U.S. Open Round 1: J.J. Spaun Goes Bogey-Free as Oakmont Bites Everyone Else

Oakmont spent Thursday doing what Oakmont does, which is turn the best players in the world into people looking for their ball. J.J. Spaun spent Thursday doing something almost nobody else managed. He went 18 holes without a bogey.

Spaun shot a 4-under 66 to take a one-shot lead after the first round of the 125th U.S. Open. Thriston Lawrence is alone in second after a 67. Si Woo Kim, Brooks Koepka and Sungjae Im are tied for third at 2 under, and Jon Rahm leads a group at 1 under. Only 10 players broke par on a day when the field averaged about 74.6 and the round took more than 13 hours to complete.

The Quiet Man With the Hot Putter

Spaun opened at the 10th and set the tone immediately, chipping in from ankle-deep rough just right of the green. He added a birdie at the par-5 12th, the only hole playing under par at that point, and turned in 4-under 31. According to the PGA TOUR, it was the best first nine in any of the 10 U.S. Opens played at Oakmont.

Then came the part that wins rounds at this place. Spaun closed with 10 straight pars, and he had to work for a lot of them. He holed five par putts from 7 to 16 feet and gained nearly four strokes on the greens, the best putting day in the field. Spaun told reporters it was one of the best putting days he has had all year, and there was no arguing with the card.

The 66 matched Andrew Landry's 2016 effort as the lowest opening round in a U.S. Open at Oakmont. It was also the first time Spaun has ever led a major after any round. This is only his second U.S. Open, and his best major finish before this week was a tie for 23rd at the 2022 Masters.

If the name rings a bell from this spring, it should. Spaun earned his spot in the field as the No. 25 player in the world, a ranking built largely on a run that included a playoff loss to Rory McIlroy at THE PLAYERS Championship in March.

"I didn't really know what to expect especially since I've never played here," Spaun said, per the AP.

Lawrence and the Chasers

Lawrence, the South African, made six birdies on the way to 67 and finished as the closest pursuer. Kim and Im played alongside Koepka, and all three posted 68. Kim's assessment of the day was refreshingly honest.

"Honestly, I don't even know what I'm doing on the course," Kim said.

Koepka, a two-time U.S. Open champion, closed with two birdies and sounded like someone who had been waiting for a day like this. "It's nice to put a good round together. It's been a while," Koepka said.

Rahm's 69 was the strangest good round on the board. He went 11 holes without a birdie, then made an eagle. His summary of Oakmont scoring was perfect. "I played some incredible golf to shoot 1 under, which we don't usually say, right?" Rahm said.

The Big Names Take Their Lumps

Scottie Scheffler arrived as the overwhelming favorite after winning three of his previous four starts by a combined 17 shots. He left Thursday 7 shots back. Scheffler birdied the second from six feet, then found the Church Pew bunkers on both the third and fourth and bogeyed each. He was never under par again and signed for 73, his highest opening round in a U.S. Open.

"I made some silly mistakes out there, but at the same time, I made some key putts," Scheffler said.

McIlroy, the Masters champion, had it going early. He was 2 under through his first nine before the second half came apart. The fourth hole summed it up. He needed three swings to get out of the rough and back to the fairway, then holed a 30-footer just to make bogey. McIlroy shot 41 on the front nine and 74 overall.

Defending champion Bryson DeChambeau also shot 73. On the par-5 12th he was 39 yards from the hole and needed four shots from the rough to reach the green. "It was tough. It was a brutal test of golf," DeChambeau said.

Albatross, Then Chaos

Patrick Reed holed a 3-wood from 286 yards on the par-5 fourth for the first albatross at a U.S. Open in 11 years. He gave back far more than that later on, finishing his round with a triple bogey.

Shane Lowry made the first eagle ever recorded on the par-4 third and still shot 79. Maxwell Moldovan holed out for eagle on the 484-yard first. Tony Finau's approach to the final green hit a sprinkler head and bounced into the grandstand, and Finau still saved par.

Sam Burns had a different kind of finish. Burns was in a good spot until the last four holes, which he played in 5 over to drop to 72.

Friday's Questions

One bad lie in the rough is a bogey here. Two is a disaster. Spaun stayed out of that cycle for 18 holes, and that is the whole game.

The question for Friday is whether the putter stays this hot for a player who has never led a major, and whether Scheffler, McIlroy and DeChambeau can chip away at a deficit before the cut line starts doing the talking. For now, the leaderboard belongs to a journeyman who walked into Oakmont with no expectations and walked off with the lead.

For the full field and tee times heading in, see our U.S. Open preview. The PGA TOUR's Round 1 wrap (opens in a new tab) has more from Oakmont.

Sources: PGA TOUR (Round 1 wrap and Spaun feature), AP, NBC Sports. More golf coverage on Undrafted.

Photo: PGA TOUR.