheffler plays his shot from the tenth tee during the second round of the U.S. Open golf tournament. Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-Imagn Images REUTERS Scheffler sets out early with hopes of moving into U.S. Open contention OAKMONT, Pennsylvania - Pre-tournament favourite Scottie Scheffler headed out early in the U.S. Open second round on Friday hoping to play his way into contention at Oakmont Country Club, where overnight leader J.J. Spaun was scheduled to go out with the late starters. World number one Scheffler, who came into the year's third major with three wins in his last four starts, opened with a three-over-par 73 that was his worst first-round score relative to par of his majors career. That left Scheffler in a share of 49th place, seven shots behind surprise leader Spaun and facing a stern challenge as he has never come back from outside the top 30 at the end of the first round to win an official PGA Tour event. In the opening round, the brilliant Spaun fired a four-under 66 that was the day's only bogey-free round, and the unheralded American will try to build on his hot start when he heads out from the first tee at 12:52 p.m. ET (1652 GMT). South African Thriston Lawrence, who trails by one shot, will go out at 2:20 p.m. from the 10th tee. Five-times major winner Brooks Koepka, one of 14 LIV Golf players in the field, also went out early and started his day two shots off the pace and in a three-way share of third place with South Koreans Kim Si-woo and Im Sung-jae. Spaniard Jon Rahm, part of a group that finished the opening round three shots back of Spaun, also started early from the 10th tee. Holder Bryson DeChambeau and Masters champion Rory McIlroy, who both struggled in the opening round, have afternoon tee times. REUTERS Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
CNA
an hour ago
- CNA
Scheffler sets out early with hopes of moving into US Open contention
OAKMONT, Pennsylvania :Pre-tournament favourite Scottie Scheffler headed out early in the U.S. Open second round on Friday hoping to play his way into contention at Oakmont Country Club, where overnight leader J.J. Spaun was scheduled to go out with the late starters. World number one Scheffler, who came into the year's third major with three wins in his last four starts, opened with a three-over-par 73 that was his worst first-round score relative to par of his majors career. That left Scheffler in a share of 49th place, seven shots behind surprise leader Spaun and facing a stern challenge as he has never come back from outside the top 30 at the end of the first round to win an official PGA Tour event. In the opening round, the brilliant Spaun fired a four-under 66 that was the day's only bogey-free round, and the unheralded American will try to build on his hot start when he heads out from the first tee at 12:52 p.m. ET (1652 GMT). South African Thriston Lawrence, who trails by one shot, will go out at 2:20 p.m. from the 10th tee. Five-times major winner Brooks Koepka, one of 14 LIV Golf players in the field, also went out early and started his day two shots off the pace and in a three-way share of third place with South Koreans Kim Si-woo and Im Sung-jae. Spaniard Jon Rahm, part of a group that finished the opening round three shots back of Spaun, also started early from the 10th tee. Holder Bryson DeChambeau and Masters champion Rory McIlroy, who both struggled in the opening round, have afternoon tee times.
CNA
3 hours ago
- CNA
'Suited and booted' immigration officials may stoke Club World Cup anxiety
NEW YORK/MEXICO CITY :U.S. Customs and Border Protection has promised to be "suited and booted" at the first round of Club World Cup soccer matches, as the curtain-raiser event for next year's World Cup kicks off amidst anxiety from some fans in the United States. The tournament starts in Miami on Saturday as soccer great Lionel Messi and his MLS team Inter Miami play Egypt's Al Ahly, as protests over U.S. President Donald Trump's immigration policies continue across the country. "CBP will be suited and booted, ready to provide security for the first round of games," the department wrote in a widely reported social media post that added to some fans' concerns over attending the Club World Cup. The Department of Homeland Security did not respond to a request for comment over the now-deleted post. Tom Warrick, a former DHS deputy assistant secretary, told Reuters that while it is a normal practice for agencies like ICE and CBP to provide surge capacity security at major sporting events, the language from the post caused understandable alarm. "I suspect it was just a moment of inattention before somebody cleared a message that someone else should have said, 'Oh, whoa, wait a minute, we need to change the messaging'," said Warrick, a non-resident senior fellow at the Atlantic Council think tank. "They may also need to change the security posture because very clearly, you know, uniformed officers or people in tactical gear are going to be looked at very differently, especially by a sporting event that is of such interest to people who come from countries that have citizens that have been the target of some of Trump's immigration enforcement measures." Trump deployed the Marines in Los Angeles this week in response to civilians protesting against his immigration policies, as Immigration and Customs Enforcement ramps up raids to deliver on his promise of record-level deportations. California Governor Gavin Newsom and other Democratic leaders said the deployment was unnecessary, while Trump defended his decision, saying the city would be in flames if he had not done so. Protests so far have been mostly peaceful. "I'm scared because things have got ugly. But let's hope that things calm down a bit and let us enjoy the games," said bricklayer Tono, who was originally from Monterrey, in northern Mexico, and now works in Los Angeles. The 25-year-old, who has been in the United States for five years and declined to share his last name, said he and his friends had tickets to see Liga MX side Monterrey, who play all three of their group-stage matches at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena. "If things get uglier, we'll talk about it, after all we have time to decide," he said. The Club World Cup will see 32 teams competing in 12 stadiums across the United States, after world soccer's governing body FIFA expanded the format in a billion-dollar gamble to revolutionise the club game. The tournament is a curtain-raiser for the 2026 World Cup, as organisers try to fan enthusiasm for the quadrennial global spectacle in the soccer-ambivalent U.S., which is co-hosting next year's finals with neighbours Canada and Mexico. Jorge Loweree, managing director at U.S. advocacy group American Immigration Council, said that soccer owes some of its growing popularity in the U.S. to immigrants. "It's reasonable to expect that lots and lots of folks that just want to attend these events are either immigrants themselves here permanently, temporarily - even folks that may be undocumented," he told Reuters.
