Oakmont Country Club has delivered as advertised across the first two rounds of the 2025 U.S. Open leaving most of the 156-man field battered and beaten by the toughest golf course in the United States. Evidence of that brutal test is the leaderboard, which features only three players in red figures entering the weekend.
Sam Burns leads the way at 3 under as he got the better of Oakmont on Friday with a sensational 65 that set the new low round of the week and tied for the third-lowest score ever compiled at an Oakmont-hosted U.S. Open. Burns followed a similar script to the one J.J. Spaun laid out with his Thursday 66, taking advantage of starting on the less-difficult back nine to go out in 31 before keeping his head on the more difficult front side.
Burns bogeyed No. 1 but bounced back with birdies on Nos. 2 and 4, getting to 5 under on his round and 3 under for the tournament. He closed with five straight pars to reach the clubhouse and post a number that no one could match.
Among those chasing Burns is Viktor Hovland, who likewise got off to a terrific start on the back nine, including an eagle at the drivable par-4 17th to get to 3 under.
From that point, he rode a rollercoaster of bogeys, birdies and a double to finish at 1 under after shooting a 68. That was good enough for a top 10 in the clubhouse, but once Friday’s round concluded, Hovland found himself in solo 3rd, two back of Burns.
In between those two is Spaun, who finally put some bogeys on the card on Friday en route to a 72. However, given nearly everyone else in the afternoon wave dropped out of red figures, he must to feel solid about still being in 2nd at 2 under.
With how difficult Oakmont has been playing, none of those three can feel safe entering the weekend, but they have given themselves more margin for error than those chasing, who are all currently over par. That includes names like Brooks Koepka (+2), Jon Rahm (+4), Collin Morikawa (+4) and Scottie Scheffler (+4), all of whom still have a chance given how few players are under par and how quickly the leaders could drop back to the field. There are a number of big names, including defending champion Bryson DeChambeau, won’t be part of the weekend after failing to make the cut at 7 over.
That sets up a fascinating weekend at Oakmont starting with a Moving Day that may well live up to its name Saturday.
2025 U.S. Open leaderboard breakdown, Round 2
1. Sam Burns (-3): His 65 is one of the all-time great rounds at a U.S. Open when considering how difficult Oakmont played Friday with only a handful of rounds under par all day. He has statistically been the best putter on the PGA Tour this season, and that showed up in a big way Friday as he was third in the field in strokes gained putting at +2.99. More impressive was his ball-striking where he was second in the field at +3.21. Coming off a runner-up at the Canadian Open, he’s playing the best golf of his season right now. We’ll see how he handles the pressures of leading the U.S. Open on the weekend, but combining great iron play with great putting is a recipe for success at Oakmont.
2. J.J. Spaun (-2): Spaun showed a lot of grit in his second round as there were times where it looked like it could go off the rails, but he bounced back from nearly every bogey with a birdie to answer. He seemed to run out of gas a bit late, closing his round with three bogeys and a birdie in his final four holes, and that was almost to be expected after the way he got around bogey-free on Thursday by holing seemingly everything from midrange. That’s hard to do consistently on greens like those featured by Oakmont, but he showed on Friday he won’t simply fade away. Spaun has the game to hang around atop of the leaderboard. .
3. Viktor Hovland (-1): Hovland has reached ordan Spieth-like territory of chaos during his rounds, as he will pile up birdies and bogeys and hope that after 18 holes it ends up in red figures. What made his Friday so stunning is that he led the field in strokes gained around the green, which has long been his Achilles heel. If he can be a bit better finding fairways off the tee and keep this feel with his short game, he’ll be a major threat on the weekend.
T4. Adam Scott, Ben Griffin (E): Even at 44, Scott is still one of the steadiest players around. It’s fitting that he’s opened with back-to-back even-par 70s. He’s going to lurk and see if those guys at the top make a mistake that he can pounce on as he looks for his first U.S. Open title. Griffin, meanwhile, had it to 3 under for a bit Friday before falling back, but he’s been the hottest player this side of Scottie Scheffler for more than a month now, and his confidence hasn’t been shaken at all by Oakmont.
T6. Victor Perez, Thriston Lawrence (+1): Lawrence got it to 6 under at one point early in his second round, leading by three, but everything unraveled from there. He will have to regroup in a big way going into the weekend if he’s going to contend. Perez, meanwhile, authored the highlight of Friday with his hole-in-one on the 6th hole, becoming just the second man to accomplish that feat in U.S. Open competition at Oakmont.
T8. Russell Henley, Brooks Koepka, Si Woo Kim, Thomas Detry (+2): Both Koepka and Detry had it to 3 under during their second rounds, but they couldn’t hold it together and slid five off the pace. Still, all four of these players are firmly in the mix going into the weekend and will be looking for their opportunities to put some birdies on the card and apply pressure to the leaders.
T12. Jason Day, Tyrrell Hatton, Max Greyserman, Keegan Bradley and seven others (+3): Other than Burns, it was Day and Greyserman who posted the two best rounds of the day, shooting 67s to move from near the cut line to into the top 20 going into the weekend. Hatton continues to sniff around major leaderboards, while Bradley continues to trend towards being a playing captain at Bethpage later this year.
T23. Scottie Scheffler, Jon Rahm, Collin Morikawa and 10 others: The group at 4 over features some heavy-hitters, and while they are seven back of the lead, they still have a legitimate chance at winning this tournament. The problem is there is no more margin for error, and none of them feel particularly great about how they’re playing right now. (Scheffler had a long, frustrated range session on Friday afternoon.) Still, this group is one good round away from applying a ton of pressure to the leaders.
T36. Jordan Spieth, Sungjae Im and seven others: Both Spieth and Im backed up considerably after strong first rounds, Spieth shooting a scratchy 75 and Im struggling tremendously on Friday afternoon with a 77.
T45. Rory McIlroy, Xander Schauffele and 12 others: McIlroy doubled two of his first three holes and was outside the cut line for much of the day, but he rallied late to finish with a couple of birdies on the back nine, including a terrific birdie on the 18th to ensure he made the cut. Schauffele had that kind of fight back to close his first round Thursday, but he continues to struggle to find it with his irons or on the putting surface and fell back to 6 over with a 74. From this far back, either McIlroy or Schauffele would have to produce something spectacular on Saturday to have a chance at winning, but they have two additional tee times, which is more than many can say.
