US Open : Oakmont CC. Entry List
The U.S. Open returns to its most visited venue this week as Major season continues.
A new-look for a familiar venue
Oakmont Country Club has hosted nine U.S. Opens, more than any other course, and is set for its tenth this week. The brainchild of steel magnate Henry Clay Fownes, it's no surprise it has been used so frequently such is its fearsome reputation and how the U.S. Open has come to be known as golf's toughest test.
Since it last welcomed the world's best in 2016 on this stage, it has undergone a renovation. The work, carried out by Gil Hanse, was intended to focus on improving drainage and irrigation as part of a bunker restoration project. Oakmont's greens were expanded by a total of 24,000 square feet, creating at least one new hole location on each green.
On the 182-yard par-three 13th, for instance, there were previously just two left-side cuppable areas but now there are six. Otherwise, a key focus was on the "edge conditions" on the greens. Balls that are rolling toward the edges will now go off the edges instead of being held up. The greens are also set to be exceptionally fast, running around 15 on the Stimpmeter - considerably quicker than the average on the DP World Tour. Elsewhere, the rough will be thick and brutal, with tournament officials outlining plans last month for it to be at least five inches.
DeChambeau defends
American Bryson DeChambeau was the winner in 2024 as he won his second U.S. Open at Pinehurst No. 2. He shot a 67 in the third round to establish the first 54-hole lead of his career in a Major, but for a while on the back nine it seemed as if Rory McIlroy would emerge victorious.
However, the Northern Irishman - who had the solo lead with four holes remaining - made three bogeys on the final stretch, before DeChambeau got up and down from 50 yards out of a bunker on the final hole to save par and claim a dramatic one-shot victory.
By doing so, he became a two-time Major winner and has since registered top five finishes at both the Masters Tournament and US PGA Championship so far this year. The 31-year-old will be looking to become the first player to successfully defend the title since Brooks Koepka in 2018.
The world's top two bidding for more Major glory
So far this season, the leading two golfers in the Official World Golf Ranking have won the first two Majors of the year. In April, Rory McIlroy transcended golf when he became just the sixth player to complete the Career Grand Slam with victory at The Masters.
At Augusta National, it was Scottie Scheffler who handed the Green Jacket to McIlroy. A month later, Scheffler ran away with the US PGA Championship title to become a three-time Major winner as the challenge from the chasing pack faded away on the back nine at Quail Hollow.
Both arrive in Pennsylvania with three worldwide wins to their name so far this year, meaning much of the focus will be on the game's two biggest stars. McIlroy, though, arrives on the back of a missed cut at the RBC Canadian Open where he struggled with driver issues. With Billy Horschel the only member of the world's top 50 not teeing it up due to injury, success will be by no means a guarantee but they will inevitably be the players with the greatest expectations.
Fox times it well again for Major run
Heading into last week's RBC Canadian Open, Ryan Fox was facing up to missing out on qualification for the U.S. Open. However, not only did he go on to win his second PGA TOUR title in the space of a month at the end of a four-hole play-off against Sam Burns, but by doing so he moved into the top 60 on the Official World Golf Ranking to secure his place at Oakmont.
It was a similar situation ahead of the US PGA Championship, when he made his PGA TOUR breakthrough at the ONEflight Myrtle Beach Classic - again in a play-off - to earn a last-gasp place in the field at Quail Hollow. "I played the PGA and Memorial since then and seem to be making a habit of getting into Majors last minute, which is not a bad problem to have," said Fox, who missed out on the Masters Tournament earlier in the year. This will be the New Zealander's seventh appearance at the U.S. Open, with his best result a tie for 41st on his debut in 2018.
FACTS
* Oakmont Country Club will host the U.S. Open for a record tenth time (1927, 1935, 1953, 1962, 1973, 1983, 1994, 2007, 2016, 2025), three times more than Baltusrol Golf Club in New Jersey.
* For the U.S. Open, the course length is set to measure 7,372 yards with a par of 35-35-70. The yardage for each round of the championship will vary due to course set-up and conditions. Oakmont’s par-three eighth is being lined-up to play at over 300 yards.
* Regarded as arguably America's most testing golf course, the winning score at the venue in 2007 by Angel Cabrera was +5. Oakmont has played as a par 70 over the last two U.S. Opens (2007 and 2016). During this time, only four players (out of 312) have scored under par for the week: Dustin Johnson (-4), Shane Lowry (-1), Jim Furyk (-1) and Scott Piercy (-1), all in 2016.
* A field of 156 players will contest the U.S. Open. Any professional or amateur with a 0.4 handicap index or lower can sign up to compete for a spot at the U.S. Open. The USGA accepted a record 10,202 entries for the 2025 U.S. Open, with local and final qualifying generating a host of great storylines to complement those players already exempt.
* Players must be in the top 60 places, counting ties, to make the 36-hole cut.
* In the event of a tie at the end of the regulation 72 holes, a two-hole aggregate play-off will take place. If the players still can't be separated after two extra holes, it then becomes a sudden-death play-off until someone prevails.
* The purse for the 2025 U.S. Open has yet to be announced. The purse in 2024 was a record $21.5 million, with the winner receiving $4.3 million.
* " it seems that the rough is absolutely brutal. I think the key will be hitting as many fairways and greens as possible. Usually a course like this heavily favors good ball strikers rather than good putters."
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