The 2025 U.S. Open at Oakmont: 18 Parting Thoughts

No tournament feels as long as the United States Open. It’s a battle of attrition–especially at Oakmont, especially with an hour-plus rain delay on Sunday. We’re tired just from watching.

But as is always the case, the guy who leaves with the trophy is the one who closes strongest. J.J. Spaun overcame a nightmare start on Sunday to shoot a back-nine 32 that included birdies on the final two holes to win his first major championship. There is so, so much to discuss.

Here are 18 Parting Thoughts on J.J. Spaun’s dream week.

1. That was a different type of major championship winner.

The last six majors prior to this one were won by Scottie Scheffler, Xander Schauffele, Bryson DeChambeau and Rory McIlroy. Those are legacy guys. We talked about where they ranked among the all-time greats, how many majors they’d finish with.

With Spaun? This is about a journeyman tour pro finding something in his mid 30s, elevating his game to an entirely new level and completing a dream that seemed so impossible just a few years ago. This was just the second U.S. Open that Spaun had played in.

“It’s fun,” Spaun said Saturday. “I mean, this is the first time for me to be in contention in a major. I mean The Players is an unofficial major, I guess, but yeah, it’s fun. I mean it’s kind of everything that you prepare and hope to have the opportunity to have at these big events, let alone just getting into them are so hard.

“That was me a year ago—I mean a year and prior, like I couldn’t even get into these tournaments. So to see myself here qualifying off World Ranking just based off how I’ve been playing all year was a nice treat. But then to kind of back up how I’ve been doing all year and be in contention is fun.”

Until it wasn’t fun at all on Sunday. He got horrible breaks repeatedly on the first four holes. A perfect approach on the second hit the flag and rolled 40+ yards back down the fairway. He bogeyed five of his first six holes. He then dug deep, punched back, and finished like a champion: a perfect drive into the drivable par-4 17th. Birdie. A pumped drive down the center on 18. The golf gods threw him a bone with Viktor Hovland’s ball finishing just outside his on the green, a full 64 feet away, and he watched intently as Hovland’s effort trickled past on the low side. He then hit the putt of his life—the longest putt made all week!—to etch his name into history and lock up a Ryder Cup spot.

“ I never knew how good I could be but I’m just proud of how resilient I’ve been,” he said after. Nothing more to add

2. Robert MacIntyre clapping earnestly after Spaun made his putt is what our game is all about.

MacIntyre played his heart out all weekend (69-68) and got in the house at one-over 281. Spaun’s birdie on 17 meant he needed just a par on 18, but surely MacIntyre held out hope of a three-putt.

Then the putt went in, and MacIntyre knew he’d been well beaten. That happens in this game. You don’t get bitter when that happens. You applaud.

3. You have to feel for Adam Scott.

There’s an extra heaviness when you’re in contention in a major in your mid 40s. You just can’t be sure you’ll be in that position again. The fans on-site tried to will Scott across the finish line. There wouldn’t have been a more popular winner than him. He’s a legend of this game—the swing, the comportment, the overall style—and if anyone “deserves” a second major championship, it’s him.

But that word—deserves—means nothing in our game. For every cosmic victory like Rory’s at Augusta, there’s heartbreak like Scott's at Oakmont. He shot 79 on Sunday. Never had it, and a slow bleed to an outside-the-top-10 finish.

Let’s hope there’s another run in there. He’s certainly hitting it far enough—the guy somehow seems to add a few MPH every year and he was up in the high 180s throughout the weekend. But he couldn’t get it done. Not this time.

4. I found myself missing the trees.

Tree-Hugger Dan, I guess. It’s a worldwide trend—when an old golf course gets restored or renovated or whatever word they want to use, the architect by and large looks at original pictures of the course, sees there were far fewer trees, then the chainsaws come out. We’ve seen this to varying degrees on Gil Hanse-restored U.S. Open venues already—the Country Club, Winged Foot and Los Angeles Country Club—but none have taken it to the extreme that Oakmont has. Scroll through this thread from Jamie Kennedy of Golf Digest for some jarring before and afters.

I miss the trees. It doesn’t have to be black and white. I totally understand the logic of there weren’t trees initially, why should there be now? I also understand getting rid of trees helps growing conditions and generally leads to healthier turf. But must we clear it entirely? Plenty of golf courses have done mass tree removal while keeping a few strategic ones.

Call me old-school (or new school), but trees on golf courses are sort of part of the deal in the non-coastal United States. Look around Oakmont and you’ll see rolling hills covered with them. That’s what’s different about Oakmont vs., say, the Old Course at St. Andrews or even Shinnecock. Those courses are next to the ocean. A piece of property with no trees doesn’t look out of place. Oakmont looks a bit naked to me. There’s also not a single ounce of shade around the entire property.

Trees are fun! You hit a shot off line. Can I get it under that tree? Around that tree? Over that one? They’re beautiful. They frame holes. There were so many holes this week where, standing on the tee, it looked like guys were hitting into a wide-open field. And again, that’s what you’re expecting on a seaside links. But in suburban Pittsburgh?

Of course, Oakmont and its members are entitled to do whatever they please with their course. I would just contend that they went overboard. One or two per hole wouldn’t ruin any of the vistas, and a course like that? Something tells me they could figure out how to grow grass just fine. I missed the trees, and I’m not afraid to say it.

5. Long live the heart of professional golf: Competition.

I had Jeff Hall, Managing Director of Rules & Open Championships at the USGA, on Dan On Golf on Wednesday. I asked him if the USGA staff has any winning score in mind when setting up the course. I knew what his answer would be because I’d read a Reddit Ask Me Anything he’d recently done, but I wanted to hear him say it rather than type it. He said nope; they’re about setting up what they think is the best championship test.

I loved that answer. Not because I didn’t want an over-par winner. I do. I said it countless times leading up to this event. I loved it because that sort of competitive integrity is the basis for professional golf. Fans are interested in a tournament for what it is; the tournament doesn’t make itself what it thinks the fans want. That’s a significant distinction and one that Michael Bamberger points out in his excellent latest work, The Playing Lesson. In professional golf, the competition comes first. Everything around it—innovations and fan experience and marketing strategies—all those come after the competition, not before it.

6. On the flip side…

I harped on in the lead-up to Oakmont about the Utter Woke Nonsense of the last six U.S. Open winners being a combined 47 under par. I was hopeful for our first over-par winning score since the 2018 U.S. Open at Shinneock. It didn’t happen—but due to no fault of Oakmont’s. Pittsburgh had a historically wet spring and Oakmont was pelted with rain on Sunday, Monday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. Thursday was warm with minimal wind and then it was the same on Friday until that weather hit late in the day. About as benign as scoring conditions can get. We saw this type of weather at Congressional in 2011 and the winner was -16 with 20 players finishing the week under par. Same thing at Erin Hills: early-week rain, -16 winning score, 31 players under par. 

At Oakmont? By the 60th hole on Sunday there were only two players under par. The course got dealt about as bad a weather hand as possible and still provided the sternest U.S. Open test since 2018 at Shinnecock. It further brandished its standing as perhaps the ultimate U.S. open venue. 

And yet still, the masochist in me’s a bit perturbed that this is now seven straight U.S. Opens with an under-par winner, albeit only just. The good news: we return to Shinnecock next year..

7. Welcome to the throne, Jackson Koivun.

We have a new King of Amateur Golf after Luke Clanton abdicated (turned professional). His name is Jackson Koivun and he’s a rising junior at Auburn University. Koivun became the world’s No. 1 amateur a few weeks ago, just after locking up his PGA TOUR card through the PGA TOUR U Accelerated program with a top 10 at the NCAA individual competition. (I’ve heard rumblings that getting your tour card through PGA TOUR U Accelerated will be made more difficult after Sargent, Clanton and Koivun have each done it in the last three years, but that’s a discussion for another time). That capped off another excellent season that saw him become the first man since 1979 to win back-to-back SEC Individual titles. He went from that tournament at Omni La Costa near San Diego straight into golf’s longest day, where he shot -11 to get through the Atlanta site. Next came the Palmer Cup, a Ryder Cup-like co-ed competition between the best American and International teams. Then straight to Oakmont, where he opened with a very solid 72 but missed the cut by 1 after a second-round 76.

He’s in a unique position. There is absolutely zero left for him to prove in the amateur game. I’m sure he badly wants to win the U.S. Amateur and NCAAs with Auburn, but he’s not chasing points or status of any kind. So whereas a bunch of the top amateurs will play jam-packed schedules this summer, he’s keeping it light: the John Deere Classic and the ISCO Championship on the PGA Tour, the Western Am, the U.S. Amateur, and that’s it. Time for some rest, I asked?

“I need it.”

Just one amateur made the cut this week and thus won the medal: Justin Hastings, who hails from the Cayman Islands and plays for San Diego State. He earned his place in the field this week by winning the Latin America Amateur Championship and made the most of his week.

8. This was the Maintenance Crew Open, too.

I can’t recall seeing so many khaki-wearing men working on a golf course ever, and I can’t recall seeing so many posts about these khaki-wearing men. It started well before the tournament with media members hyping up leaf blowers. It continued throughout the week, and I couldn’t help but whip out my own phone when I saw 20 men sprinting with mowers on the right side of the 18th fairway on Tuesday—and doing so under the guidance of a captain barking out orders. It felt a touch performative, but isn’t this whole thing a performance? A pretty deep thought, but you know what I mean? Professional golf, professional sports—showmanship’s a feature, not a bug.

9. On D.J. and Brooks' futures.

I’ll make a declaration: Dustin Johnson is done winning majors. I’ll make another: Brooks Koepka is not.

While DJ was doing his pre-tournament press conference on Monday, Johnson was asked how he managed to maneuver around Oakmont under-par when he won his U.S. Open in 2016.

“I drove it really straight,” he said. “I hit a lot of fairways. That was the only reason I shot that well. I don’t know, it seems like it’s tougher this time around, but that’s just maybe with the little bit of added length. It’s going to make it a little more difficult.

“But yeah, somehow I figured out a way to get it under par. It was mostly the driving.”

I’m probably reading too far into this—it’s not the first, nor the last—but to me it felt like someone talking in past tense about their career. Like a grandfather on his porch, sipping a beer at 2 p.m., talking about the three touchdowns he scored in the state championship game. Johnson proceeded to shoot +10 for the two days to miss the cut for the sixth time in his last eight major starts. Whether it’s motivation or age (he’s 40 now), his play has dropped multiple levels the past few years and I don’t get the sense it’ll turn around.

Then there’s Koepka, who opened with 68 but slipped down the board as the week wore on. I remain terrified of Brooks Koepka at the majors. I won’t ever forget what I saw when I first started on the golf beat, he was in total macho domination mode. He, too, has struggled in recent majors (though he won one just two years ago) but I’m far more bullish on his turnaround prospects.

He’s 35. He’s been (mostly) healthy for the past few years. The issue with Koepka has always been motivation. In that regard, what could possibly be better motivation than having Rory McIlroy tie you at five major championships and leapfrog you in the all-time discussions with his career grand slam? Those two are 364 days apart and have always compared themselves with one another. Brooks will win a major championship again, and soon.

10. Speaking of Rory…

I’ve never seen someone more upset with an albatross than Patrick Reed on Thursday, and I’ve never seen someone more upset after achieving Golfing Immortality than Rory McIlroy. We all surmised, understandably so, that his triumph at Augusta would be this massive emotional catharsis that would set him free. It’s still early, but the early returns are pointing to the opposite.

He’s in a mood. Big time. Ornery is a word that comes to mind. He opted not to speak with media after his Thursday and Friday rounds, which, as he’s often reminded us, he’s within his rights to do. Then he did an interview on Saturday and seemed to say he’s annoyed with…the media? Just, everything?

Q: You're so transparent for us and very available. Yesterday was six major rounds in a row you've stepped away. Has that been part and parcel to the frustration on the golf course? What do you attribute it to?

RORY McILROY: No, not really. It's more a frustration with you guys.

Q: In what way?

RORY McILROY: I'm just, yeah, I don't know. I have, I've been totally available for the last few years, and I'm not saying -- maybe not you guys, but maybe more just the whole thing.

Hmmm. Maybe I’m remembering wrong but it sure felt like Augusta was the peak of the Rory McIlroy story. He received nothing but adoration in the days after and all rightfully so. What exactly is he annoyed with? What does “the whole thing” mean?

As far as the driver story, I feel like it sort of came and went? No one with a brain suggested he did anything untoward or called out the legitimacy of his accomplishments. Some people without brains did, but that’s social media, and Rory knows that. He’s the one keeping the story alive. Had he stepped to the mic and said yeah, that driver failed, it happens, time to adjust, it all would’ve gone away. That’s what Scheffler did.

Something’s off here. The smell test. It’s upsetting to watch this play out because it just feels so self-imposed.

He was completely checked out on Saturday afternoon. When asked what he was looking for on Sunday, he said to play in under 4.5 hours and get out of town. He proceeded to shoot a brilliant three-under 67 on Sunday of the U.S. Open at Oakmont. A reminder of his breathtaking natural gifts. The Rory saga rolls on.

11. I’m over no-cut, limited-field events.

I’ve seen a ton of them in golf in recent years and I’ve given them a chance and they stink. The cut is one of the coolest things in our sport. A crucial component to the meritocratic core of golf. Everyone starts at the same score each week, and unless you’re on your shit, you’ll be trunk-slamming on Friday with the rest of the stragglers. Doesn’t matter who you are.

On the other hand, making a cut matters. Philip Barbaree Jr. had to come back Saturday morning to make a nervy putt to get through the weekend at Oakmont. It mattered a ton to him; it gets him straight into second stage of Q-School and it makes him money and it allows him to say he made the cut at the United States Open. It was such a powerful scene that it brought fellow LSU Tiger Sam Burns to tears. It’s really unfortunate that we’ve moved away from 140-player fields with a 36-hole cut in recent years. I get the logic behind the signature events going with such small fields. They want simply qualifying for the event to be a big deal. Qualifying for any event is a big deal! You’re on the PGA Tour! You don’t need to be in the upper echelon of the PGA Tour to be impressive? Bring back more tournaments with 140+ players (or 120 when daylight is shorter), and bring back the cut everywhere. I’m also really sick of seeing Xander Schauffele’s current “cut streak” compared to other all-time streaks where there weren’t so many limited-field, no-cut events. Those events are lame.

12. Jason Day’s range interview before his Saturday round cracked me up.

Day’s a fashion icon on tour these days but reluctantly slow. He’s just trying to wear stuff that’s comfortable and different. He’s not trying to make any crazy statements. I get the feeling he’s a little weary of all the attention he’s getting for his clothes. And you could tell this interview specifically put him in a tough spot.

He showed up wearing all "steel" gray on Saturday. NBC asked him if that was a tribute to the Pittsburgh Steelers. He was clearly caught off guard.

“You know what? No, unfortunately not. I do like the Steel— I do like Pittsburgh sports in general.”

He’s already in a corner here…

“Even though I do live in Columbus, Ohio. My favorite football team is the Cleveland Browns. Even though they have a rivalry, you know, my second favorite team is Pittsburgh. Um and I know I’m gonna get a lot of slack for that. But yeah, I do have the Pittsburgh colors on today. I’ll just leave it at that.”

He knew he stepped in it and he tried his best to wiggle out of it before just running the clock out. It’s like saying, according to Trey Wingo, that your favorite team is the Yankees but your second favorite is the Red Sox. He’s here to look good, not make any political statements!

13. Michael La Sasso has some Paul Skenes vibes.

Skenes has been on the mind—Pittsburgh!—and even made an appearance on Wednesday at Oakmont. La Sasso’s been on the mind, too after the rising Ole Miss senior won the NCAAs in a pair of short shorts that just barely stretched over the biggest quads you’ve seen this side of Saquon Barkley.

They’ve both got a similar country-boy aesthetic. SEC boys. The half-mullet haircut, the unbuttoned polo. La Sasso missed the cut this week but we will hear more from him, and I’m predicting he’ll be a big star. They don’t grow proper SEC Boys on trees.

14. I'll have whatever the Torque GC social media manager is having.

This guy feels things. Here’s a message posted on the LIV franchise’s official account regarding Carlos Ortiz’s run of play from Friday afternoon through Saturday, when he played 27 holes in -6 to get back into contention.

“He came back from the dead, alongside his loyal esquire…Michael Kerr, the Trustworthy. Carlos is living proof that Latin American skin is thicker—that no matter how big the challenge. We shake the dust off our bodies and fight back with all our hearts. The first five holes at The Beast were an arrow to his heart. Everyone thought it was over…But he stood up, pulled that same arrow out, and used it to fight back — to show Oakmont Country Club, and the entire world, that he is Carlos Ortiz: the toughest golfer Mexico has ever produced. And tomorrow, with a wounded body, he’ll return—to remind the world why it’s called Moving Day. Venga Carlos!”

If you thought he emptied the tank with that prose, I have news for you. On their captain, Joaquin Niemann.

“It’s not often we see Joaco Niemann miss a cut. But this is when he needs us most. We stand by our legends — no matter what.”

With support like that, there are no bad weeks.

15. Wyndham, no!

Wyndham Clark credited a newfound ability to regulate his emotions with his career turnaround. He worked hard on his mental game, and it turned him from Just Another Tour Pro into a major champion. Full Swing was all over it. Great story.

Fast forward two years and it sure seems like he’s slipped a bit in the ongoing battle with his temper.

Clark has slowly tumbled the world rankings and stands firmly outside the Ryder Cup picture. We saw some tangible signs of this building frustration at the PGA Championship, where he flung a driver into an ad from his main sponsor, T-Mobile, then had to apologize on social media. It happened again this week. Some videos emerged on social showing him cussing himself out. But the real bomb dropped on Saturday, when No Laying Up’s Tron Carter posted a picture of damage Clark caused to the Oakmont locker room. Those lockers have been there for 100 years. They have little cubbies to hide alcohol from Prohibition Days. They’re a part of our sports history, and vandalizing them is about as low as it gets.

This game tortures you. Especially at U.S. Opens. For one week everyone feels like Tyrrell Hatton for a week. (Tyrrell’s words, not mine). It’s one thing to cuss yourself. It’s another to toss your club. It’s yet another to throw your club into your main sponsor’s ad. It’s another level entirely to take your frustration out on the Oakmont locker room. No bueno.

16. It’s officially time to be concerned about Justin Thomas at the majors.

JT entered major season as a top five player in the world, both on Data Golf and the world rankings, and seemed to have turned a corner. He entered the Masters fresh off a runner-up finish to Viktor Hovland only to never factor at Augusta and finish T36. But he bounced back perfectly, winning the RBC Heritage the very next week (his first signature event win) and took second in his next at the Truist Championship, another signature event. As such, he entered Quail Hollow (where he won one of his majors) as a major favorite.

He missed the cut that week in Charlotte, and he missed it again this week at Oakmont. He has played 13 major championships since he won his second PGA at Southern Hills and he’s missed the cut in seven of them. That is simply not good enough for a player of his caliber. It’s why he headed straight to the range on Saturday morning—he’s pissed. He’s competitive as hell, he knows that he’s going to be judged by the majors, and he’s putting up way too many stinkers in them. He’ll be on the Ryder Cup team regardless, but now there’s just one chance to salvage major season and it comes at the Open, the only major he’s never had a top 10 in.

17. "This, from a moment ago" needs to retire.

This was a major step back in our never-ending crusade against broadcasters saying this, just a moment ago. I recently got YouTube TV (not to brag), and they have this neat quad-box feature so you could watch multiple different feeds at once: the main broadcast, plus featured group coverage. It opened my eyes to just how delayed every shot is on the main telecast, at least ones that come outside the final group. The TV crew watches all the feeds, decides a shot that’s worth showing on the main one, then shows it. It’s a 20-60 second delay for every shot. So why on earth are we arbitrarily deciding which ones to tell the audience aren’t live? The only function it has is to spoil the shot. It’s not like there’s some commitment to truth when every shot is delayed. It’s such a terrible practice.

18. A pretty significant piece of PGA TOUR news dropped mid-U.S. Open week.

The TOUR certainly didn’t want this, but Adam Schefter waits for nobody, and he shared that Brian Rolapp is expected to leave his post as the NFL’s number two and become the new CEO of the PGA TOUR.

The question now is what, if any, working relationship he’ll have with commissioner Jay Monahan. It wouldn’t seem logical for Rolapp to leave his spot as No. 2 at the NFL to take a job as the No. 2 at the PGA TOUR. It’s been widely reported that Monahan’s contract is up at the end of next year, and it’s hard to imagine keeping two massive cooks in the kitchen. Time will tell.