The U.S. Open returns to its most visited venue this week as Major season continues. Here are your five things to know.
A new-look for a familiar venue
Oakmont Country Club has hosted nine U.S. Opens, more than any other course, and is set for its tenth this week. The brainchild of steel magnate Henry Clay Fownes, it's no surprise it has been used so frequently such is its fearsome reputation and how the U.S. Open has come to be known as golf's toughest test. Since it last welcomed the world's best in 2016 on this stage, it has undergone a renovation. The work, carried out by Gil Hanse, was intended to focus on improving drainage and irrigation as part of a bunker restoration project. Oakmont's greens were expanded by a total of 24,000 square feet, creating at least one new hole location on each green. On the 182-yard par-three 13th, for instance, there were previously just two left-side cuppable areas but now there are six. Otherwise, a key focus was on the "edge conditions" on the greens. Balls that are rolling toward the edges will now go off the edges instead of being held up. The greens are also set to be exceptionally fast, running around 15 on the Stimpmeter - considerably quicker than the average on the DP World Tour. Elsewhere, the rough will be thick and brutal, with tournament officials outlinging plans last month for it to be at least five inches.
DeChambeau defends
American Bryson DeChambeau was the winner in 2024 as he won his second U.S. Open at Pinehurst No. 2. He shot a 67 in the third round to establish the first 54-hole lead of his career in a Major, but for a while on the back nine it seemed as if Rory McIlroy would emerge victorious. However, the Northern Irishman - who had the solo lead with four holes remaining - made three bogeys on the final stretch, before DeChambeau got up and down from 50 yards out of a bunker on the final hole to save par and claim a dramatic one-shot victory. By doing so, he became a two-time Major winner and has since registered top five finishes at both the Masters Tournament and US PGA Championship so far this year. The 31-year-old will be looking to become the first player to successfully defend the title since Brooks Koepka in 2018.
The world's top two bidding for more Major glory
So far this season, the leading two golfers in the Official World Golf Ranking have won the first two Majors of the year. In April, Rory McIlroy transcended golf when he became just the sixth player to complete the Career Grand Slam with victory at The Masters. At Augusta National, it was Scottie Scheffler who handed the Green Jacket to McIlroy. A month later, Scheffler ran away with the US PGA Championship title to become a three-time Major winner as the challenge from the chasing pack faded away on the back nine at Quail Hollow. Both arrive in Pennsylvania with three worldwide wins to their name so far this year, meaning much of the focus will be on the game's two biggest stars. McIlroy, though, arrives on the back of a missed cut at the RBC Canadian Open where he struggled with driver issues. With Billy Horschel the only member of the world's top 50 not teeing it up due to injury, success will be by no means a guarentee but they will inevitably be the players with the greatest expectations.
The DP World Tour players breaking new ground
Of the 156 players contesting the 125th U.S. Open, there a host who will be experiencing the challenge that brings for the first time. Among those are seven DP World Tour members making their debuts at America's national championship, with four of those playing in a Major for the first time. All seven came through 36-hole Final Qualifying on either side of the Atlantic over recent weeks. Between them, Niklas Nørgaard, Rasmus Neergaard-Petersen, Joakim Lagergren, Frederic Lacroix, Jacques Kruyswijk, Matthew Jordan and James Nicholas have four DP World Tour titles. The Danish pair of Nørgaard and Neergaard-Petersen are arguably the two best known to American audiences, with the former in his rookie season on the PGA TOUR and the latter - last year's HotelPlanner Tour Number One - having caught the eye so far this year. Lagergren is the most experienced of the others, having made 277 starts on golf's Global Tour, while Lacroix finished alongside the Swede in a share for second at Walton Heath. Kruyswijk, another of the qualifiers in Surrey, won earlier this season in Kenya and came close to adding another title on home soil at the Joburg Open. Nicholas, meanwhile, lost his full playing privileges at the end of his rookie DP World Tour campaign and punched his ticket for Oakmont in his eighth atempt at Final Qualifying. Jordan, who earned his place as an alternate at Walton Heath and was a late addition to the field, already has some Major pedigree with two top tens at The Open.
Fox times it well again for Major run
Heading into last week's RBC Canadian Open, Ryan Fox was facing up to missing out on qualification for the U.S. Open. However, not only did he go on to win his second PGA TOUR title in the space of a month at the end of a four-hole play-off against Sam Burns, but by doing so he moved into the top 60 on the Official World Golf Ranking to secure his place at Oakmont. It was a similar situation ahead of the US PGA Championship, when he made his PGA TOUR breakthrough at the ONEflight Myrtle Beach Classic - again in a play-off - to earn a last-gasp place in the field at Quail Hollow. "I played the PGA and Memorial since then and seem to be making a habit of getting into Majors last minute, which is not a bad problem to have," said Fox, who missed out on the Masters Tournament earlier in the year. He made a strong start in the second Major of the season at Quail Hollow, before going on to finish in a tie for 28th and will hope to capitalise on the momentum from his latest PGA TOUR success on the major stage. This will be the New Zealander's seventh appearance at the U.S. Open, with his best result a tie for 41st on his debut in 2018.
