Spaun of a New Day: Californian’s Bogey-Free 66 Leads at Oakmont

Apparently, J.J. Spaun didn’t get the memo about how daunting Oakmont Country Club can be under U.S. Open conditions, or how it intimidates, bullies and bedevils the world’s best players.

Hosting this historic championship for a record 10th time this week, the venerable western Pennsylvania course has consistently lived up to its reputation for being one of the world’s most difficult. Case in point: before Thursday’s opening round on a sun-splashed mid-June day, only seven players had managed bogey-free rounds in the nine previous U.S. Opens at Oakmont. Even Johnny Miller’s remarkable final-round 63 to win the 1973 championship included a bogey.

Spaun, a 34-year-old from Los Angeles who has enjoyed a breakout season on the PGA Tour, joined that exclusive fraternity, producing a blemish-free, 4-under-par 66 for a one-stroke advantage over Thriston Lawrence.

Lurking two strokes back are two-time champion Brooks Koepka, Sungjae Im and Si Woo Kim. The group at 1-under 69 includes 2021 champion Jon Rahm; Ben Griffin, a two-time PGA Tour winner in 2025; this year’s WM Phoenix Open champion Thomas Detry; Rasmus Neergaard-Petersen and qualifier James Nicholas, the 2019 Ivy League Player of the Year (Yale).

Past champion Jordan Spieth (2015), and major champions Adam Scott and Collin Morikawa carded even-par 70s.

Oakmont, however, was indeed punishing to some of the game’s biggest names. The world’s top three players – Scottie Scheffler (73), Rory McIlroy (74) and Xander Schauffele (72) – were a combined 9 over par. Defending champion Bryson DeChambeau carded a 73, along with 2019 champion Gary Woodland. Past champions Wyndham Clark (74), Matt Fitzpatrick (74), Lucas Glover (74), Dustin Johnson (75) and Justin Rose (77) will need better results in Friday’s second round to give themselves a good chance to make the cut.

Success at Oakmont requires precision and patience. Finding fairways is paramount. Playing too often from the 5-inch primary rough and the bunkers is a recipe for disaster.

Spaun managed his game well, hitting 8 of 14 fairways and 12 of 18 greens. When he was off target, he managed to convert eight par putts of 7 feet or more and was second in strokes-gained putting (+ 4.0). He also holed a chip from the greenside rough on his opening hole of the day, the par-4 10th, to kickstart a first-nine 31 that also included an 11½-footer for birdie on the 327-yard, par-4 17th. He parred his last 10 holes.

“I putted really well,” said Spaun, the owner of one PGA Tour victory, the 2022 Valero Texas Open. “I think today was one of my best putting days I've had maybe all year, especially inside  the makeable range putts, inside 12 feet or so. That's huge for momentum and keeping a round going, and that's kind of what happens here at U.S. Opens.”

Spaun doesn’t have much of a U.S. Open history. His only previous appearance was a missed cut in 2021 at Torrey Pines, just down the road from San Diego State, where he was an All-American and the 2012 Mountain West Conference Player of the Year. There have been sporadic low rounds in major championships, including a 67 and 68 in the 2018 PGA Championship, and a 68 last month in the PGA at Quail Hollow.

But his 2025 season has been a breakthrough, despite no victories. In March, he battled world No. 2 McIlroy in a three-hole aggregate playoff at The Players Championship, which came just after he tied for second at the Cognizant Classic in The Palm Beaches. He also shared third in the season’s first full-field event, the Sony Open in Hawaii, and tied for sixth in last month’s Charles Schwab Challenge.

With improved confidence and a No. 25 world ranking, Spaun arrived at Oakmont in a much different place.

“I don't know why this is happening already or happening at this point in my career,” he said. “I’ve been consistently right there. And everyone knows that the more you put yourself there, the better you're going to have results and the better you're going to play, and eventually turn one of those close calls into a win.

“The Players was  a kind of spring into the self-belief because it wasn't like I faked it. To do that at The Players, a course where I'd never done well historically, and go head-to-head with Rory on Sunday, and then the playoff, was great for my confidence.”

Lawrence, a 28-year-old South African with four victories on the DP World Tour who is making just his second U.S. Open start, showed that birdies can be plentiful at Oakmont. His six on Thursday were the most by any competitor in Round 1.

“Birdies on this golf course are nice,” said Lawrence, who could be the second from his country to win a U.S. Open at Oakmont, following Ernie Els in 1994. “Doesn't matter if it's easy or tough. There is a lot of chances if you're playing well, but I don't think it's going to happen too often, especially when it firms up. To make a couple birdies was quite fun.”

Im briefly took the lead at 5 under par with consecutive birdies on Nos. 1 and 2, his 10th and 11th holes of the round. He also had three consecutive birdies on his first nine. But he made three bogeys over his final seven holes. His countryman and past Players champion Si Woo Kim offset four birdies with two bogeys. It’s the first time since 2011 that two players from Korea placed in the top 5 at a U.S. Open after any round.

Koepka, a five-time major champion who captured consecutive U.S. Open titles in 2017 and ‘18, birdied his final two holes to put himself in position for a run at his third U.S. Open title. The Floridian has not seriously contended in a major since winning the 2023 PGA at Oak Hill Country Club.

Notable

• Matt Vogt, a 34-year-old dentist from Pittsburgh, Pa., who now resides in Indianapolis, had the honor of hitting the opening tee shot. Following a loud ovation, the 6-foot-6 competitor sent his drive into the rough left of the adjacent 9th fairway. He still managed to make par en route to an 82.
  
  
• Zac Blair registered the first birdie of the championship, converting a 44-foot putt on the par-4 10th hole.
  
  
• The first eagle of the championship came early, and not on a par 5. Max Moldovan, a former standout at Ohio State, holed out from 191 yards on the 484-yard, par-4 first hole with an 8-iron. The ball landed on the front of the green and trickled some 30 feet, drawing a loud roar from fans. According to Elias Sports Bureau, it’s the first 2 ever recorded on Oakmont’s opening hole in a U.S. Open.
  
  
• Not to be outdone, 2016 runner-up Shane Lowry made the first-ever eagle 2 on the par-4 3rd hole in Oakmont U.S. Open history.  
  
  
• In the afternoon wave, Patrick Reed holed out from 286 yards with a 3-wood on the par-5 4^th hole for the fourth albatross in U.S. Open history. Previously, Nick Watney recorded one in 2012 at The Olympic Club (17th hole), Shaun Micheel achieved the feat in 2010 at Pebble Beach (sixth hole), and T.C. Chen had one in 1985 at Oakland Hills (second hole).
  
  
• Brooks Koepka’s 68 was his 11th in 12 U.S. Open starts, moving him to fifth all-time in rounds of 68 or better in the championship. The 2017 and ’18 champion trails only past champions Jack Nicklaus (17), Raymond Floyd (14), Rory McIlroy (14) and Tom Watson (12).
  
  
• The first-round scoring average of 74.61 was slightly lower than 2007 (75.32) and four-tenths higher than 2016 (74.32). At a stroke average of 4.54, the 463-yard, par-4 9th was statistically the toughest hole, while the 621-yard, par-5 4th was the easiest at 4.91. It yielded 43 birdies, three eagles and an albatross.
  
  
• A total of 10 players posted sub-70 rounds, matching the total of 2016. Only two players broke 70 in 2007, including the eventual champion, Angel Cabrera.

Quotable

“It's such a blur when you're playing. But I hear a lot of like, ‘Go J.J.’ chants and stuff like that. It's really cool to see the magnitude of this championship and at such a historic venue, and to see the beautiful clubhouse in the background. But you're just trying to stay in the moment. You want to say, like, thank you to everyone that's telling you, good playing, but you end up saying it 50 times in one hole.” – J.J. Spaun

“Honestly, I don't even know what I'm doing on the course. Kind of hitting good but feel like this course is too hard for me. So kind of like no expectation, but I played great today.” – Si Woo Kim after posting a 68

“I feel like it fairly suits me. A lot can change, obviously. It could firm up. It could go soft again. I'm hitting the driver really well. I'm putting decent. Iron play has always been fairly good. I like a tough test, and I feel like from the tee, just the distance I hit it… my targets are quite big for the distance I hit it off the tee.” – Thriston Lawrence on Oakmont

“I feel good. It's nice to put a good round together. It's been a while. I've been working hard, just got into some bad habits and bad swing positions. We worked pretty hard last week, [instructors] Pete Cowen and Jeff Pierce were on me pretty good, and Pete got into me again on Monday, in the bunker for about 45 minutes. I just sat there, and he scolded me pretty well.” – Brooks Koepka

“Yeah, I watched [the early morning coverage]. I think it helps. It's not exactly the same conditions, and in the afternoon, it dried up a little bit. Some of those holes were playing a little shorter. Some of those bounces were maybe slightly firmer. But it always helps to see. When you see someone like J.J. [Spaun] go out and shoot 4 under, you say, well, it's doable. It's hard, but it's doable.” – Jon Rahm

“Overall, I played really well. I [got to] 5 under but ended up at 2 under. I made a couple of putting mistakes. Basically, I planned to shoot under par, so I made the goal.” – Sungjae Im

“I hope that I represented the city [of Pittsburgh] [and] Oakmont with pride today. I don't want this to be all about me this week. All this has been incredible… It means a ton to hit that first tee ball. Right now, playing poorly really stings. I know I'll look back on it, and that will help save things.” – Matt Vogt

David Shefter is a senior staff writer at the USGA. Email him at dshefter@usga.org.