They weren’t kidding when they called it golf’s toughest test. Oakmont showed no mercy on Thursday as the 2025 U.S. Open teed off—and even the world’s best were left sweating. While J.J. Spaun defied the odds with a 4-under round and was atop the leaderboard, the golf course tested the skills of Scottie Scheffler, who couldn’t seem to find his form. Looks like he might’ve shrugged off Tiger Woods’s warning and paid the price.

Several weeks even before it began, the U.S. Open was the main talk of the town. Playing at Oakmont after nearly a decade, it is the course that has been stealing the limelight, even from the world’s best. The course’s notorious reputation as a “survival of the fittest” is predominantly because of its ankle-length rough and greens that roll like glass. Demanding exceptional ball placement, spin control, and lag putting from players, even Scottie Scheffler, who has the best scoring average in the field, could only manage to card a 3-over round.

Speaking at a press conference after his round, “Slow day. I made some silly mistakes out there, but at the same time, I made some key putts and some good momentum saves in my round, but overall just need to be a little sharper,” Scheffler expressed in dismay, coming off a well-deserved break after his win at The Memorial.

Scheffler has one of the best iron plays in the game, and according to Woods, this is key when you play at a course like Oakmont. “You just have to hit the golf ball well there. There’s no faking it,” Woods advised players when he spoke on his latest Instagram post of Sun Day Red. He also added that the course is suited for long hitters off the tee since they’re more likely to get a shorter iron for their approach, and that is an added advantage.

“It just helps so much for coming in with a shorter iron, to be able to sock the ball,” Woods emphasised, given the greens are at lightning speed, and shorter irons would be more helpful in creating the spin to allow the ball to stop quicker on the greens. And his main advice that makes all the difference — “It’s about missing the ball in the correct spots, because if you don’t, it’s an oddball,” is crucial if you do not want to end up walking away with six bogeys in your round, like Scheffler did.

But Scheffler too, like Woods, emphasised the importance of ball placement, which could have saved him a lot of shots on the first round. “You’ve got to do your best to stay under the hole and stay patient. I felt like I did a pretty good job of executing today. I’ve just got to be a little bit sharper tomorrow,” the world no.1 reflected as he also managed to make 3 birdies in his round, including the 7th, which is one of the toughest par 4s on the course, playing at 485 yards.

But even the world No.1 feels Oakmont is brutal and challenging, and it’s difficult to strategise play on the course when he found himself confused trying to figure out a way to walk away with a birdie on the reachable Par 5, 12th hole. Because while it’s easy to approach the green in two, it might end up going over it, and you’ll be left with a 50-yard chip uphill. And if you decide to play it safe and lay up, your next shot might be in the first cut or in the rough, and if it’s the latter, a bogey is definitely the score you’ll walk away with.

While Scheffler struggled with some of his shots off the tee, he also struggled with his putting today, which led to his sloppy round. “I felt like I was battling back pretty well after the start, and then I had the three-putt there on 13 where I felt like I hit two good enough putts to make a two-point there and get out of there with a par and then kind of a sloppy wedge on 14 and I missed a short one on 15. The greens just got challenging out there late in the day,” Scheffler added, speaking of the negatives and positives he took off the course, also hinting at the pace of play, which fatigued him not just physically but also mentally. “Gosh, I don’t know. I mean, that round took a while. What time did we tee off, 1:24? That’s over five and a half — that’s a long time to be out there on the golf course, especially on a day where there was almost no conditions.”

And while he spoke of the difficulties going on over the next 3 days, he also added that an opportunity for low scoring always exists, especially when you’re playing difficult courses like Oakmont. And J.J. Spaun made use of the opportunity.

The surprise leader at Oakmont

J.J. Spaun managed to card the best score of the day, at 4 under and taking the solo clubhouse lead. While he missed the cut at his last appearance at the Memorial, he brings in his experience from his two runner-up finishes earlier this year, at the Players Championship and the Cognizant Classic.

He carded a flawless scorecard with four birdies and no bogeys, and joined an exclusive group on Thursday, becoming just the eighth player to post a bogey-free round in a U.S. Open at Oakmont. Spaun, who started his round from the tenth hole, birdied it to set the momentum for the rest of his round. He even managed to birdie the 12th hole, which is a short but challenging par 5 and needs the right strategy to even walk away with a par. He managed to score 4 birdies in the first half of the round, with consecutive birdies on the 16th and the 17th, and maintained his form, scoring level par on the front nine.

While the world’s best golfers struggled to find their form on the course, J.J. Spaun’s phenomenal round was unexpected on a course like Oakmont, and only time will tell if he’s able to cement his position atop the leaderboard.