OAKMONT, Pa. — For one day at least, J.J. Spaun tamed the brute that is Oakmont Country Club.
The 25th-ranked player in the world grabbed the early lead Thursday after a bogey-free 4-under 66, the only bogey-free round in the morning wave of the first round of the 125th U.S. Open. He started on the back nine and went out in 31, the best opening nine in any U.S. Open at Oakmont.
Spaun led by two shots over Si Woo Kim, who shot 68 early.
Oakmont is hosting the national championship for a record 10th time and is notoriously difficult, with five-inch rough, deep bunkers and lightning-fast greens.
But Spaun, 34, needed just 26 putts in his 18 holes, gaining 4.05 strokes with his putter, the best in the field when he finished. On his second nine (the front nine) he made nine straight pars including an up–and-down from the bunker at the par-3 6th and a two-putt par at the massive 276-yard par-3 8th.
J.J. Spaun... still bogey-free!
— U.S. Open (@usopengolf) June 12, 2025
Impressive par save from our leader on a big bender from 16 feet. pic.twitter.com/IClg1Z35ex
“It was just another kind of round at the U.S. Open,” said Spaun, who is making his second U.S. Open start (he missed the cut in 2021). “Knew it was going to be tough, tried to grind through it all.”
Spaun has one win on the PGA Tour, the 2022 Valero Texas Open, and his best finishes in 2025 are a T2 at the Cognizant Classic in the Palm Beaches and a playoff loss to Rory McIlroy at the Players Championship where his title hopes vanished at the island par-3 17th.
“I’m starting to believe in my performance, my finish at the Players was eye-opening to me to have that self-confidence to play in the biggest stages,” Spaun said. “I’m starting to get comfortable and this week’s off to a very good start.”
The last U.S. Open at Oakmont was 2016 and it had just one bogey-free round, by Dustin Johnson in the first round. He went on to win.
Birdies were available early Thursday but carnage lurked as well. Gary Woodland got to 3 under through the 11th hole yet walked off the 15th at 1 over.
Masters champion Rory McIlroy birdied two of his first three holes (starting on No. 10) but had two bogeys and a double in his last four holes in a round of 74. Bryson DeChambeau, the defending U.S. Open champion, had five bogeys with two birdies in a round of 73, tied for 34th at the time.
World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler teed off in the afternoon.
This article was originally published on www.si.com as J.J. Spaun Fires Bogey-Free 66 at Oakmont to Take Early Lead at U.S. Open.
