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Daily Mail
12-06-2025
- Sport
- Daily Mail
Rory McIlroy chewed up by course that's like rabid tiger as he suffers back-nine meltdown to trail early US Open leader JJ Spaun by six shots
First, he tickled the belly of the beast and then he was introduced to its teeth. If nothing else comes from Rory McIlroy's trip to the US Open, at least he will have a battle story to tell about Oakmont. Will that be shared with the media? We have to wait on that, because for the fifth major round in succession he bolted without saying a word. But given the tribulations of his opening 74, and indeed his mood of late, that snub was no great shock. More surprising was the meltdown on his back nine, which launched McIlroy from two-under-par and one off the lead at the turn to four-over by the close, six shots behind leader JJ Spaun. Such a journey from contention to cold shoulders was a messy tale of duffed chips and missed putts, amplified by a new driver that behaved as badly as its recent predecessors. Even for this place, and for all we have raved about its reputation, a return of four bogeys and a double from those inward nine holes was a nasty way to end an afternoon. JJ Spaun had a superb opening round at Oakmont and finished up at four under par With a face like thunder, McIlroy then walked straight past the microphones, presumably in need of a lie down and the sort of inspiration that pulsed through Spaun. It was Spaun who McIlroy defeated in a play-off to win the Players' Championship three months ago, in what became an important staging post in his journey towards Masters glory. Here, it was Spaun who proved the toughest course in major golf can be navigated without loss of blood as he emerged from the first wave of tee times to set the target at four-under. The world No 25 did not drop a shot in his 66. To contextualise the feat, the last time a US Open was played at Oakmont, in 2016, there was only one bogey-free round among the 443 completed. That belonged to Dustin Johnson, the eventual winner, and so Spaun's first-round accomplishment warrants great recognition, particularly for the manner in which he missed six greens and scrambled to make par each time. Does Spaun's score and a number of other sub-par rounds mean Oakmont is playing slightly easier than normal? It is like trying to identify differences between a rabid tiger and an angry one. For instance, Bryson DeChambeau, the defending champion, laboured to a 73 and needed three shots to escape greenside rough at the 12th. Scottie Scheffler? He was among the late starters and found himself two-over through 10 holes. Shane Lowry, tipped to win by many this week and playing alongside McIlroy, had a rough day. He benefited from a chip-in par on the 17th and an eagle from the fairway on the third and yet still signed for a 79. Lowry's round was proof of Oakmont's many challenges — despite hitting 10 of 14 fairways, thereby avoiding too much extra time in the five-inch rough, he was still trending towards a missed cut, battered by his failure to find greens and an inability to thrive with the putter. When one tripwire is navigated on this course, a dozen more await your next step. Lowry's exasperation was best shown when he yanked an on-course microphone from the ground and hurled it as he approached the turn. The third member of the group, Justin Rose, who has been runner-up in two of the previous three majors, shot 77 — combined, he, Lowry and McIlroy were 20-over. So make no mistake, even in sedate weather, Oakmont is a brute. Just ask Matt Vogt, an American amateur who qualified with a good yarn to tell, for he is a former caddie here and these days works as a dentist. He needed 82 shots — you can make your own gags about pulling teeth. Of the British interests among the earlier starters, Robert MacIntyre had the best of it. He closed with a bogey, but after hitting 11 of 14 fairways in a level-par 70 he was well placed. McIlroy? Not nearly so much, which only extends the gloom of his post-Masters lull. Starting on the 10th, he opened well with a 30-footer for birdie on the 11th and another stroke followed when he reached the par-five 12th in two. At that stage, his game from the tee was showing a degree of improvement after switching to his fourth driver configuration in the space of three starts. By the turn, he was also showing plenty of grit, which was necessary because the latest driver had gone cold. He had hit only two fairways, but was saving pars. Alas, it unravelled spectacularly. On the first hole, his 10th, he three-putted back to one-under and on the par five fourth, the easiest on the card, he drove miles off line to the right, which was his pattern for the day. Buried in long grass, McIlroy ignored the advice of caddie Harry Diamond, who suggested a penalty drop in a better spot, and instead hacked into the grassy face of a bunker. The third shot then travelled barely 15 yards and eventually a 32-footer dropped for a six. It could have been worse. Difficulties in the sand on the sixth brought McIlroy back to one-over, a three-putt at the next extended the rut and the final indignity came on the eighth, an excessively long par three of 300 yards. Taking aim with a three wood, he sliced it into the deep stuff on the right, duffed his pitch and required another three to get down. The story of his post-Masters revival might have to wait for a kinder location.
Reuters
09-06-2025
- Sport
- Reuters
Dustin Johnson chasing retro performance at Oakmont
June 9 - Nine Junes ago, Dustin Johnson captured his first major when he solved Oakmont Golf Club better than anyone else to claim the 2016 U.S. Open. As the Open returns to Oakmont for the first time since Johnson's triumph, the 40-year-old squints at the rugged layout in western Pennsylvania and sees a monster. He played the front nine Monday in preparation for Thursday's opening round. "The course is just as hard as I remember, if not harder," said Johnson, who finished at 4-under-par 276 in 2016 to defeat Jim Furyk, Ireland's Shane Lowry and Scott Piercy by three shots. When asked where Oakmont ranks on his list of hardest courses, the two-time major champion didn't hesitate. "Probably this one," he said. "I've played some hard courses, but it all depends on the conditions. This one's hard no matter what -- soft, firm, windy, no wind." Oakmont played at 7,219 yards in 2016, but the course has been lengthened to 7,372 yards for this season's third major. "It seems like it's tougher this time around, but that's just maybe with the little bit of added length," Johnson said. "But yeah, somehow I figured out a way to get it under par. It was mostly the driving. Obviously even driving it in the fairway here, it's still really difficult. But I hit a lot of good drives and a lot of good iron shots." As one of the first prominent players to jump to LIV Golf in June 2022, Johnson generally faces PGA Tour players only in majors. He has missed the cut in five of his last seven majors, which includes this year's Masters and PGA Championship -- though he might put asterisks next to those two. "Last two holes (at the Masters), bogey, double (bogey), to miss (the cut) by a shot, I think," Johnson said. At last month's PGA Championship at Quail Hollow, Johnson fired rounds of 78 and 76 to miss the cut by 11 shots. "I know my score didn't reflect it at the PGA, but I actually played way better than the score," Johnson said. "I just struggled a little bit on the greens. Well, maybe that's an understatement. I struggled really bad on the greens." But his putter likely won't determine how well Johnson fares this week at Oakmont. Instead, it'll be his driver. "I have confidence in this golf course because I know I played well," Johnson said. "But obviously this week puts a lot of pressure on the driver. I feel like I'm driving the ball really good right now." Johnson is coming off a T10 finish at LIV Golf Virginia, his third top-10 showing of the season. He has three wins on that tour, most recently at Las Vegas in February 2024. --Field Level Media
ABC News
03-06-2025
- Science
- ABC News
A baby cane toad tadpole
Two years ago, a trial of cane toad traps successfully eliminated "every single tadpole in a couple of days" from ponds at Marrara Golf Course.
Daily Mail
18-05-2025
- Sport
- Daily Mail
BREAKING NEWS Scottie Scheffler claims third major at the PGA Championship as Jon Rahm collapses over the final holes
Scottie Scheffler won the PGA Championship in impressive fashion, a final round of 71 enough to see him claim a five-shot victory at Quail Hollow Country Club. More to follow...
