US Open digest: Schoolboy Mason Howell expects US Open challenge at Oakmont ‘to get crazy'
Age is but a number, and Mason Howell – the youngest player in the field at 17 years old – intends to embrace the experience of competing at
Oakmont
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Howell, from Georgia, was hugely impressive in navigating his way through the final qualifying in Atlanta, hitting back-to-back bogey-free 63s). He has his school coach Jimmy Gillam on the bag.
'I have total belief that he's going to be able to hold his own,' said Gillam of the teenager. 'I'm basically a jockey on a racehorse, a thoroughbred, and I'm really looking forward to it.'
That his coach had experience of playing Oakmont was also a bonus for Howell, who explained: 'We play together all the time. I really needed an adult [on the bag] to calm me down because I know it's going to get crazy, it's going to be insane out there.'
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Howell has been grouped with European Tour player Joakim Lagergren and PGA Tour rookie Chris Gotterup for the first two rounds.
Cross-handed chipping catches on
Former US Open champion Matt Fitzpatrick was one of the first to popularise the art of cross-handed chipping. Now, he has company.
Former US Open champion Matt Fitzpatrick has started a trend. Photograph:Indeed, the trend is catching and a fourball of them got together for the final practice round at Oakmont. Fitzpatrick was joined by Justin Rose, Matthieu Pavon and American Chase Johnson, who plays on the developmental PGA Tour Americas.
Johnson earned a spot in the field for his first Major after coming through qualifying. His decision to chip cross-handed came out of desperation.
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US Open: Dustin Johnson will take the rough with the smooth on return to happy-hunting ground Oakmont
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Johnson said: 'There's a word that golfers stay away from. It couldn't get any worse. I remember the first time I did it, I was with my dad at a course that I grew up at, Spring Hills in Ohio. I tried it and I was seven for seven with two chip-ins that day. I was like, 'I think we'll stick with that'.'
Of his goal for the week, he added: 'Just keep it in play. It's one of those courses where you're better off having a four-iron in to hit the green. If you bomb it up there, maybe Bryson (DeChambeau) could get it out, but I know I'm not strong enough to get it through this stuff unless you miss it big and you're in the trampled down grass from the gallery.
'It's just keep it in play . . . you've just got to grind.'
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'Do you go for this par-four or do you lay up?' – Collin Morikawa to his caddie Joe Greiner on first standing on the par-three eighth hole.
US Open champions to take home cool $4.3m
The upward trend of recent years for US Open prize money has stopped. This year's championship remains at $21.5 million (€18.7 million), the same as last year. The winner will take home $4.3 million, just as Bryson DeChambeau did at Pinehurst.
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Rory McIlroy still waiting for competitive juices to flow again after Masters high
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Explaining the decision not to increase the prize money, USGA chief executive Mike Whan said: 'We didn't raise our purse this year. When I started at the USGA just four years ago, our purse was $12.5 million, so I feel comfortable that we've been a leader in moving fast and bigger. We're not really a fan of small, but when we go, go a little bit bigger.'
The US Open, nevertheless, remains the biggest purse of any of the four Majors in the men's game.
Mickelson leans on Bryson for YouTube help
Bryson DeChambeau's success on YouTube – where he has over two million subscribers to his channel – has led to a number of other professionals tapping him for advice. Among those seeking his words of wisdom is Phil Mickelson.
Bryson DeChambeau appears to have cracked the YouTube formula. Photograph:DeChambeau revealed the advice he gave to his fellow LIV golfer: 'First off, I said, 'you can be yourself'. You have that creative control to be yourself and I think that's what's so beautiful about it. You hire the right team around you that understands you, and it frees you up to be yourself.
'I said, 'you can do the content that you want to do. Anything you want to do, you can do it'. Then, 'listen to the people in the comments section. Go through, read them all, see what they want from you. Those are the things that we look at the most'.'
Number: 10,202
This year's US Open had a record 10,202 entries, which beat the previous record of 10,187 players who entered for the 2023 tournament at Los Angeles Country Club. The 10,202 was whittled down to 156 players, which included 87 fully exempt golfers. The field was completed by those who came through qualifying.
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Irish Daily Mirror
an hour 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
2 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
2 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
