Golf
U.S. Open Golf
Championship
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Updated 23s 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.
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…
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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.
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.
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(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.
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…
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Eesh. Philip Barbaree’s approach shot lands in the first cut at the front of the green. A fraction right and it would have disappeared into the greenside bunker. Instead it takes a hop left and comes to rest on the putting surface.
He has a 32-foot birdie putt. He needs to avoid a three-putt at all costs.
How are your nerves then, Philip Barbaree, Jr.? He’s right on the cut line and needs a par or better if he’s to reach the weekend of the 2025 U.S. Open.
The ninth has been playing as one of the hardest holes on the course this week and it’s a treacherous tee shot to say the least, with bunkers lining the right and a big old ditch on the left.
The best way to avoid all of that trouble? By blasting it down the fairway, as Barbaree manages. He has 175-yards remaining.
The other of the 3 players out there early this morning with hopes of making the 7-over cut is Chris Gotterup.
He has a 6-footer for par on the 18th … and he rolls it home!
He’ll be back out there later today.
Philip Barbaree misses the 3-foot putt he has waited almost 12 hours to hit. Excruciating.
So that’s a bogey at 17 for the 26-year-old American, dropping him back to +7, right on the cut line. It’s all going to come down to the last hole, the menacing par-four ninth.
Gulp.
Well done Thriston Lawrence!
The South African can’t have been in many situations like this in his career, waiting almost 12 hours to take a solitary 4-foot putt for par.
That’s a lot of time to overthink things … but Lawrence confidently rolls his putt home to card a 74.
A disappointing score perhaps given the situation he found himself in early on yesterday, leading the tournament by three strokes. But he’s only +1 for the tournament and still very much in this thing.
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There will be no fans on the course at Oakmont to watch the conclusion of round two.
The USGA said on Friday that “due to significant rainfall Friday evening” spectator gates would not open until 8am ET — half an hour after the last few players get back onto the course.
Round three tee times will be published immediately after the conclusion of round two.
Round two will resume shortly after play was suspended at 8.15pm EDT last night when lightning was detected in the local area.
Thirteen players will be back out at Oakmont attempting to finish either one or two holes.
Only three of those 13 players are on track to make the cut, which stands at +7.
Thriston Lawrence (pictured), who led the tournament yesterday but has sunk back to +1, faces a nervy 4-foot putt for par on 18.
Chris Gotterup is 5-over through 17 holes, meanwhile, and Philip Barbaree Jr. has work to do this morning at 6-over through 16 holes.
Victor Perez became just the second golfer in 10 U.S. Opens at Oakmont Golf Course to hit a hole-in-one during the tournament, and the first since 1983, by acing the sixth hole yesterday.
Check out the moment below.