The first round of the 2025 U.S. Open at Oakmont Country Club was a challenging test, with the course’s narrow fairways, thick rough, and fast greens living up to its reputation as one of golf’s toughest venues. J.J. Spaun led the field with a bogey-free 4-under 66, matching the record for the lowest Round 1 score in U.S. Open history at Oakmont.
Thriston Lawrence shot a 67 and is alone in second. Brooks Koepka, a two-time champion, finished with a 68, in a tie with Sungjae Im and Si Woo Kim.
Pre-tournament favorite Scottie Scheffler and defending champion Bryson DeChambeau both carded 3-over 73s, while Rory McIlroy, after a promising 2-under front nine, collapsed with a 6-over back nine for a 4-over 74.
U.S. Open second-round tee times
VSiN’s golf experts offered their first-round observations and second-round predictions . . .
Matt Youmans
After a totally unpredictable first round, it’s tough to say where this US Open is headed. This is the golf handicapping version of Mission: Impossible, with leader J.J. Spaun playing the role of Tom Cruise. Spaun posted his first career bogey-free round in a major and it would be nearly impossible for him to go wire to wire. Spaun’s odds closed 140-1 at Circa Sports and he was 80-1 to be the first-round leader.
Brooks Koepka’s pre-tournament odds drifted as high as 100-1, but I passed, regrettably. I will recommend Koepka, 11-1 and +140 to finish Top 10, at this point. A five-time major winner with two US Opens in his pocket, Koepka can handle tough courses such as Oakmont and stick around all weekend.
Kelley Bydlon
The first round of the U.S. Open is in the books and Oakmont showed her teeth, as expected. There will only be 10 players heading into their second round under par, and there are some BIG names that likely won’t see another round after friday, including Shane Lowry (+9), Tony Finau (+6), Justin Thomas (+6), and Patrick Cantlay (+6).
J.J. Spaun put together an impressive round, and while he’s a quality player, I do not expect him, or Thriston Lawrence, to be able to keep up the incredible putting they displayed in the first round. Both of them I will be looking to bet against in second round matchups.
I entered the tournament with room on my outright card to hopefully add Scottie Scheffler, Bryson DeChambeau, or Jon Rahm. I did jump in on Rahm live in round one at 10-1. Considering he’s only three shots off Spaun’s lead, I do not hate the current price on him at +600ish. Rahm had some bad breaks today and still finished fifth in the field in Strokes Gained Tee-to-Green. Scheffler is a pass at current price. If you were bullish on DeChambeau pre-tournament, I don’t hate a buy at 18-1 or better, but he’ll need a better second round if he’s going to see the weekend.
A couple finishing position bets I will be adding…
Si Woo Kim Top 10 (+125): Led the field in T2G play in the first round. He was a guy I heavily considered playing pre-tournament but ultimately stayed away. Considering his position on the leaderboard, I think this is a good play.
Viktor Hovland Top 20 (+110): Hovland had a rollercoaster first round, but at times looked like one of the best golfers on the course. He has a win this season, but also some ugly results. He lost over three strokes to the field with the putter today, and if that can improve just a bit,I expect him to be lurking in this top 20 range thru the weekend.
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