The U.S. Open is supposed to be hard. But we’re witnessing a special kind of carnage at Oakmont this year, where many of the world’s best players are struggling.
In the latest episode of Seen and Heard from Oakmont, GOLF senior writers Sean Zak and Dylan Dethier broke down what to make of this year’s test.
Zak described the vibe as players exited the course after the first round: “A lot of frowns, a lot of sweaty brows, a lot of, like, how the hell did I just triple bogey 18?”
“It’s hard to remove the emotion from their reactions and figure out, OK, what do these guys actually think of the golf course?” Dethier added. “Because they’re used to 68 being a good score. Suddenly today, 72, two over par is a good score.”
Whenever top players struggle, the topic of fairness always seems to come up. Here are Oakmont, Zak didn’t think the players were ready to make that claim yet, except in the case of No. 12, which Scottie Scheffler cited as a nearly impossible fairway to hit.
Read more on Oakmont’s difficulty
“I’d love to see the percentage of guys actually able to keep it in that fairway in the afternoon, just because it’s so firm and there’s so much pitch in the fairway,” Scheffler said Thursday. “So there’s little stuff like that, it makes it so challenging. I mean, you can hit a great shot on that hole off the tee and no matter what, it’s probably gonna end up down there in the first cut or the rough.”
Other players conceded that at the U.S. Open, sometimes you have to be satisfied with a higher score than usual.
“I’m extremely happy,” Jon Rahm said of his opening round of 69. “I mean, I played some incredible golf to shoot 1 under, which we don’t usually say, right?”
Ultimately, Zak said he loved the challenge Oakmont is presenting.
“This is a proper setup. This rough is properly a test,” he said.
Scheffler said his approach to taking on Oakmont is simple.
“There’s not a ton of strategy,” he said. “It’s just, you step up there on the tee box and be like, what club can I get into this fairway? And then you try and hit that club into this fairway, and if you don’t, it’s like, all right, how am I gonna get out of this rough and get the ball back into the fairway so I can have a shot at the green?”
Will it get firmer, faster and crazier as the week goes on? Dethier’s not opposed.
“I liked what Xander said. He said, I’m a sicko like everybody else. I just want it to keep getting harder,” Dethier said. “I’m with him. So let’s have a weekend.”
For more from Dethier and Zak — as well as additional player commentary on Oakmont — check out the full episode of Seen and Heard below.
