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Oakmont's torturous greens are frustrating US Open golfers -- and inflating their scores
PITTSBURGH — It’s hard enough to reach the greens at Oakmont Country Club.
Players must navigate narrow fairways surrounded by thick rough and punishing bunkers.
They then must land approach shots not just on the green, but in particular parts of it, to have any hope of their ball staying on the putting surface.
Players have described the...Read more

Gerry Dulac: Sam Burns escapes Oakmont's wrath with historic Round 2, while world's best left reeling
PITTSBURGH — Sam Burns began his day with the third-lowest round ever shot in a U.S. Open at Oakmont Country Club. He spent the rest of the day watching players slide down the leaderboard as though it were greased with cooking oil.
After 36 grueling holes that continue to try the patience of the best two players in the world, only three ...Read more

Paul Zeise: A focused Brooks Koepka is lurking just behind the leaders at the US Open
PITTSBURGH — There aren’t many big names at or even near the top of the leaderboard at the U.S. Open after two rounds, and there is a number of the bigger names who didn’t even survive the cut.
Some people love the underdog stories. Some want star power. And if you are one that is looking for star power, this has certainly not been the U....Read more
Jason Mackey: Viktor Hovland has handled the bumps at Oakmont. Could a US Open title be next?
PITTSBURGH — The rip-your-hair-out stress test called Oakmont Country Club has been well-documented by now. Its contours chronicled. What it can do to poorly executed golf shots obvious.
Good luck finding someone better equipped to handle that painful roller coaster ride than Viktor Hovland.
There were better rounds Friday during the second ...Read more

Sam Burns, amid his lights-out 5-under round at the US Open, also helped a spectator in need
PITTSBURGH — Sam Burns was playing the round of his life. The kind golfers prefer not get interrupted — think of the Bishop in “Caddyshack” who was struck by lightning because he refused to pause his best day ever on the course.
So he could have been forgiven if he paid no attention to the commotion behind him on the eighth tee. After ...Read more

The next Tiger or Jack? World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler has begun chasing down all-time great status.
Scottie Scheffler pays attention to the leaderboard, though it usually doesn’t matter.
He watched during the PGA Championship in May and saw his five-shot lead wiped away by Jon Rahm nine holes into the final round. By the time he approached the 18th green, Scheffler had a six-shot cushion and Rahm was out of contention.
It was a similar ...Read more

Gerry Dulac: Round 1 of the US Open produced unexpected leaders, unsurprising struggles for golf's best
PITTSBURGH — The first round of the 125th U.S. Open produced more surprises than a 13th birthday party, from the top of the unlikely leaderboard right down to the target practice players were fearlessly taking at some of Oakmont’s notoriously difficult holes.
There was a hole-out eagle to wake up the morning crowd, the fourth double eagle ...Read more

Paul Zeise: Rory McIlroy played poorly in the 1st round of the US Open, but that shouldn't be a surprise
Golf’s big three — Rory McIlroy, Scottie Scheffler and Bryson DeChambeau — was hoping to put on a show for the gathered crowd at Oakmont Country Club. The three had large galleries throughout the practice round leading up to the start of play Thursday and were three of the favorites in the sportsbooks.
That didn’t happen, though, as all...Read more

Jason Mackey: No history at Oakmont Country Club? That was hardly a problem for J.J. Spaun.
PITTSBURGH — J.J. Spaun had seen the chatter on social media about Oakmont Country Club, site of the 125th U.S. Open. He knew the course would pack a punch ... and might knock a few of the best golfers in the world to the mat. The 34-year-old Los Angeles native also didn't care.
Ignorance is bliss? Yeah, something like that.
As the lid ...Read more

Carnage prevails at Oakmont's Church Pews as several US Open golfers get eaten up in Round 1
PITTSBURGH — It was like Easter Sunday at Oakmont Country Club on Thursday morning: The Church Pews were packed.
The massive bunker lining the third and fourth fairways drew player after player into its deadly ridges — even first-round leader J.J. Spaun — and many of them left saddled with bogey or worse during the first round of the U.S ...Read more

Paul Zeise: Collin Morikawa has the game, demeanor to conquer Oakmont and win the US Open
PITTSBURGH — The golfer who emerges victorious Sunday at the U.S. Open here at Oakmont Country Club is probably the one who minimizes bogeys, and that generally means the golfer who hits the most fairways.
It is a simple formula that some would say plays in every golf tournament, but after two days of listening to the best guys in the world ...Read more

US Open best bets, sharp plays: 'You could be lighting money on fire'
LAS VEGAS — Sharp bettors don’t see any value in backing Scottie Scheffler to win the U.S. Open as the shortest favorite to win a major in 16 years.
But it’s still tough to bet against him.
“It almost feels like you could be lighting money on fire doing that,” Westgate SuperBook golf oddsmaker Jeff Sherman said.
Sherman and VSiN ...Read more

Gerry Dulac: Cue the misery -- warmer weather has Oakmont back to its regular, brutal self
PITTSBURGH — Rory McIlroy called it a big brute. Dustin Johnson said it's the hardest course he's ever played. Bryson DeChambeau went a step further and proclaimed it the hardest in the world. Jon Rahm said it's an extreme challenge where a lot of bad things are going to happen.
"It doesn't really get harder than this," said Ludvig Aberg, the...Read more

Scottie Scheffler deletes Venmo account in latest incident of bettors harassing an athlete
That Scottie Scheffler is the prohibitive favorite to win the U.S. Open this week at historic Oakmont Country Club surprises no one. He's the top-ranked golfer in the world, winning three of his last four starts, including the PGA Championship.
That Scheffler deleted his Venmo account because bettors continually clicked the pay/request link on ...Read more

Paul Zeise: Scottie Scheffler missed the cut in his first US Open at Oakmont. That pushed him to the top of the golf world.
PITTSBURGH — Scottie Scheffler’s first U.S. Open was in 2016 at Oakmont Country Club. He was an amateur, mostly an unknown. He was in awe of Dustin Johnson and Brooks Koepka, whom he got to play a practice round with. Scheffler missed the cut.
At that point, nobody outside of some golf insiders really knew who he was, and certainly very few...Read more

US Open betting: Scheffler biggest favorite to win major since Tiger
LAS VEGAS — Scottie Scheffler is widely considered the world’s most dominant golfer since Tiger Woods in his heyday.
Fittingly, Scheffler is the shortest favorite to win a major at this week’s U.S. Open since 2009. Woods was a favorite of +250 or less in all four majors that year, including +175 to win the U.S. Open, according to ...Read more

Gerry Dulac: Rory McIlroy battling Masters hangover, driver changes heading into US Open at Oakmont
PITTSBURGH — Rory McIlroy is doing more than struggling to find the right driver and recapture the form that made him the game’s greatest driver of the ball.
He is struggling to find the proper motivation and recapture the desire that fueled his fast start to the season and ultimately resulted in winning the Masters.
The world’s No. 2 ...Read more

Gerry Dulac: Can Dustin Johnson use previous Oakmont success to jump back into golf's top tier?
PITTSBURGH — Dustin Johnson’s prominence in the golf world was a lot different the last time he was at the U.S. Open at Oakmont.
At the time, he was the No. 6-ranked player in the world who finished no worse than seventh in five of his previous seven major starts.
He had never won a major championship, despite any number of near misses, ...Read more

Gerry Dulac: Oakmont to cause havoc for world's best golfers
PITTSBURGH — When he played his first practice round before the 2016 U.S. Open, Shane Lowry quit after six holes because he thought Oakmont Country Club was too paralyzing — and too damaging to his confidence.
"I sat there in the locker room going, I have no idea how I'm going to play golf around this place," Lowry said.
Six days later, ...Read more

Jason Mackey: Oakmont has been home to plenty of incredible stories. Scottie Scheffler, you're up.
PITTSBURGH — No offense, Oakmont. You're incredible. But you might need to shove over and make some room.
Until this past weekend, much of the fuss surrounding the U.S. Open has focused on the golf course — the diabolical rough, the ridiculous pin placements, the sadistic challenge it presents.
There hasn't been enough talk about the ...Read more
Popular Stories
- Gerry Dulac: Sam Burns escapes Oakmont's wrath with historic Round 2, while world's best left reeling
- Sam Burns, amid his lights-out 5-under round at the US Open, also helped a spectator in need
- Paul Zeise: A focused Brooks Koepka is lurking just behind the leaders at the US Open
- Oakmont's torturous greens are frustrating US Open golfers -- and inflating their scores
- Jason Mackey: Viktor Hovland has handled the bumps at Oakmont. Could a US Open title be next?