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CNA
14 minutes ago
- Sport
- 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.
Irish Times
3 hours ago
- Sport
- Irish Times
Oakmont the winner after testing first round at US Open
The flag – Old Glory – lay against the flagpole close to the regal Oakmont Country Club clubhouse, barely moving, with just the occasional fluttering to indicate the sort of pet day faced by those 156 players who set out in search of their own glory in this 125th US Open. Yet, true to form, even with only a light breeze, the majority of players struggled to combat a course that asked one tough question after another from start-to-finish so that many players looked drained, physically and mentally, when their day's work was done. JJ Spaun was one of the exceptions. [ Flawless JJ Spaun navigates rare territory at Oakmont to take US Open lead Opens in new window ] Playing in just his second US Open, having missed the cut at Torrey Pines in 2021, Spaun – whose only PGA Tour win came in the Valero Texas Open three years ago – was immune from many of the vagaries of others as he posted a bogey-free 66, four-under-par, to claim the outright first round lead, a shot clear of South African Thriston Lawrence. READ MORE Brooks Koepka showed some of his old self with a 68 to be in tied-third, alongside South Korean's Si Woo Kim and Sungjae Im, while world number one Scottie Scheffler laboured – like many – and posted an opening 73 as he was forced into a role of pursuer with much ground to make up. 'Five and a half (hours round)? That's a long time to be out there on the golf course, especially on a day where there was almost no conditions. But the golf course is just challenging. Overall I just feel like after today, I've probably got to give myself a few more looks, a few sloppy bogeys today, and would have been a little bit of a different story,' said Scheffler. [ US Open: Rory McIlroy and Shane Lowry left battered and bruised from Oakmont slog Opens in new window ] As a long day finally drew to a close, one in which Patrick Reed's exploits summed up the give and take of the course's difficulty, holing out from 285 yards for an albatross two on the Par 5 fourth and then finishing with a triple bogey seven on the 18th, the number of players with under-par rounds barely crept into double digits: 10! Patrick Reed after holing out for an albatross on the fourth hole. Photograph:Spaun's navigating of the course without dropping a shot put him into rare territory, just the eighth player ever – in this 10th staging of the US Open at Oakmont – to accomplish the feat. Back in 2016, only one player, Dustin Johnson, managed to do so . . . and he went on to win! The 34-year-old Californian's form headed into this Major had been consistent – four top-10s, including two runners-up finishes in The Players and the Cognizant Classic – and, it seemed, the tone for his day was set when he chipped-in for birdie on his first hole, the 10th. For the most part, a round of four birdies and 14 pars was as steady as anyone could have hoped for: 'I kind of came out here with no prior history at Oakmont, not really knowing what to expect even US. Open-wise. This is only my second one. I don't know if that freed me up in any aspect, but I just tried to kind of take what the course gave me,' he explained. Where many players departed their closing greens as if they'd been put through a wringer, Spaun stayed very much within himself. When in trouble, he managed to extricate himself. When birdies presented, he closed the deal. 'It's challenging in every sort of aspect or variable in golf. Off the tee, you've got to get it in the fairway, otherwise you're pretty much chipping out or trying to hack something out, unless you get a lucky lie. It's just tough, and then you're obviously going to have to grind when you're out of position, and I did that really well,' said Spaun. For his part, Thriston Lawrence's recent return to the DP World Tour would appear to have brought new life to his game. One of those who'd earned PGA Tour cards off the Race to Dubai rankings last year, Thriston's time stateside had proven difficult with 10 missed cuts in 12 appearances before a recent move back to play the Soudal Open (tied-fourth) reinvigorated him, even if that schedule change was unplanned as he had failed to get a visa in time to play in last week's Canadian Open so added the tournaments back in Europe instead. 'South Africans have to apply 400 days in advance, I had to apply before I got my card. Bit odd, that, because I don't like missing events when I get opportunities, but that's the unfortunate thing of having a South African passport,' he explained. Clearly, the disruption didn't linger as he produced a strong first round 67 to move into early contention. Koepka, for his part, recounted how a stern talking-to from his coach Pete Cowen was partly responsible for a change of attitude. '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. I don't like having yes people around me. I just want somebody to tell me the truth, tell me what's going on, what they see. If I start swaying from being Brooks Koepka, then I want someone to call me out on it, and he did a helluva job on it,' said Koepka of the talking-to earlier in the week from coach Cowen.
New York Times
4 hours ago
- Sport
- New York Times
US Open 2025 live updates: Round 2 latest including today's tee times, leaderboard and how to watch
Follow live coverage from Oakmont where J.J. Spaun leads with two-time US Open winner Brooks Koepka among those chasing Getty Images
Al Jazeera
4 hours ago
- Sport
- Al Jazeera
Scheffler and McIlroy struggle on first day of US Open
Scottie Scheffler has kept coming back to the same answer when asked in different ways about how a day that began with optimism at the United States Open turned into a five-and-a-half-hour slog that left him well off the front page of the leaderboard. 'I've probably got to give myself a few more looks,' the world's top-ranked player said Thursday after a 3-over 73 left him seven shots behind frontrunner JJ Spaun. Scheffler was talking about looks for reasonable birdie putts. Those didn't happen nearly enough during those often arduous hours at the Oakmont Country Club in Oakmont, Pennsylvania. As for plain old 'looks', however, well, the three-time major winner had those in abundance. Looks of frustration, like when his drive on the par-5 12th landed in the middle of a fairway that slopes massively from left to right and kept rolling, and rolling, and rolling until it was in the first cut of the course's signature ankle-deep rough. Looks of bafflement, like when his 1.8-metre (6ft) par putt at the par-3 13th slid by, causing him to put his hand over his mouth and turn to caddie Ted Scott as if to say, 'What just happened?' Looks of anger, like when his wedge from 76 metres (83 yards) on the easy (by Oakmont standards) par-4 14th landed 12 metres (40ft) past the hole. Scheffler slammed the club into the ground before collecting himself to two-putt. Looks of annoyance, when his 3.7-metre (12ft) birdie attempt at the par-4 17th lipped out. Scheffler bent over, pressed his hands on his knees and appeared to sigh before standing back up. That doesn't even include what he described as 'sloppy' bogeys on the par-4 third and par-5 fourth when he found the sand off the tee. It added up to tying his worst opening round in a major ever. He did that at the 2021 Masters, a year before he began a run of dominance not seen since Tiger Woods's prime two decades ago. Heck, he even managed a 1-under 69 at Oakmont as a 19-year-old amateur in 2016. Nine years later, Scheffler's life is very different. When he walked out of the scoring area in the late spring twilight, his toddler son, Bennett, and wife, Meredith, and other members of his family were waiting. The course, however, remains the same physically and mentally draining task it has always been. There's a reason Scheffler teed off at 1:25pm and didn't tap in for par on 18 until 6:52pm even though there wasn't a hint of rain or wind or any other external factors to gum up the works. There was only Oakmont being Oakmont. The fairways that Spaun navigated to a 4-under 66 in the morning dried up throughout the kind of muggy, sun-baked day that's been uncommon during Western Pennsylvania's cool, wet spring. Scheffler made only two putts over 3 metres (10ft), none over the final seven holes and three-putted the par-3 13th. How? He has no idea. Yet he also knows one middling round doesn't necessarily ruin his chances of winning the third leg of the grand slam. Play a little 'sharper' in the second round, and he thinks he might be in a better position come the weekend. 'When you're playing these types of tests that are this challenging, there's usually still a way to score,' he said. He might find them sooner rather than later. In each of Scheffler's 16 PGA Tour victories, he found himself inside the top 30 after 18 holes. He'll be outside that number when he puts his tee in the ground at No 10 on Friday morning to start his second round. 'I'll clean up some of those mistakes, a couple three putts and stuff like that,' he said on Thursday. 'And I think tomorrow will be a better day.' Rory McIlroy, still looking to regain the form that helped him complete a career Grand Slam at the Masters in April, started on the back nine and made two early birdies to reach the turn just two shots back of Spaun before a wayward second nine. World number two McIlroy made four bogeys over a seven-hole stretch out of the turn, followed by a double bogey at the par-3 eighth, where he left his tee shot in the thick rough and failed to get out on his first attempt. He signed for a 74. Defending champion Bryson DeChambeau, one of 14 LIV Golf players in the field and looking to become the first repeat US Open winner since Brooks Koepka in 2018, spent too much time in Oakmont's penal rough and opened with a 73. 'It was a brutal test of golf. But one that I'm excited for tomorrow,' DeChambeau said.
TimesLIVE
6 hours ago
- Sport
- TimesLIVE
Spaun tames Oakmont for US Open lead while big names struggle
Unheralded JJ Spaun outshone the game's top players and led the US. Open by one shot after the first round on Thursday at steamy Oakmont Country Club, where the big names Scottie Scheffler, Bryson DeChambeau and Rory McIlroy all struggled. Much of the talk this week has been how the notoriously challenging course would keep scores in check, and while the layout did bare its teeth, Spaun managed the day's only bogey-free round and eighth ever in a US Open at Oakmont. Spaun, who lost to McIlroy in a playoff at The Players Championship in March, fired a four-under-par 66 that marked his lowest round in a major and left him one shot clear of South African Thriston Lawrence. "I hit a lot of good shots and tried to capitalise on any birdie opportunities, which aren't very many out here," said Spaun. "But I scrambled well, too, which is a huge component to playing well at a US Open, let alone shoot a bogey-free round." South Korean Kim Si-woo, whose birdie attempt at his final hole just missed the cup, was two shots off the pace and in a three-way share of third place with five-times major champion Brooks Koepka and Im Sung-jae. Spaun, who started on the back nine, made his move early and reached the turn with four birdies on his card to become the first player ever to play his first nine holes in the opening round of the US Open at Oakmont at 31 strokes or fewer.
