5 things to know for Friday’s second round

The 2025 U.S. Open is off and running, and the first day of play unleashed a number of surprises. J.J. Spaun leads at four under par, Scottie Scheffler is seven shots off the pace, and Brooks Koepka is right in the mix at another U.S. Open.

What’s in store for Round 2? Here are five things to know for Friday at Oakmont.

What can we expect from Rory?

Rory McIlroy’s Thursday was a tale of two rounds: a flawless two-under 33 on the back nine (his opening holes), followed by a head-scratching 41 on his second nine. McIlroy ultimately signed for a four-over 74. What went wrong? McIlroy wasn’t talking. He declined to speak with the media after his round.

The good news for McIlroy: He wasn’t alone in his struggles. He’s still sitting on the top half of the leaderboard, and a good round on Friday could get him right back into contention.

J.J. Spaun’s bogey-free day

While Oakmont dug its formidable claws into most of the field on Thursday, one player shined bright. J.J. Spaun managed his way around the beastly course in just 66 strokes, with four birdies and zero bogeys. Did we mention this is only his second U.S. Open appearance ever?

The 34-year-old first-round leader is in the midst of the best year of his career, after finishing runner-up at both the Cognizant Classic and the Players Championship. He’s already proven he can hang with the best down the stretch. Can he do it for three more rounds under major-championship pressure?

Scottie’s off day

Scottie Scheffler has often been compared to the game’s GOATs, Tiger Woods and Jack Nicklaus, and the lead-up to this tournament is no exception. He was the betting favorite by a country mile. So when Scheffler opened with a lackluster round of three over par on Thursday, he received some Tiger-style treatment yet again: what, what? Why isn’t the World No. 1 at the top of the leaderboard?

Expectations for Scheffler are sky-high, just as they were for the Big Cat. But at only seven shots back, Scheffler is in no way out of this tournament. Lest we forget, Scheffler trailed Jhonnatan Vegas’ lead by five shots after the opening round at the PGA Championship — and ended up winning that tournament by five.

Brooks Koepka is back

We should know better than to underestimate the man with five major championships on his resume, and yet, it still feels like a fresh surprise to see Brooks Koepka back near the top of the leaderboard at a major championship.

Koepka hasn’t won a major since the 2023 PGA Championship — not that long ago! — but his play at the majors since then has been decidedly meh. He missed the cut at both the Masters and the PGA this year, and his best finish since that PGA win was T17 at the 2023 U.S. Open.

Is Tuesday’s impressive 68 a sign of more trophies to come?

The defending champ

Bryson DeChambeau entered this week with a fair amount of hype: he’s the defending U.S. Open champion, and finished T5 and T2 at this year’s Masters and U.S. Open, respectively.

But like many of his top-ranked peers, DeChambeau made more bogeys than birdies on Thursday, signing for a round of three over par. Like McIlroy and Scheffler, he’s certainly not out of it with three rounds to play. But Friday will be an important day for positioning heading into the weekend — for DeChambeau, and everyone else.

“>