3 Things to Know: 125th U.S. Open, Round 2

Many U.S. Open fans and commentators love to watch how players contend with the typically daunting conditions. More than a dozen scores of 80 or higher on Thursday, coupled with a  stroke average of 74.6 – the highest since Round 4 in 2020 at Winged Foot Golf Club – are evidence that the 156 competitors encountered plenty of difficulty with the Oakmont Country Club layout.

However, many who tuned into the Thursday coverage might have also noted as many as 23 players under par at one point, a relative “sea of red” that might not seem to equate with the image of golf’s toughest test. Fear not, if you tuned in for wayward approaches and frustrated faces. There were, and will be plenty more, of both.

John Bodenhamer, the USGA’s chief championships officer, knows a thing or two about challenging the game’s elite, which certainly played a role in Oakmont being named in 2021 as one of the USGA’s trio of U.S. Open anchor sites, along with Pinehurst No. 2 and Pebble Beach. Even Scottie Scheffler, the world’s No. 1 player, could attest after making six bogeys in a round of 3-over-par 73 that Oakmont meets the standard Bodenhamer described on the eve of the championship: “Oakmont is relentless. There’s no letup. It’s a grind. That’s the U.S. Open.”

Here are 3 Things to Know for Round 2:

Day 1 Dichotomy

Rounds 1 and 2 of the U.S. Open are a balancing act for the setup and agronomy teams – presenting sufficient difficulty, while also ensuring that a field of 156 players can navigate their way around the golf course. If recent U.S. Open history has taught us anything, Round 1 often serves as a prelude before the challenge truly ramps up.

That total of 23 players under par at one point on Thursday had dwindled to 10 by day’s end. One only needs to review the aforementioned 2020 championship at vaunted Winged Foot to see that Day 1 doesn’t necessarily offer an accurate recipe for what is to come. Justin Thomas led there with a 5-under 65 as a whopping 21 players bettered the par of 70. By the end of Round 2, only six players were under par. That slipped to just three players after 54 holes, and only one – champion Bryson DeChambeau – after 72 holes.

Similarly, in 2023 at The Los Angeles Country Club, Rickie Fowler and Xander Schauffele shot matching record scores of 8-under 62 in Round 1, leading a parade of 13 players at 67 or better. Wyndham Clark’s winning total at week’s end was just 10-under-par 270, with 13 players finishing at 3 under or better through 72 holes, the same number at 3 under as there were through Round 1.

Expect Oakmont to become even more of a gauntlet as the week continues.

Beware the Front-runners

If the U.S. Open were a horse race, it would not favor a come-from-behind specialist.

Nine of the last 11 champions were among the top 10 on the leader board at the end of Round 1, including Bryson DeChambeau last year at Pinehurst No. 2 (T-4). However, none of the last 10 champions had a share of the Round 1 lead. The last champion to hold at least a share of the lead at the end of Day 1 was Martin Kaymer, who went wire-to-wire in 2014 at Pinehurst.

Interestingly, each of the last three champions at Oakmont was in second place (outright or tied) at the end of Round 1: Ernie Els in 1994 (T-2), Angel Cabrera in 2007 (2nd) and Dustin Johnson in 2016 (T-2). Does that put Thriston Lawrence of South Africa, currently alone in second, in the driver’s seat?

Among the 10 players under par and in the top 10 after Round 1 are two U.S. Open champions who boast multiple major titles: 2017 and 2018 champion Brooks Koepka birdied his last two holes for a 2-under 68 (T-3) and 2021 champion Jon Rahm posted 1-under 69 (T-7). Jordan Spieth, the 2015 champion, is T-11 after an opening even-par 70 on Thursday, by far his best start in eight years in a U.S. Open (his previous best in that span was T-50 last year).

Interestingly, Koepka is the only one of the past 12 champions to not break 70 in Round 1. He rallied from an opening 75 (T-46) in his 2018 title defense at Shinnecock Hills.

Rory’s Run in Jeopardy

Over the past six years, Rory McIlroy has put together a remarkable run of consistency in the U.S. Open, with consecutive top 10s since 2019 (T9, T8, T7, T5, 2nd, 2nd). The only players to earn top 10s in seven or more consecutive U.S. Opens are Ben Hogan (12 consecutive top 10s from 1940-1956, with a World War II hiatus), Bob Jones (seven, 1920-1926) and Stewart Gardner (seven, 1900-1906). After an incoming nine of 6-over 41 on Thursday, McIlroy signed for a 4-over 74 and stands in a tie for 66th, with the top 60 and ties playing the weekend.

The last player before McIlroy with a top-10 finish in six consecutive U.S. Opens was Jack Nicklaus (1977-1982). As he seeks to make the weekend, Rory can take heart in the knowledge that no player has more U.S. Open rounds in the 60s since 2020 than he does, with 12.

Among major champions and other notables in danger of missing the weekend through Day 1 are Hideki Matsuyama and Tommy Fleetwood, at 74; Dustin Johnson and Phil Mickelson, at 75; Justin Thomas and Patrick Cantlay, at 76; as well as Justin Rose (77), Sepp Straka (78) and Shane Lowry (79).

The need to improve their standing – or at least not fall farther back – will be countered by the knowledge that, as Bodenhamer noted of Oakmont, “There are limited opportunities to catch up once you get behind.”

Ron Driscoll is a contributing writer and editor for the USGA. Email him at v-rdriscoll@usga.org.