Here are 5 Stats to Know heading into the weekend of the 125th U.S. Open, the record 10th time it has been held at Oakmont Country Club.
- Sam Burns has now held at least a share of the 36-hole lead eight times as a member of the PGA Tour, though this is the first time in a major championship. In the previous seven instances (five of which occurred in 2021), he has gone on to win once: the 2021 Valspar Championship. That proved to be the first of five PGA Tour victories for the native of Shreveport, La. His only top-10 finish in 20 previous major-championship starts is a T-9 in last year’s U.S. Open at Pinehurst.
- Of the 36-hole leaders or co-leaders in the seven most recent U.S. Opens at Oakmont (since 1953), three went on to win – Ben Hogan (1953), Angel Cabrera (2007) and Dustin Johnson (2016). Cabrera and Johnson both held solo 36-hole leads before slipping four strokes behind through 54 holes, then rallying to win. Hogan was a wire-to-wire champion who led by two strokes after 36 holes, by one after 54 and wound up defeating runner-up Sam Snead by six. Two other 36-hole leaders, Arnold Palmer (who shared it with Bob Rosburg in 1962) and Colin Montgomerie (1994) went on to lose in 18-hole playoffs: Palmer to Jack Nicklaus, and Montgomerie to Ernie Els; Loren Roberts, who posted a 64 that week, was also part of that 1994 playoff.
- Can Adam Scott continue his solid play and go on to win? Scott, of Australia, who is tied for fourth at even-par 140 through 36 holes, is 44 years old and competing in his 96th consecutive major and 24th consecutive U.S. Open. He is the fifth-oldest player to be in the top five of a U.S. Open in the past 20 years. Four years ago, Richard Bland, of England, held a share of the 36-hole lead at age 48 on the South Course at Torrey Pines; he slipped back to finish in a tie for 50th. The others older than Scott were Steve Stricker (46 years old in 2013), who was T-3 after 36 holes at Merion and went on to finish T-8; Rocco Mediate (45 in 2008), who was tied for second after 36 holes and would lose to Tiger Woods in a memorable playoff at Torrey Pines that went 19 holes; and David Toms, who held a share of the 36-hole lead at The Olympic Club in 2012 at age 45 and went on to finish T-4.
- Conditions are daunting at Oakmont this week, but the scoring average through 36 holes trails four others on the list of the toughest in the past 25 years, including one previous edition at Oakmont. The 2025 scoring average of 74.71 is tied with Merion Golf Club in 2013, and is behind Oakmont in 2007 (76.11), Bethpage Black in 2002 (75.67), Winged Foot in 2006 (75.51), and Shinnecock Hills in 2018 (75.04). Oakmont, in 2007, also marks the only time in the past 25 years that there wasn’t at least one player under par through 36 holes. Angel Cabrera led the way at even-par 140 en route to victory at 5-over 285.
- Of the 11 players within five strokes of the lead through 36 holes, six are international players and five are from the United States. International players won eight of the 11 U.S. Open championships held between 2004 and 2014, while players representing the U.S. have won eight of the 10 U.S. Open championships held since then. The recent exceptions are Jon Rahm (2021 at Torrey Pines) and Matt Fitzpatrick (2022 at The Country Club). From 1928 to 1964, Americans won 33 consecutive U.S. Opens.
Ron Driscoll is a freelance writer and editor for the USGA. Email him at v-rdriscoll@usga.org. Material from Elias Sports Bureau was used in this article.
