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.
Wes Reynolds
Day 1 of the U.S. Open had an unexpected leader with J.J. Spaun shooting 66 to lead at 4-under par after 18 holes, but it was not an unexpected result in how the course played as only 10 players out of 156 finished in red figures.
The course is always the story in any U.S. Open and Oakmont lived up to its reputation for difficulty as players like World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler (+3), defending U.S. Open champion Bryson DeChambeau (+3), Masters champion Rory McIlroy (+4), and last year’s PGA and Open winner Xander Schauffele (+4) all had their struggles on Day 1.
One player that was near the top of the odds board going into Thursday is now at the top with Jon Rahm (-1) leading the field for Strokes Gained: Off-The-Tee and leading the odds board at +550. Rahm was on my card before the event and I have no reason to believe that he will not be a factor on the weekend.
Bookmakers do not want to give much away on Scheffler as he is still priced as the second choice on the board at +650.
Brooks Koepka (12/1) is typically a popular play at major championships considering he has won five of them in his career, but very few were talking about him coming into this week, and wouldn’t you know it that he finds himself in the mix just two strokes back.
If they can figure out these greens from a putting standpoint, Viktor Hovland (+1; 35/1) and Collin Morikawa (E; 12/1) ranked second and third on Thursday for Strokes Gained: Approach, each gaining over 4.6 shots with their superb iron play, and could be potential in-play additions heading into Friday.
Matt Brown
When it was all said and done, Oakmont did, in fact, win. Only 10 of the 156 golfers that teed it up finished under par. JJ Spaun is your round one leader and will not be your round four leader…he might not even be your round two leader. Spaun was inside the top 30 in one version of my model, but was never a consideration for me. He basically played a perfect round, and likely the best round of his professional career. He gained across the board, including nearly two strokes both Around-the-Green and on Approach. Even more unsustainable, is gaining 4.18 strokes putting on the field. He will come back down to earth.
If I didn’t already have a lot of exposure, I’d add Rahm in some fashion. Even a live top 5 at even money is good. He’s driving the ball so incredibly well, that he’s always going to give himself a chance on this very difficult course.
It didn’t work out, but it’s worth noting how juicy the round leader markets get for the guys that haven’t even teed off when someone in the early wave posts a number. I got 175/1 on Sam Burns before he even hit a shot. Also, another strategy I’ve started using that I think everyone should use is splitting your bet up when playing at a book that offers cash out. I was going to put $30 on Burns live at 175/1. I stopped myself and made three separate $10 bets. When Burns got to 3-under after hole 14, they were offering me $149 cash out option for each ticket. I knew the home stretch was going to be a test with 15 playing as the third hardest hole on Thursday, 16 the 7th hardest, and 18 the 9th hardest. Plus, he was still a stroke off the lead anyway. I cashed one of the tickets in, and still had two of the tickets going for $3500 if he was able to tackle that rough stretch. He didn’t. He crumbled. I still made money on a FRL ticket when Burns finished T33…all while having the upside of turning $20 into $3500 had he figured out a way to go 2-under on the final four holes.
Through one round, SG: Off-the Tee is 10% more important at Oakmont than a typical PGA Tour event. SG: ARG is 6.5% more important than a typical PGA Tour event. Can your guy keep it in the fairway? Can your guy save par when he misses the green?
For round two, I have played Si Woo over JJ Spaun. No outrights added as I’m going to ride with the Rahm ticket for now. I also have Russell Henley lingering, so I’m in a decent spot.
Good luck and may the rain stay away!
