Oakmont is the star, but we're 18 holes away from crowning a U.S. Open champion
OAKMONT, Pa. – For the first three days of the 125th U.S. Open, Oakmont Country Club has been the star. It sent defending champion Bryson DeChambeau home early, left Rory McIlroy smashing tee markers and questioning whether he wanted to play another 36 holes, and played tough enough that world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler hasn’t broken par.
With three rounds in the books, only four players are under par for the championship. Just two players from the original field of 156, 54-hole leader Sam Burns and Ryan Fox, have made it through without a three-putt.
“If I’ve said it once, I’ve said it a hundred times, but this golf course is difficult,” Burns said. “It takes a lot of patience.”
So, who will survive Sunday? Could it be Burns, a 28-year-old five-time PGA Tour winner who shot the low round of the week — a 65 — and gutted out a 1-under 69 on Saturday to take a one-stroke lead at 4-under 206?
“It would be incredible,” Burns said. “I think as a kid growing up, you dream about winning major championships, and that’s why we practice so hard and work so hard. All these guys in this field would agree that to have the opportunity to win a major is special. I’m definitely really excited for tomorrow.”
Will it be J.J. Spaun, the 34-year-old Californian who nearly lost his card last season and owns just one career PGA Tour title? He’s in contention Sunday for the fourth time this season, and as you will recall, he pushed McIlroy to the edge at the Players in March.
“I’m just happy I’m still within shouting distance going into tomorrow,” he said. “This is the first time for me to be in contention in a major, I think, yeah. I mean, the Players is an unofficial major, I guess, but yeah, it’s fun. I mean, it’s kind of everything that you prepare and hope to have the opportunity to have at these big events. Let alone just getting into them — it’s so hard.”
Could it be Viktor Hovland, who knows major championship pressure, having played in the final group at the 2022 British Open and 2023 PGA Championship? He shot 70 on Saturday and is alone in fourth, three shots back, well positioned to make a run if he can straighten out his driver.
“A little bitter about my driver. Just can’t seem to figure it out,” he said. “It’s like a lingering problem all this year, so it’s kind of pissing me off.”
But he’s withstood the pressure of a Tour Championship and FedEx Cup, and even won in March with less than his A-game. His confidence is returning.
“I know kind of what it takes to win a major championship, so I know the shots to try to hit and what shots not to try to hit,” he said. “Feel like I’m way better equipped — just need to get that driver sorted, and I’ve got the game to do it.”
All three of those players have something in common: none has ever won a major. But Oakmont has been kind to first-time winners, crowning one in seven of the last nine majors held here — from Jack Nicklaus to Angel Cabrera to Dustin Johnson.
The fourth player still under par has tasted major championship glory, though it came 12 years ago when he won the Masters in a sudden-death playoff.
Adam Scott shot 67 Saturday and became the third player to open with three rounds of 70 or better in a U.S. Open at Oakmont. At 44 years, 10 months and 30 days, he would become the second-oldest U.S. Open winner behind only Hale Irwin, who won in 1990 at age 45.
“It would be super fulfilling. Everyone out here has got their journey, you know. Putting ourselves in these positions doesn’t just happen by fluke. It’s not easy to do it. I really haven’t been in this kind of position for five or six years, or feeling like I’m that player. But that’s what I’m always working towards. It’s not that easy to figure it all out,” he said. “But if I were to come away with it tomorrow, it would be a hell of a round of golf and an exclamation point on my career.”
None of the players between Carlos Ortiz at even par and Scheffler at 4 over — tied for 11th and eight shots back — has won a major, either.
Oakmont is winning, but only one player will be crowned its champion on Sunday.
This article originally appeared on Golfweek: Oakmont stars 2025 US Open Sam Burns Adam Scott JJ Spaun Round 4
