The 2025 United States Open commences on Thursday at the Oakmont Country Club near Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Here are five storylines heading into the third major of the year.
1) Rory McIlroy is ice cold.
Most of the times elite golfers head into a major with momentum. Rory McIlroy is trying to forget about his disastrous performance this past weekend at the RBC Canadian Open. McIlroy had a score of nine-over-par this past week and finished 149th place. It was the worst placement in his professional golf career. According to Ed Carruthers of the Daily Mail, the world number two is struggling from a mental standpoint at this time. Ever since winning the Masters in April, it is personal motivation is what the native of Holywood, Northern Ireland is trying to find the most.
2) Ryan Fox is red hot.
We all know how great American Scottie Scheffler has been. Another golfer who has been great on the greens lately has been Auckland, New Zealand’s Ryan Fox. The 38-year-old has won twice in the last month, with both victories coming in a playoff. Fox first won at Myrtle Beach on May 11 with an exceptional putt in the playoff to beat Canadian Mackenzie Hughes and American Harry Higgs, and then beat Sam Burns in a four-hole playoff near Toronto this past Sunday. Fox has gone from 119th in the world to 32nd.
3) Can anyone beat Scottie Scheffler?
Scheffler is the clear favourite to win the US Open at +280. He is looking for his second consecutive major title after winning the PGA Championship last month. Scheffler’s other wins in 2025 came at the CJ Cup Byron Nelson and the Memorial.
4) Who has won at Oakmont before?
This will be the 10th time the U.S. Open has been at Oakmont. Past champions have been Tommy Armour of Edinburgh, Scotland (1927), Sam Parks Jr. of Bellevue, Pennsylvania (1935), Ben Hogan of Stephenville, Texas (1953), Jack Nicklaus of Columbus, Ohio (1962), Johnny Miller of San Francisco, California (1973), Larry Nelson of Fort Payne, Alabama (1983), Ernie Els of Johannesburg, South Africa (1994), Angel Cabrera of Cordoba, Argentina (2007), and Dustin Johnson of Columbia, South Carolina (2016).
5) Can a LIV player win?
Bryson DeChambeau of Modesto, California has the second best chance of winning the United States Open at +700. He won the United States Open twice before (2020 and 2024).
