This was only J.J. Spaun’s second time in a U.S. Open and he’d never played one at Oakmont Country Club, so maybe his naivety was a strength.
He quickly denied that idea.
“I was definitely, like, kind of nervous,” said Spaun, who birdied four of his first eight holes Thursday to grab an early lead at the 125th U.S. Open. “All you’ve been hearing is how hard this place is, and it’s hard to not hear the noise and see what’s on social media and Twitter and all this stuff. You’re just kind of only hearing about how hard this course is.”
But by the time Spaun finished his first round, the noise he heard most was Oakmont fans shouting his name. The 32-year-old from Los Angeles finished the morning session as the leader in the clubhouse at 4-under after shooting a bogey-free round. His score through nine holes — 31 — was the lowest ever for a U.S. Open at Oakmont.
His score wasn’t the only red numbers on the scoreboard, hinting that the historic course wasn’t as unforgiving as usual, at least not yet.
This was Spaun’s second U.S. Open start and first since missing the cut in 2021 at 10-over. But Spaun showed his potential at the Players Championship in March when he lost in a playoff to Rory McIlroy.
A blistering-hot start helped him Thursday.
Spaun chipped in for birdie on his first hole of the day — No. 10 — to quickly enter red numbers. He also birdied Nos. 12, 16 and 17 to reach 4-under.
“It kind of set the tone for how the day was going to go,” Spaun said of his chip-in. “You’re not really expecting to chip it in. You’re just trying to get yourself within making distance for par. … It was a nice little wake-up call at 7:10 in the morning or whatever it was.”