US Open: ‘Unapologetically difficult' Oakmont to provide serious challenge for McIlroy and Lowry
The time for talk has gone, replaced by a requirement for actions rather than words to speak loudest; and, for those 156 players in this 125th edition of the
US Open
with genuine ambitions of laying claim to the title, the third Major of the year, the challenge ahead of them is unquestionably the most difficult of all.
'This is probably the hardest golf course that we'll play, maybe ever,' remarked world number one
Scottie Scheffler
, seeking to back up
his US PGA success of last month
by adding the US Open to his glowing career CV.
Sympathy for players facing such an examination would be hard to find. Perhaps only in a dictionary, in truth. Gil Hanse, the designer who has recreated many of the characteristics of the Fownes' original on this treeless terrain in western Pennsylvania, claimed of the task at hand to be an 'unapologetically difficult' one, with no favours given or expected.
While the USGA's John Bodenhamer put it succinctly of such a tough course setup, 'It's not about the score, it's about getting every club in a player's bag dirty, all 15 of them. The 14 in their bag and the one between their ears!'
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Rory McIlroy
and
Shane Lowry
again headed off into the rising sun for their final practice and the bromance will move with them onto the championship itself with a very friendly three-ball for the opening two rounds, the three-ball group completed by Justin Rose, their Ryder Cup teammate and likely captain for Adare Manor in 2027.
Rory McIlroy (L) of Northern Ireland and Shane Lowry (R) of Ireland laugh on the green of the ninth hole. Photograph: Erik S Lesser/EPA
McIlroy, the Masters champion, has reverted to a TaylorMade Qi10 driver in his attempt to utilise the most powerful weapon in his armoury.
A missed cut at the Canadian Open
– his first missed cut in almost a year, stretching back to last year's 152nd Open at Troon – at least gave the Northern Irishman an opportunity to spend the weekend working on finding the right driver (his old driver failed the CT – characteristic timing – test ahead of the US PGA).
Finding the right replacement has proven difficult, choosing not to put the newer Qi35 into his bag. 'Every driver sort of has its own character and you're trying to manage the misses ... I feel like I'm in a better place with everything going into this week,' said McIlroy ahead of this latest examination where length and accuracy, usually his strength, are required assets for those with genuine ambitions.
Despite the dip in form since completing the career Grand Slam at Augusta, McIlroy – runner-up at the past two US Opens, most painfully at Pinehurst last year – again, rightfully, is very much among those with such ambitions. McIlroy's only US Open win came back in 2011 but he has finished top-10 in each of the past six: 'I made the decision at that back end of 2018 into 2019, to try to build my game around the toughest tests that we have in the game ... the US Open went from probably my least favourite major to probably my favourite because of what it asks from you, and I love that challenge.'
Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland plays a shot from the bunker on the fourth hole during a practice round. Photograph: Patrick Smith/Getty
There are only two Irish players in the field, and both entitled to entertain thoughts of being on the 18th green for the trophy presentation.
Lowry – runner-up to Dustin Johnson in 2016, having carried a four-stroke lead into the final round – has played so consistently all season, including two runners-up finishes in the Pebble beach pro-am (behind McIlroy) and the Truist (behind Sepp Straka).
'Because I played well here in 2016 people automatically think you're going to play well this week. But I don't think like that. I'm always on the edge of my anxious self, where, you know, I want it so much, but I don't want to think that I'm [entitled], my confidence levels can't be too high. I just need to be myself, just need to bring myself back down to earth. And, you know, throw all my expectation away going to that first tee and give it a run,' explained Lowry of his mindset.
McIlroy and Lowry and everyone in the field are aware of the challenge set by Oakmont, with Scheffler – again – entitled to carry the mantle of favouritism give a form-line that has seen him win three of his last four outings, including the PGA.
'This golf course, there's not many trees out there, but there's so many bunkers. I don't really know if this is a golf course you can necessarily just overpower with kind of a bomb and gouge type strategy, especially with the way the rough is. You have to play the angles. Some of the greens are elevated, other ones are pitched extremely away from you,' said Scheffler of the task ahead.
That 15th club between the two ears could prove to be the most important of them all.
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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
