Golf
U.S. Open Golf
Championship
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Updated 2m ago
Follow live coverage of moving day at the 2025 U.S. Open at a punishing Oakmont Golf Course.
The third round will begin later today with Sam Burns (-3) as the solo leader trailed by J.J. Spaun (-2) and Viktor Hovland (-1). They are the only three golfers still under-par for this tournament.
Rory McIlroy (+6) is currently on the range warming up. He’s away at 10.34am alongside Xander Schauffele.
The Masters champion had his back against the wall yesterday but produced a moment of magic to birdie the 18th to make the cut.
But it was another frustrating round for the northern Irishman. He threw his club in anger on the 12th after yet another wayward drive and then smashed a tee marker on the 17th.
He once again declined to speak to the media yesterday — the sixth time in succession he has bunked his post-round media duties at a major.
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Through two days, the field at the U.S. Open is a combined 1,462 strokes over par. There are 10 players at +20 or worse for the two rounds, the most through 36 holes of a U.S. Open in 17 years (11 players at Torrey Pines that year).
Seventeen of the 18 holes are playing over par so far, including both par 5s. The field is scrambling at a miniscule rate of 38.5 percent. For context, the PGA Tour average this season is about 60 percent.
Cam Davis becomes the second player to bogey the first this morning. He won’t be the last, that’s for sure.
He then loses his tee shot on the second massively left. That’s disappeared behind a television tower.
Oakmont isn’t getting any easier…
Matt Fitzpatrick, who won this tournament back in 2022, will be the first former champion to start his third round.
In total five former champions made the cut: Fitzpatrick, Rory McIlroy (2011), Jordan Spieth (2015), Jon Rahm (2021) and Brooks Koepka (2017 and 2018).
Koepka is the furthest up the leaderboard, at +2.
Unlucky for Philip Barbaree. But he made par when he really needed to earlier this morning!
His drive on the opening hole found the rough down the left which meant he had to lay up rather than going for the green.
He then wedged on from 40 yards but left himself a nasty little 10-footer for par, back up the slope. He knocked it past the hole and opens his third round with a bogey that slides him back to +8.
One group back, Cam Davis also finds trouble down the left, although 2023 Open champion Brian Harman knock one down the middle of the fairway.
Philip Barbaree Jr. is making his way to the first tee and he will get today’s third round underway, after making par on the 18th around an hour ago to make the cut.
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Doug M: “Let’s be real, Burns and Spaun aren’t winning the U.S. Open. Scheffler is only 5 back to Hovland and 4 back to Scott. Those are the people he should have his eye on. He can get hot and make up 5 strokes.”
Anon: “Is it possible that a course can be so roundly difficult that the best golfers are marginalized or eliminated and only the lucky survive?”
MS: “The rain *might* soften the course for a bit, making those who go out early be able to be a bit more aggressive…”
Remember: you can get in touch by emailing live@theathletic.com.
Here are today’s third-round hole locations for the U.S. Open.
There are only six players within four shots of Sam Burns on -3: J.J. Spaun, Viktor Hovland, Adam Scott, Ben Griffin, Victor Perez and Thriston Lawrence…
Of the previous nine U.S. Open champions at Oakmont, eight have been within four shots of the lead entering Round 3. The lone exception was Larry Nelson, who was seven back in 1983 before vaulting up the leaderboard with a Saturday 65.
Over the last 50 years, 44 U.S. Open champs have been in the top 10 through 36 holes. The largest 36-hole deficit overcome to win the U.S. Open is 11 strokes by Lou Graham in 1975 at Medinah.
Two players will begin the third round at even par: one playing his first U.S. Open and another playing in his 96th consecutive major. Ben Griffin is the rare U.S. Open rookie with multiple PGA Tour wins under his belt, having claimed a team win in New Orleans and his first stroke play title in Colonial this spring. He hit 15 of 18 greens in regulation Friday, tied for most of any player. No one has won the U.S. Open in his first attempt since Francis Ouimet in 1913.
Adam Scott made his 15th career cut at the U.S. Open after his second consecutive round of 70. You wouldn’t know Scott is turning 45 next month by his ball-striking this week: Through two days, he’s ranked seventh or better in the field in strokes gained off the tee, proximity to the hole and strokes gained approach. This is his best career 36-hole position at the U.S. Open, a championship he made his debut in, in 2002.
Griffin is away at 3.13 p.m with Scott in the penultimate group alongside Viktor Hovland.
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Moments after securing his first career PGA Tour win, Viktor Hovland famously told a television interviewer, “I just suck at chipping.” A coarse assessment, but statistically accurate even this season: Hovland is ranked 158th of 179 players on the PGA Tour in strokes gained around the green. It all makes his chipping and pitching Friday all the more impressive. Hovland gained more than four strokes around the greens, the most of any player in the field and easily a personal career high in any round.
Through two days, no player has gained more strokes on the field tee-to-green than Hovland has (+11.52). His average proximity to the hole on approach shots is 31 feet, 8 inches, the best average of any player and a full 15 feet better than the field average. This will be Hovland’s best 36-hole position in a major since he shared the lead at the 2023 PGA Championship.
Hovland, the 2018 U.S. Amateur champion, was low amateur in 2019 at Pebble Beach. Only four players have won the U.S. Amateur, been low amateur at a U.S. Open and won the U.S. Open as a professional: Lawson Little, Jack Nicklaus, Jerry Pate and Matt Fitzpatrick.
A day after the first bogey-free round of his major championship career, J.J. Spaun assembled a valiant Round 2 score of 72. Spaun’s putter wasn’t as scorching hot Friday — he needed 33 putts, seven more than he did on Day 1 — but he hit three more fairways and the same number of greens (12) as he did in the first round.
Spaun was the 13th player to hold a first-round lead or co-lead in a U.S. Open at Oakmont. Of that group, not a single player backed it up with a second-round score in the 60s. In fact, Spaun’s 72 strongly outperformed the scoring average of 74.4 his dozen predecessors set. Spaun will play in the final group on the weekend in a major for the first time Saturday. Before this week, his best 36-hole position in a major was a tie for 16th place (2022 Masters).
Five-time PGA Tour winner Sam Burns, your 36-hole leader after a brilliant Friday morning 65, will commence his third round alongside J.J. Spaun at 3.35pm.
Only two players have ever shot lower scores in a U.S. Open at Oakmont: Johnny Miller’s closing 63 to win in 1973 and Loren Roberts’ third-round 64 in 1994. Burns is on pace to beat the field scoring average by 9.78 shots, which would give him the most strokes gained total in a men’s major championship round since Brooks Koepka’s opening 63 at the 2019 PGA (+10.06).
Burns was excellent through the bag, hitting nine fairways, 14 greens in regulation and rolling in more than 102 feet of putts. His 6.54 strokes gained tee-to-green led all players at Oakmont on Friday.
When the second round ends, Burns will be the ninth player since 2000 to hold a one-shot lead after 36 holes at the U.S. Open. Only two of the previous eight went on to win — Angel Cabrera and Dustin Johnson, both here at Oakmont.
(All times EDT.)
There’s a strong chance of rain today — and even a chance of further thunderstorms. Here’s the latest forecast from AccuWeather:
“Variable cloudiness with a couple of showers and humid. High 72, low 62. Wind from the northeast at 7 mph. 84% chance of rain and a 17% chance of thunderstorms.”
In other words: prepare for carnage.
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Now that the second round has been wrapped up, the gates have opened at Oakmont for the fans to pour back in.
The USGA issued the following media advisory earlier this morning warning of “extremely wet” and “very saturated” conditions around the course.
💬 “Due to significant rainfall overnight, combined with the historic rain experienced in the weeks leading into the Championship, the grounds at Oakmont Country Club are extremely wet heading into the third round of the 125th U.S. Open Championship.
“While the golf course handled the weather incredibly well and playing conditions remain championship ready, some areas outside the ropes are very saturated. Out of an abundance of caution and to ensure the safety of all spectators, access to certain viewing areas of the course will be limited throughout the day.
“Please note that today’s forecast has the potential of additional rain, and conditions may continue to evolve throughout the day. We will continue to monitor the weather and communicate any further updates as needed.”
Ticket holders who decide against attending in such conditions have been informed they will receive a full refund for their Saturday ticket.
He’s done it!
Philip Barbaree drains the putt and he shoots an impressive one-over 71, +7 for the tournament.
What an achievement under such pressure.
He’s left it 5-foot short…