OAKMONT, Pa. — J.J. Spaun is still new enough to the U.S. Open, and a newcomer to the brute that is Oakmont Country Club, that he was prepared for anything Thursday.
He wound up with a clean card and a one-shot lead on an opening day at the United States Golf Association’s big show that delivered just about everything.
Top-ranked Scottie Scheffler had more bogeys in one round than he made the entire 72 holes when he won the Memorial Tournament two weeks ago in his most recent start. He shot a 73, his highest first round ever in a U.S. Open — four shots worse than when he made his debut in the 2016 event at Oakmont when he was a 19-year-old college golfer for the Texas Longhorns.
Patrick Reed made the first albatross in 11 years at the U.S. Open when he holed out a 3-wood from 286 yards on the par-5 fourth. He finished with a triple bogey.
Reigning champion Bryson DeChambeau was 39 yards away from the flag at the par-5 12th hole and took four shots from the rough to get to the green.
Si Woo Kim shot a 68 and had no idea how.
“Honestly, I don’t even know what I’m doing on the course,” the South Korean player said. “Kind of hitting good but feel like this course is too hard for me.”
Through it all, Spaun played a steady hand in only his second U.S. Open. The 34-year-old Los Angeles native played a bogey-free round and finished with 10 straight pars for a 4-under 66 on America’s toughest course hosting the major known as the toughest test in golf for a record-extending 10th time.
He matched the low opening round in U.S. Opens at Oakmont — Andrew Landry also shot a 66 in 2016, the ninth time the Pittsburgh-area course hosted — and it was no mystery why. Good putting never fails at any U.S. Open, and Spaun holed five par putts ranging from seven feet to 16 feet to go along with four birdies.
“I didn’t really feel like I’m going to show a bogey-free round 4 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.”
Oakmont lived up to its reputation with a scoring average of 74.6 despite a course still relatively soft from rain and moderate wind that didn’t stick around for long as the 125th U.S. Open got underway.
And oh, that rough.
Just ask Rory McIlroy, although he chose not to speak for the fifth straight competitive round at a major since his playoff victory at the Masters in April to complete the career Grand Slam. The 36-year-old from Northern Ireland had to hack out three times on the fourth hole to get it back to the fairway, and then he holed a 30-foot putt for a most unlikely bogey. He shot a 74.
“Even for a guy like me, I can’t get out of it some of the times, depending on the lie,” DeChambeau said after a 73. “It was tough. It was a brutal test of golf.”
The start of the round included Maxwell Moldovan holing out for an eagle on the 484-yard opening hole. Toward the end, Tony Finau hit an approach just over the green, off a sprinkler head and into the grandstand, his Titleist marked by green paint from the nozzle. He saved par.
When the first round ended more than 13 hours after it started, only 10 players had managed to break par. That’s one fewer than the opening round in 2016.
The two Baylor School graduates in the field were among those tied for 49th at 73. Harris English got there with six bogeys and a trio of birdies that halved the damage; Stephan Jaeger’s four birdies softened the blow of five bogeys, plus a double on No. 4.
Scheffler entered as the heavy favorite after winning three of his past four tournaments by a combined 17 shots. He made a six-foot birdie putt on his second hole, found the famed Church Pew bunkers on the third and fourth holes, made a bogey on each and was never under par the rest of the day.
“I made some silly mistakes out there, but at the same time, I made some key putts and some good momentum saves in my round. But overall just need to be a little sharper,” said Scheffler, a two-time Masters winner who added to his collection of majors by taking the PGA Championship last month at Quail Hollow Club in Charlotte, North Carolina.
Spaun, who started his round by chipping in from ankle-deep rough just right of the 10th green, was walking down the 18th fairway when a spectator looked at the group’s scoreboard and wondered aloud: “J.J. Spaun. He’s 4 under?”
The emphasis was on the number, not the name.
Some of the names were surprising, though, including Spaun. He lost in a playoff to McIlroy at The Players Championship in March, which helped move him to No. 25 in the world and meant he didn’t have to go through U.S. Open qualifying for the first time.
Thriston Lawrence of South Africa, who contended in the British Open last summer at Royal Troon, had six birdies in a round of 67.
And perhaps Brooks Koepka can count as a surprise. After all, the five-time major winner who plays in the LIV Golf League has not contended in one of golf’s biggest four tournaments since winning the PGA Championship in 2023, and he missed the cut in the Masters and the PGA Championship this year.
He looked like the Koepka of old, muscling his way around Oakmont, limiting mistakes and closing with two birdies for a 68 that left him tied for third with Kim and Sungjae Im, another South Korean player.
“It’s nice to put a good round together. It’s been a while,” Koepka said. “It’s been so far off … but now it’s starting to click. Unfortunately, we’re about halfway through the season, so that’s not ideal, but we’re learning.”
Another shot back at 69 was a group that included two-time major champion Jon Rahm, who went 11 holes before making a birdie, then followed that with an eagle.
“I played some incredible golf to shoot 1 under, which we don’t usually say, right?” said the Spaniard from the LIV ranks.
The course allowed plenty of birdies, provided plenty of excitement and doled out plenty of punishment.
McIlroy also was bogey-free, at least on his opening nine. Then he three-putted for a bogey on No. 1 and wound up with a 41 on the front nine for a 74. Sam Burns was one shot out of the lead until playing the last four holes in 5 over for a 72 that felt a lot worse.
Spaun was not immune from this. He just made everything, particularly five par putts from seven feet or longer.
“I think today was one of my best maybe putting days I’ve had maybe all year,” Spaun said. “Converting those putts … that’s huge for momentum and keeping a round going, and that’s kind of what happens here at U.S. Opens.”
Spaun wouldn’t know that from experience, with this not only his second U.S. Open but just his ninth major (his first was the 2018 PGA Championship).
“I haven’t played in too many,” Spaun said “I knew it was going to be tough. I did my best just to grind through it all.”
It was every bit of a grind, from the rough to the fast greens, with three more days of that in store.