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There was a Thursday spell where it felt like Oakmont had poked the bear. Rory McIlroy was two under par, he had fired a drive 392 yards; it seemed the Masters champion had his mojo back. McIlroy has been in uncharted, strange psychological territory since completion of the career grand slam at Augusta National in April.
Oakmont and the US Open then jabbed back in the manner only Oakmont and the US Open know. By the time McIlroy walked from the ninth green, his last, he had taken 74 shots including a second half of 41. He took a double-bogey five at the 8th. McIlroy’s demeanour showed he still cares.
This score was not in itself disastrous. McIlroy missed the cut here in 2016, meaning pre-event expectations may not have been particularly high. Shane Lowry, playing in McIlroy’s company this time, slumped to a 79. Justin Rose could manage no better than 77. Scottie Scheffler 73, Dustin Johnson 75. Johnson, Oakmont’s champion in 2016, clean shanked an iron from the middle of the fairway at one point. It is just difficult to square the sensation that was McIlroy donning the Green Jacket with what has transpired since.
His situation is multi-faceted. The mindset adjustment required after winning not only the Masters but the major set and a first of the big four in more than a decade is complicated. It is easy to understand why McIlroy might not be suitably motivated having reached his holy grail. He has enjoyed being only the sixth career slam winner in history, which is to be commended.
There are also technical issues. McIlroy was 50th overall for driving accuracy at Augusta and 46th in the field during round four. At the Players Championship, which he also won, he hit 27 of 56 fairways. Glory in 2025 thus far has therefore been on account of spirit and occasionally magical recovery play rather than battering courses into submission with tee shots. The truth is he still looks unconvinced and uncomfortable with his driver in hand. Oakmont, where rough is brutal, exposes that. McIlroy’s putter was unable to save him.
Tommy Fleetwood, Hideki Matsuyama and Matt Fitzpatrick matched McIlroy’s score in the morning wave. So too did Phil Mickelson in what may be his final US Open. Cameron Smith managed no birdies at all en route to his 75. The defending champion, Bryson DeChambeau, was under par through seven but later signed for a 73.
As big names faltered, JJ Spaun stood tall. His round of 66, which was bogey free, was terrific. Golfers swung and missed at Spaun throughout the day. He ended it with a one-stroke lead over Thriston Lawrence.
Spaun won a lot of hearts and minds with his attitude after losing to McIlroy at the Players. Mixing it with the best now seems to come more easily to the 34-year-old. Spaun has matched the lowest US Open first-round score at Oakmont.
“Everyone knows that the more you put yourself there you are going to have better results and the better you’re going to play,” Spaun said. “Eventually you will turn one of those close calls into a win.
“The Players gave a spring in my self-belief because it wasn’t like I faked it. You can maybe fake it at the Sony Open or Cognizant Classic or whatever, but to do that at the Players, a course where I’d never done well historically, and to go head to head with Rory on Sunday, and then the playoff was great for my confidence. Unfortunately I didn’t win, but it was great for me to lean back on that experience and know I can perform on the biggest of stages and handle it with the pressure. There’s going to be a lot of pressure this week too.
“I used to be kind of scared to want the ball, or I guess you could say have the lead or be the one that everyone is chasing. I always was [more] comfortable kind of being a chaser than the one being chased. I was like: ‘You need to embrace this, stop being scared.’ You don’t want to look back thinking, what if I didn’t embrace this, who knows what I would have done, versus yes, I want to be that guy.”
Like Spaun, Robert MacIntyre revelled in the challenge. The Scot dropped a shot on the last but could still be perfectly content with a level-par 70. MacIntyre branded Spaun’s four under “unbelievable”, adding: “It’s just so hard. It’s just every shot, you’re on a knife-edge. Off the tee, this is the most demanding course I have ever played.
“My game’s in great shape. The results haven’t been great, but that’s partly to do with how I’m reacting to disappointment at times.”
Im Sung-jae reached minus five but shipped three shots over the closing stretch. Brooks Koepka’s 68 and the 69 posted by Jon Rahm as shadows lengthened felt notable. Koepka revealed he was subject to a 45-minute “scolding” from his coach, Pete Cowen, on Monday. Oh to have been a fly on that wall.
English (US)