Ryan Fox plays a shot from the bunker on the third hole during the first round of the US Open at Oakmont Country Club, Oakmont, Pennsylvania, on June 12, 2025. Photo: AFP
New Zealand golfer Ryan Fox has had a mixed opening round at the US Open in Oakmont, Pennsylvania, sitting six strokes off the lead.
Fox, who won his way into a place in the field with his heart-stopping Canadian Open play-off victory on Monday, played a mostly steady round to finish 2-over par, with one major hiccup, a double bogey on the 14th hole.
He started well with a birdie on the par-4 second hole but immediately negated that with a bogey on the third.
He nailed a long putt to birdie the par-3 sixth and then had a run of four pars before striking trouble with a bogey on the 11th.
Worse was to come with the double bogey on the par-4 14th, which dropped him back to 2-over.
He recovered to par the final four places on the challenging Oakmont Country Club course that caused problems for most players, including Masters champion Rory McIlroy and tournament favourite Scottie Scheffler.
Fox finished tied for 33rd, six strokes behind JJ Spaun, who was the early clubhouse leader and couldn't be hauled in.
McIlroy was eight shots back after a challenging 4-over round, while Scheffler finished 3-over.
Fox had predicted before the tournament it would be tough going on the fickle course.
"I've seen enough stuff on social media and talked to a couple of guys that went early this week and it sounds like it's going to be a beat-up, which will be fun,'' he said.
"It's going to be a little different from [the Canadian Open]. I don't think 18-under is going to be needed. I like that style of golf, maybe not every week, but it is fun to play every now and again and you know that par is a good score."
Spaun, who lost to McIlroy in a playoff at The Players Championship in March, fired a 4-under-par 66 in stifling conditions that marked his lowest round in a major, Reuters reported.
JJ Spaun plays a shot from the 16th tee during the first round of the US Open at Oakmont Country Club in Pennsylvania on June 12, 2025. Photo: AFP
"I hit a lot of good shots and tried to capitalise on any birdie opportunities, which aren't very many out here," said Spaun. "But I scrambled really well, too, which is a huge component to playing well at a US Open, let alone shoot a bogey-free round.
"I'm just overly pleased with how I started the tournament."
South African Thriston Lawrence birdied the penultimate hole and got to the clubhouse one shot behind Spaun, while two-time US Open champion Brooks Koepka and South Koreans Sungjae Im and Si Woo Kim were a stroke back. Jon Rahm of Spain, Ben Griffin and Belgium's Thomas Detry were part of a tie at 1-under 69.
Defending champion Bryson DeChambeau, one of 14 LIV Golf players in the field this week and looking to become the first repeat US Open winner since Brooks Koepka in 2018, spent too much time in Oakmont's penal rough and opened with a 73.
"It was a brutal test of golf. But one that I'm excited for tomorrow," said DeChambeau.
"If I just tidy up a couple of things and get some momentum going my way, we'll see where it goes."
McIlroy, still looking to regain the form that helped him complete the career Grand Slam in April, started from the 10th hole made two early birdies and reached the turn two shots back of Spaun before a wayward second nine.
World No.2 McIlroy made four bogeys over a seven-hole stretch out of the turn followed by a double-bogey at the par-3 eighth where he left his tee shot in the thick rough and failed to get out on his first attempt. He signed for a 74.
Red-hot world No.1 Scheffler, who counts the PGA Championship among his three wins in his last four starts, went out with the late starters and reached the turn at two over after mixing four bogeys with two birdies. He had one birdie and two bogeys on his closing nine to finish 3-over.
Former Masters champion Patrick Reed, who also went out late, made the fourth albatross in recorded US Open history when his second shot at the 621-yard par-five fourth landed on the green and trickled in to move into the mix.
Former caddie-turned-dentist eyes silver lining
Towards the tail of the field, former Oakmont caddie-turned-dentist Matt Vogt, who qualified for the tournament last week, could have used some laughing gas after a rough start but still walked away thankful for all he had accomplished.
The 34-year-old amateur, who grew up outside Pittsburgh and caddied at Oakmont where he also got to play on Monday nights, had the honour of hitting the first shot of the US Open where he went on to card a 12-over-par 82.
"Honestly, I came in with such optimism for this golf course, but it is so hard. It's just so, so hard," said Vogt.
"I'd say in the moment you feel like you get punched in the face but, ultimately, yeah, I'd say it was fun."
- RNZ Sport/Reuters
