OAKMONT, Pa. — There was supposed to be carnage during the opening round of the U.S. Open at Oakmont Country Club, the USGA potentially facing the question for the first time in a while of whether they “lost” the golf course. That question was jokingly being bandied about early on Thursday, only in the opposite direction: Are they letting too many red numbers on the leaderboard?
The rough is still thick, the greens still slick, but the course remains softer than everyone had hoped after eight inches of rain fell in the area in the last five weeks. And the best players in the world are taking advantage of that.
Case in point: Teeing off at 7:07 a.m. local time on the 10th tee, J.J. Spaun made four birdies on his first eight holes to take the early lead. When he made the turn with a four-under 31, Spaun had broken a USGA record few figured was in players sites this week. That was the lowest opening-nine hole score in the U.S. Open history.
This is Spaun’s second career U.S. Open start, the other coming in 2021 at Torrey Pines, where he missed the cut with rounds of 77-75. Mind you, the 34-year-old San Diego native is having arguably the best year of his career. He took Rory McIlroy to a playoff at the Players Championship in March, falling in extra holes. That was his second runner-up finish in 2025 after a T-2 showing at the Cognizant Classic. He also finished T-3 at the Sony Open in Hawaii. He currently ranks sixth in the FedEx Cup points list and 13th in the U.S. Ryder Cup standings.
Spaun remained at four under with four holes to play, keeping in his sites the record for the lowest first round ever shot in a U.S. Open at Oakmont. That mark is held by Andrew Landry, who shot a four-under 66 in the opening round in 2016.
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This article was originally published on golfdigest.com
