From outstanding plays to frustrating drives, fans got to witness a roller-coaster ride in the second round of the 2025 U.S. Open. The 18 holes on Friday proved to be even more demanding than they were 24 hours ago. The ball was rolling faster than ever, the greens were a nightmare, and one particular tee box took the beating for it. Out of the countless moments that were created in the second set of 18 holes at Oakmont, we are here to find the most exciting that some of you might have missed.

The defending champion was defeated early

After a T5 in the 2025 Masters Tournament and a T2 in the PGA Championship, fans had high expectations for Bryson DeChambeau. Coming in as the defending champion, everyone was hoping he would be in contention at least until the last round on Sunday. However, that was not to be as the LIV Golf pro crashed out of the major before getting to the weekend.

A 7-over par 77 pushed his score to +10, 3 strokes away from the projected cutline. While the last few minutes of the round have been suspended, the 31-year-old knows that he will not need to make the trip back to Oakmont Country Club on Saturday.

With his exit, Bryson DeChambeau becomes the first defending champion since Gary Woodland in 2019 to not make the cut in the following U.S. Open. Ironically, it was DeChambeau who won the title in 2020, the same year Woodland missed the cut. Both scored a +7 on Friday and crashed out of the major with a +10 this year. Too many coincidences between them, don’t you think?

Bryson DeChambeau’s act of kindness

Bryson DeChambeau has been working hard to turn his image around recently. He received a lot of heat for his complaints about Rory McIlroy not talking to him in the final round of the 2025 Masters Tournament. Since then, he has focused less on his public statements and more on the gestures towards his fans.

Back in May 2025, reports of him spending a day with a 14-year-old cancer patient, Evan, came to light. DeChambeau arranged for them to visit him in Texas and took out his whole day to show the young guy around. The 31-year-old was also seen signing a golf ball he had just putted and giving it to a young fan after the disappointing loss at the 2025 PGA Championship.

Now, the latest headlines show the LIV Golf pro making another sweet gesture despite an early exit from the 2025 U.S. Open. DeChambeau passed a signed golf ball to a young fan at Oakmont Country Club. Completing his round early and with an exit nearly confirmed, many would have expected him to be a little upset. But the defending champion’s sweet gesture shows his genuineness.

For this, Bryson DeChambeau definitely deserves the spotlight.

Scottie Scheffler’s row after a poor show

With the second round done and dusted early, Scottie Scheffler was not at all pleased with his performance. After a surprising 3-over par in the first round, he added another stroke to it on Friday after a round of 71. That pushed him to +4 at T23 tied with Jon Rahm & Collin Morikawa. Scheffler was not happy with the way he performed, and it showed in his actions.

In the first round, he was bashed by the fans for damaging the fairway after an approach shot landed close to the 14th hole but rolled back 40 feet due to a slope. Round 2 saw him exhaust the fans after an extremely slow round, which took five and a half hours to complete.

With so many reasons to get upset over, the #1 was seen on the driving range practicing his tee shots for the weekend rounds. At one point, he just lashed out in front of his coach, Randy Smith. The video shared by Golf on CBS on Instagram showed a frustrated Scottie Scheffler speaking with his coach before getting to drive another ball.

Shane Lowry forgets the rules

Landing on the 14th green after his approach shot, Shane Lowry was 55 feet away from the cup. As he was preparing for a putt, he lost track of the rules that he needed to follow before lining up his shot. Lost in thought, the Irishman picked up the golf ball before placing a marker. Within a second, he realized his mistake, paused for a moment, and then put the ball back down. He looked around and had a broad smile on his face as he understood the huge error he had made. Rory McIlroy caught the entire incident and had a good laugh about it as well.

Not long after, Shane Lowry had to take a 1 stroke penalty for breaking the rules. But it didn’t affect his chances of qualification much, as he was already +14 by then. The 38-year-old ended his run at the 2025 U.S. Open with a 17-over par, finishing at T134 on the leaderboard.

Rory McIlroy loses his cool

Back on the 12th fairway, Rory McIlroy had his first episode of anger after a bad second shot. His shot flew towards the left of the fairway, landing in the tall grass alongside the bunker. McIlroy was quite frustrated as he had hit an excellent drive off the tee to set himself up really well. He took out his anger on his iron, throwing it away as he saw where the ball was heading. That was not the end of it.

Fast-forward to the 17th hole, the 29x PGA Tour winner was lining up to find the fairway on the par 4 305-yard hole. However, things didn’t go as he had imagined, as he saw the ball heading towards the bunker on the right of the green. Losing his cool again, Rory McIlroy swung his club back down while twisting to smash the tee box. That ended with him getting even more heat for his actions on the course as fans called for the USGA to penalize him.