;)
Rory McIlroy struggled to sustain his early momentum on Thursday at Oakmont.
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Check in after each round of the 2025 U.S. Open for the unfiltered opinions of our writers and editors as they break down the hottest topics of the championship, and join the conversation by tweeting us @golf_com.
J.J. Spaun set the early pace at Oakmont with a bogey-free 66, while former major champs like Brooks Koepka, Jon Rahm, Collin Morikawa, Jordan Spieth and Adam Scott posted tidy rounds of their own. Meanwhile, tourney favorites Scottie Scheffler, Rory McIlroy and Bryson DeChambeau struggled to maintain any momentum during their opening rounds. That said, what was the biggest surprise on Day 1 at the U.S. Open?
Josh Sens, senior writer (@joshsens): I didn’t have a 3-over round from Scheffler on my bingo card. But the more interesting surprise came from McIlroy, Or should I say surprises. First: the hot start when he’d been mostly written off by pundits pre-tournament. And then the spiral that sent him from minus 2 to plus 4 for the day. Interesting course. Interesting player. Funny things happen when you pair the two.
Dylan Dethier, senior writer (@dylan_dethier): Scottie was such a heavy pre-tournament favorite that I think a lot of people expected him to get in the mix and stay in the mix from his first birdie, which came at No. 2. He still beat the field average and, at three-over par, is very much in this golf tournament. But he’ll have to catch some very good golfers if he’s going to make it two majors in a row.
Zephyr Melton, assistant editor (@zephyrmelton): It’s gotta be J.J. Spaun getting around Oakmont bogey-free, right? The journeyman has been having a solid year, but putting together a clean card at Oakmont on a day when so many stars (Rory, Scottie, Bryson, etc.) shot over-par rounds is some seriously impressive stuff. Take a bow, Mr. Spaun.
Nick Piastowski, senior editor (@nickpia): I’ll go with Brooks Koepka. Or maybe it should be surprising that we doubted Koepka. But the five-time major winner had shown fair-at-best form this year on the LIV Golf circuit —tie for 33rd, tie for seventh, tie for 35th, second, tie for 18th, tie for 30th, tie for 17th and tie for 33rd — and he missed the cut at the Masters and the PGA Championship. Then he came out and fired a two-under 68, and we should’ve known better: This is a major, and he’s major Brooks.
Josh Schrock, associate news editor (@Schrock_And_Awe): The easy answer is Spaun’s bogey-free round but I think I’m with Nick on this one. Brooks has been MIA from the majors since his win at the 2023 PGA Championship. At last month’s PGA Championship, he shot 75-76 to miss the cut by a mile. His only fireworks came when he invited a heckler to come and say something to his face. Based on his post-round presser, Koepka has some of his swagger back this week. The test at Oakmont would suit the major-killer Koepka perfectly. I’m interested to see which version of Brooks shows up over the next three rounds.
