J.J. Spaun waits to putt on the seventh hole during the first round of the U.S. Open golf tournament at Oakmont Country Club Thursday, June 12, 2025, in Oakmont, Pa. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)

OAKMONT, Pa. — Having previously only played in one prior U.S. Open, J.J. Spaun arrived at Oakmont Country Club this week with no expectations.

He wasn’t happy with his swing last week after missing the cut at the Memorial, so he tinkered with it at home for a couple days. Still unsatisfied, Spaun threw his tweaks “out the window” shortly before arriving and went through “productive” pre-tournament preparation.

“I didn’t really know what to expect, especially since I’ve never played here (at Oakmont),” Spaun said.

Yet, after carding a bogey-free, 4-under 66 — just the eighth bogey-free round in the 10 times that Oakmont has hosted the tournament — Spaun finds himself sitting alone atop the leaderboard for the 125th U.S. Open Championship after the completion of the first round of play on Thursday.

“I don’t know if it freed me up in any aspect, but I just tried to take what the course gave me,” Spaun said of his inexperience in U.S. Opens and at Oakmont. “I hit a lot of good shots and tried to capitalize on any birdie opportunities, which there aren’t very many out here. But I scrambled really well, too, which is a huge component to playing well at a U.S. Open, let alone shoot a bogey-free round. I’m just overly pleased with how I started the tournament.”

Speaking of scrambling, Spaun had to figure things out right from the start. After teeing off on the back nine at 7:07 a.m. alongside Tom Kim and Taylor Pendrith in the morning wave, Spaun’s approach shot on the 10th hole found the rough on a slope just outside the pin-high bunker.

His chip flopped just out of the rough, bounced on the edge of the green and trickled about 15 feet into the hole for birdie. It was one of four birdies he’d make on the back-nine, including the par-5 fifth, the par-3 16th and par-4 17th.

After making the turn, Spaun parred every hole on the front nine, which played about one-stroke harder than the back-nine.

On the 621-yard par-5 fourth hole, Spaun’s tee shot found the iconic Church Pew bunker down the left side of the fairway. But instead of being in the sand, his ball was in the grassy “pews” that fill the bunker.

With an awkward, off-balance stance, Spaun pitched his ball down the fairway and out of the long, thick grass. His approach found the green-side bunker, but he was able to get up-and-down to save par to maintain his one-shot lead.

“It was literally on the wall of the church pew, and I had to almost kneel my left leg and foot down in the bunker,” Spaun said. “It was a good lie, and I knew if I made contact with any club that it would come out pretty good. … That happened a bunch of times today. I did that on No. 1, I did that on Nos. 4, 6 and 8.”

Holing 18-of-19 putts from inside 20 feet, Spaun’s ability to convert those on Oakmont’s rolling greens played a big part in keeping his scorecard bogey-free.

“That’s the key to this tournament and this venue, just not losing your steam, not losing your focus and converting those momentum-saving putts,” Spaun said.

Sungjae Im briefly took the lead from Spaun during the afternoon wave after reaching 5-under, but back-to-back bogeys on on the back-nine dropped him back into a tie for third at 2-under.

Most expected Oakmont to be a tough test and that proved to be the case.

Just 10 players finished the day in red numbers, including South Africa’s Thriston Lawrence, who despite playing in just his second U.S. Open, put together a 3-under 67 with six birdies to sit alone for second behind Spaun.

“Just the all-around game was good from the tee,” Lawrence said. “That’s where golf starts on this golf course — from the tee. You need to give yourself a chance to get to the green. I was in the fairway most of the time and gave myself a lot of good chances. Managed to execute the iron shots as well, and made a couple of nice putts and nice par saves.”

SHAKY START

Oakmont’s mettle was a struggle for some of the game’s best after round one.

In the morning wave, Masters champion Rory McIlroy finished with a 4-over 74 to sit tied for 62nd after starting the day 2-under through nine holes. McIlroy began an early morning on the easier back-nine, but struggled on the front-nine with four bogeys and a double-bogey on the long 276-yard par-3 eighth hole.

He was joined by three other past U.S. Open champions at 4-over, including Matt Fitzpatrick, Wyndham Clark and Lucas Glover.

Defending champion Bryson DeChambeau began his day with a bogey on the first hole and finished with a 3-over 73 in a tie for 49th.

“Just didn’t get anything out of it. This golf course can come up and get you pretty quick, and you’ve just got to be on your game,” DeChambeau said. “It got me, and I wasn’t fully on my game. Pretty disappointed with how I played. It’s not too far off. Just gotta get the putting a little more dialed, and I’ll be right there because 3-over could have easily been 2-under today.”

World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler had an up-and-down day with three birdies, but six bogeys to also finish 3-over, his worst opening round of his majors career.

But, two-time champion Brooks Koepka had an eagle on the fourth, and overcame a pair of bogeys on the back-nine to finish with back-to-back birdies on 17 and 18 to card a 2-under 68 for a tie for third.

“I thought I played pretty consistent, drove it pretty well, iron play was pretty good,” Koepka said. “When I did miss it, I felt like I missed it in the correct spots. A couple of good bunker shots. … I’m really happy with the way I finished, and hopefully it leads into (Friday).”

Fellow LIV Golfer Jon Rahm, who came into the U.S. Open 21-for-21 in top-10s on the LIV tour, finished 1-under with a 69 to tie for sixth shortly thereafter.

HISTORIC TWO

Patrick Reed had a confused look on his face at first, but that quickly changed to incredulity once he realized what happened.

On the par-5 fourth hole, needing a 3-wood from out of the fairway with 287 yards to the hole, Reed’s ball found the green and promptly rolled straight into the cup for an albatross.

Reed was even-par through 17 holes, but an errant chip shot from the edge of the green led to a seven on the par-4 18th hole to put him also at 3-over in a tie for 49th.

“It’s awesome. That’s great. But it’s one of those things that after you finish with a triple (bogey), that’s really the last thing you’re really thinking about,” Reed said after his round.

It is just the fourth recorded albatross, or double eagle, in U.S. Open history and the first at any major championship since Nick Watney holed out on the 17th hole during the first round of the 2012 U.S. Open at Olympic Club.