Thursday At The 125th U.S. Open
Spaun opens with bogey-free 66 as Koepka, Rahm loom. Notes and quotes from round one that included an albatross and the usual Oakmont carnage.
Round One By The Numbers
66: Low round by JJ Spaun (lowest in his major career, ties for lowest at Oakmont)
31: Opening nine by Spaun, first time in U.S. Open history anyone has opened in 31 or better
8th: Bogey-free round in an Oakmont U.S. Open (Spaun)
86: High round by George Duangmanee
72: Lowest score by an amateur, Jackson Koivun
10: Rounds under par (11 in 2016)
74.633: First round scoring average (74.23 in 2016)
73: Score of defending champ/creator Bryson DeChambeau
1st: Eagle 2 on the third hole in ten U.S. Opens at Oakmont (Shane Lowry)
32-41: Gary Woodland’s first and second nine scores
404: Yardage of Niklas Noorgaard’s 1st hole tee shot (made 5)
30.77%: Of drives finishing in the 12th fairway (48/156)
30.77%: Of tee shots hitting the par-3 8th green in regulation (48/156)
5:35: Time in hours and minutes it took the first group to play 18 holes
5:54: Time in hours and minutes it took the final group to play 18 holes
8:36 p.m.: First round completion time
The alibi artists moved aside and J.J. Spaun painted a round one beauty.
The 34-year-old Players Championship runner-up posted a bogey-free 66 and leads the 125th U.S. Open by one over Thriston Lawrence. Three players posted opening 68’s: Sungjae Im, Brooks Koepka, and Si Woo Kim.
“I was actually pretty nervous,” Spaun said. “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 don't know, I kind of 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.”
Teeing off in the third group at the 10th tee, Spaun hit only eight of 14 greens and 12 of 18 greens, but gained four strokes with 26 putts on Oakmont’s treacherous greens. Spaun’s four birdies all came on Oakmont’s back nine (10th, 12th, 16th and 17th.)
By going bogey-free, Spaun joins select company in Oakmont bogey-free lore:
Year RD Player
1953 1 Ben Hogan (won)
1973 2 Gene Borek
1994 1 Scott Verplank
1994 3 Loren Roberts
1994 2 John Cook
1994 2 Wayne Levi
2016 1 Dustin Johnson (won)
2025 1 J.J. Spaun
Spaun’s only flirtation with a bogey came at the par-5 fourth, where he drove into the Church Pews and needed an eight-footer for a par.
“I hadn't really been near the church pews all week, so I didn't know if it's really heavy, thick fescue to where it could maybe be lost,” he said. “I actually said, do I need to hit a provisional in case for like lost ball? Because we were kind of getting behind. My caddie was like, we'll find it, I guess, and then we did, and I don't know if you saw but it was literally on the wall of the church pew, and I had to almost kneel my left leg, foot down in the bunker.”
This And That
With birdies at his final two holes, Brooks Koepka ended a streak of 28 consecutive major championship rounds without a top-10 presence dating to his 2023 PGA win.
11 of the last 12 U.S. Open champions broke 70 in the first round. The exception: Brooks Koepka (75) at Shinnecock Hills in 2018.
Scottie Scheffler (73/T49) has never come back from outside the top 30 at the end of the first round to win an official event.
With his start Thursday, Adam Scott (70) has now appeared in 96 consecutive majors dating back to the 2001 Open Championship. Only Jack Nicklaus has more consecutive major appearances (146, 1962-1998).
Albatross!
Patrick Reed's round one albatross at the par-5 fourth was the fourth in recorded U.S. Open history.
After a 332-yard drive, Reed holed his obstructed view shot from 286 yards. The others to make two on a U.S. Open par-5.
TC Chen (1985 at Oakland Hills, Round 1, Hole 2),
Shaun Micheel (2010 at Pebble Beach, Round 4, Hole 6)
Nick Watney (2012 at The Olympic Club, Round 1, Hole 17).
Quotable
J.J. Spaun on his bogey-free 66. “I kind of came out here with no prior history at Oakmont, not really knowing what to expect even U.S. 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.”