Reactions to U.S. Open rough conditions at Oakmont: 'Outrageous' and 'humbling'
Reactions to U.S. Open rough conditions at Oakmont: 'Outrageous' and 'humbling'
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Jon Rahm admits LIV's smaller fields help his top-10 streak
Ahead of 2025 U.S. Open, Jon Rahm acknowledges the smaller field size in LIV Golf contributes to his consistent top 10 finishes.
USGA
The 2025 U.S. Open at Oakmont Country Club features challenging course conditions, including thick rough.
The course's difficulty is highlighted by features like the "church pews" hazards on Hole 3.
The demanding conditions, including fast greens, are expected to create a challenging tournament for professional golfers.
Social media posts capture the reactions to the difficult course setup.
The 2025 U.S. Open tournament begins Thursday, and already the conditions at Oakmont Country Club are making fans shudder. The rough at the course is tall, unforgiving, foreboding, and every other sinister word you can think of. The average golfer would probably lose every ball hit into the rough.
Luckily, the U.S. Open has spotters to prevent similar mishaps from happening to the pros, but that doesn't mean the pros are not still taken aback by the rough's sheer presence. After all, they still need to take shots out of that monstrosity.
We haven't even gotten into the really tough parts of the course, such as the church pews, a series of islands of roughs scattered throughout a bunker on Hole 3. Those alone are enough to make a casual golfer run for the hills.
Between the roughs, the pews, and the insanely fast greens, this weekend's U.S. Open could end up being full or more ups and downs than a rollercoaster designed to give people motion sickness.
Here are some of the best posts detailing the difficult course conditions at Oakmont.
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Best reactions to U.S. Open course conditions
What do the pros think an average golfer would shoot at Oakmont?
If we're being real, the golfers are probably giving us average Joe's too much credit.
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Hamilton Spectator
11 minutes ago
- Hamilton Spectator
Late miscues cost Phil Mickelson a shot at the weekend in his 34th — and maybe last — US Open
OAKMONT, Pa. (AP) — By the time Phil Mickelson reached the 18th green at Oakmont on Friday evening, the once-packed grandstand was maybe a quarter-full. Same for the luxury suites. There was no grand gesture as the 54-year-old Mickelson loped up the hill. No wave to the crowd the way Arnold Palmer did in the same spot on the same course 31 years ago. No lengthy standing ovation from the gallery in return either. The man whose decades-long pursuit of the U.S. Open made him a fan favorite in his prime — not unlike Palmer in some ways — instead quietly marked his ball 16 feet from the hole, then walked over to the far edge of the green and stared at the leaderboard that glowed in the rainy twilight. A birdie would have let Mickelson stick around for the weekend at his 34th — and perhaps last — trip to the national championship. Wearing a white hat featuring the logo of his LIV Golf team, the HyFlyers GC, Mickelson stood over the line trying to get the right read. When the putt slid a foot left of the hole to keep Mickelson one outside the cut at plus-8, a small groan arose from those who stuck around. There was a shout or two of 'We love you Phil!' Along the railing, a man leaned toward a friend and said, 'His exemption is done. No more U.S. Open for you Phil.' Maybe, maybe not. The five-year exemption into the tournament that Mickelson received when he captured the 2021 PGA Championship is expiring. Whether he'll be back to make a run at the one major that has eluded him is anyone's guess. Mickelson sure isn't saying. He politely declined to talk to reporters after emerging from the scoring area, disappearing into the clubhouse and an uncertain future at a tournament where he's been a runner-up six times. There are a number of ways for Mickelson to make it to Shinnecock next June. The USGA could offer him an exemption, as it did at Torrey Pines in 2020, though that doesn't appear to be USGA chief championship officer John Bodenhamer's first choice. 'I think the way that we would also think of Phil is we hope he earns his way in, and I think he'd tell you the same thing,' Bodenhamer said Wednesday. 'That's what he did last time. We gave him one and then he went out and won the PGA Championship. So wouldn't put it past him.' Mickelson became the oldest major champion ever when he triumphed at Kiawah in 2021 at age 50. A lot has happened since then. Both on the course and off it. The man known universally as 'Lefty' played a major role in LIV Golf's rise, a move that has taken a bit of the shine off of his popularity back home. And while Mickelson's game can still show flashes — he really did knock a sideways flop shot into the hole during a LIV event last week in Virginia — and he looks fitter now than he did two decades ago, the reality is the swashbuckling approach that once endeared him to so many doesn't work that much anymore at the U.S. Open. Mickelson appeared to be in solid position to play the weekend when he stood on the 15th tee. He even on the day and 4 over for the tournament, well inside the cutline. A tee shot into the ankle deep rough at the 489-yard par 4 led to double bogey. He still seemed to be OK when he got to 17, a short uphill par 4. His tee shot sailed into the rough above a greenside bunker. There would be no magic this time. His attempted flop splashed into the sand instead. He blasted out to 25 feet and three-putted for another double bogey. That put him in a position he's been familiar with for a long time: heading to 18 at the U.S. Open needing to make a birdie of consequence. It didn't happen. And as he disappeared into the clubhouse, along with it came the realization that at this point, it likely never will. ___ AP golf:
San Francisco Chronicle
13 minutes ago
- San Francisco Chronicle
Late miscues cost Phil Mickelson a shot at the weekend in his 34th -- and maybe last -- US Open
OAKMONT, Pa. (AP) — By the time Phil Mickelson reached the 18th green at Oakmont on Friday evening, the once-packed grandstand was maybe a quarter-full. Same for the luxury suites. There was no grand gesture as the 54-year-old Mickelson loped up the hill. No wave to the crowd the way Arnold Palmer did in the same spot on the same course 31 years ago. No lengthy standing ovation from the gallery in return either. The man whose decades-long pursuit of the U.S. Open made him a fan favorite in his prime — not unlike Palmer in some ways — instead quietly marked his ball 16 feet from the hole, then walked over to the far edge of the green and stared at the leaderboard that glowed in the rainy twilight. A birdie would have let Mickelson stick around for the weekend at his 34th — and perhaps last — trip to the national championship. Wearing a white hat featuring the logo of his LIV Golf team, the HyFlyers GC, Mickelson stood over the line trying to get the right read. When the putt slid a foot left of the hole to keep Mickelson one outside the cut at plus-8, a small groan arose from those who stuck around. There was a shout or two of 'We love you Phil!' Along the railing, a man leaned toward a friend and said, "His exemption is done. No more U.S. Open for you Phil.' Maybe, maybe not. The five-year exemption into the tournament that Mickelson received when he captured the 2021 PGA Championship is expiring. Whether he'll be back to make a run at the one major that has eluded him is anyone's guess. Mickelson sure isn't saying. He politely declined to talk to reporters after emerging from the scoring area, disappearing into the clubhouse and an uncertain future at a tournament where he's been a runner-up six times. There are a number of ways for Mickelson to make it to Shinnecock next June. The USGA could offer him an exemption, as it did at Torrey Pines in 2020, though that doesn't appear to be USGA chief championship officer John Bodenhamer's first choice. 'I think the way that we would also think of Phil is we hope he earns his way in, and I think he'd tell you the same thing,' Bodenhamer said Wednesday. "That's what he did last time. We gave him one and then he went out and won the PGA Championship. So wouldn't put it past him.' Mickelson became the oldest major champion ever when he triumphed at Kiawah in 2021 at age 50. A lot has happened since then. Both on the course and off it. The man known universally as 'Lefty' played a major role in LIV Golf's rise, a move that has taken a bit of the shine off of his popularity back home. And while Mickelson's game can still show flashes — he really did knock a sideways flop shot into the hole during a LIV event last week in Virginia — and he looks fitter now than he did two decades ago, the reality is the swashbuckling approach that once endeared him to so many doesn't work that much anymore at the U.S. Open. Mickelson appeared to be in solid position to play the weekend when he stood on the 15th tee. He even on the day and 4 over for the tournament, well inside the cutline. A tee shot into the ankle deep rough at the 489-yard par 4 led to double bogey. He still seemed to be OK when he got to 17, a short uphill par 4. His tee shot sailed into the rough above a greenside bunker. There would be no magic this time. His attempted flop splashed into the sand instead. He blasted out to 25 feet and three-putted for another double bogey. That put him in a position he's been familiar with for a long time: heading to 18 at the U.S. Open needing to make a birdie of consequence. It didn't happen. And as he disappeared into the clubhouse, along with it came the realization that at this point, it likely never will.
New York Post
15 minutes ago
- New York Post
Sam Burns left standing atop the US Open leaderboard as stars falter in nasty second round
OAKMONT, Pa. — Oakmont bit back Friday. It's not that the venerable venue hosting its record 10th U.S. Open this week was a pushover in Thursday's opening round. But it was a bit nastier in Friday's second round. It was particularly hard on the game's biggest stars. Scottie Scheffler, the world's No. 1 ranked player and an overwhelming favorite to win this week, fought his butt off to get himself inside the cut line and is 4-over par, seven shots behind leader Sam Burns. Burns (more on him in a moment) leads at 3-under after shooting an eye-opening 5-under 65 on Friday and is one of only three players in the 156-man field under par. 5 Sam Burns swings during the second round of the U.S. Open on June 13. Getty Images The other two are first-round leader J.J. Spaun at 2-under and Viktor Hovland at 1-under. Adam Scott and Ben Griffin, one of the hottest players in the game, are even par. Scheffler, despite his struggles, played well enough to reach the weekend, as did Rory McIlroy, who birdied No. 18 to close at 6-over before continuing his bizarre anti-media petulant pouting campaign and blowing off interview requests. For those counting at home, that's six consecutive major championship rounds since his triumphant Masters victory in April that McIlroy has refused to be interviewed. Defending champion Bryson DeChambeau did the same, bolting the grounds in a slow jog despite a USGA interview request after he stumbled off of 18 having shot 10-over in two rounds. Oakmont will do that to you. It did it to Dustin Johnson, the last player to win a U.S. Open at Oakmont, in 2016. He finished 10-over. It did it to Shane Lowry, who was runner-up to Johnson and in good form. He posted 17-over in two days. 5 Bryson DeChambeau reacts during the second round of the U.S. Open on June 13. Getty Images 5 Dustin Johnson reacts after a shot during the second round of the U.S. Open on June 13. Getty Images Burns was one of the very few who didn't seem to be bothered by Oakmont, despite entering this week having played in 19 majors and posting only one top 10, at the 2024 U.S. Open. But on Friday, in his second round, Burns looked and sounded like he's found something, posting the round of the tournament. It was a score that few saw coming this week. Asked if he saw a 65 possible in tournament play while playing practice rounds, Burns said, 'Honestly, I didn't really think of much of a score. The golf course is really too difficult to try to figure out what's a good score and what's not. 5 Sam Burns reacts during the second round of the U.S. Open on June 13. AP 'It's a 72-hole golf tournament, and if you can get a round under par out here, no matter if it's 1-under, you'll take it. I think today was really nice with the finish I had yesterday, and it felt like I played really well. I'm looking forward to the weekend.'' The 28-year-old Burns, ranked 22nd in the world and a five-time PGA Tour winner, is just days removed from a playoff loss to Ryan Fox at the Canadian Open on Sunday, so he arrived at Oakmont in good form. 'I feel like I've been playing well coming off last week and into this week and my round [Thursday],'' Burns said. 'It's really just trying to get yourself in position out here and give yourself as many looks as you can.'' When Burns gets good looks, he often cashes them in because he's one of the best putters in the game. Scheffler offered his analysis on what makes Burns such a good putter. 'He plays golf, I think, very freely, and he's got really good natural instincts when it comes to his putting,'' Scheffler said. 'And a lot of it is just very reactionary. He's got good fundamentals, good instinct, and he putts very reactionary. That's really all there is to it.'' Asked 'how badly'' Burns wants to win a major, Scheffler said, 'It's a complicated question. Sam is like me in a sense that he's a hyper-competitive person. I think you always dream of having a chance to win these tournaments, and he's put himself in position a few times at majors. He's in position again. 'I'm sure going into the weekend he's right where I would want to be on the leaderboard, so it should be a fun experience for him.'' Burns revealed what he's learned from his past struggles in majors. 5 Sam Burns lines up a putt during the second round of the U.S. Open on June 13. AP 'At times, I was trying to be a little too perfect around major championship golf courses,'' he said. 'Especially around here, it kind of forces you to take your medicine because a lot of times, that's the only option you have. 'For this golf course, you really just have to free it up. It's too hard to try to guide it around here. You're going to hit some in the rough, you're going to hit some in some bad spots, you might as well do it with authority. It's going to be a fun weekend.''
