– Spaun, Burns, MacIntyre, Scott, Hatton, Hovland, Scheffler, Rahm, McIlroy or DeChambeau are the top names of this US Open at Oakmont 2025 just billed. Some for reasons that arise from the competition itself (Spaun, Burns, etc.), and others because they are now always in the spotlight, even if they miss the cut (Scottie, Jon, Rory, Bryson…). But let’s close this third Major of the year with some details from the second and third row, sometimes more interesting or revealing than the first.
1. Patrick Cantlay had missed four cuts in the 31 Majors he had played before 2025, a year in which he has already missed two in the three that have been played. He is lost and is flirting with irrelevance more often than expected from this player.
2. It is impossible to measure the level of frustration, but if it could be done, Justin Thomas would surely be at the top of the ranking right now. After finishing 36th in the Masters, he had won the RBC Heritage and was second in the Truist Championship, so his moment in the Majors had come again. He believed it, and so did we. The slap has been historic: he missed the cut in the PGA and also in the US Open. He is in too much of a hurry.
3. Golf has been too cruel to Phil Mickelson, who was left out of the cut with two late double bogeys in the second round. Especially harsh was the second one, on the 17th hole, the short par 4, where he was on the green in three and still had to sink a one-meter putt to save the double bogey… Then, on the 18th, he hit a masterful second shot, landing two inches from the cup and then missed the birdie putt from about four meters that would have put him in the weekend. The ball, teasingly, caressed the edge of the hole… The USGA should send him the invitation for next year right away. Who wouldn’t understand?
4. We remain seated and patient, waiting for the definitive breakthrough of Cameron Young (4th this week at Oakmont). Little by little, there hasn’t been a year since he reached the elite where he hasn’t achieved at least one top ten in a Major.
5. Dustin Johnson is drowning in a sea of bad luck and melancholy. With him in play in a Major, lately, it seems true that what can go wrong goes even worse. In a few days, he will turn 41, he is no youngster, but it’s not a matter of age that the rounds feel eternal in the majors and that he has missed six cuts in the last eight he has played. Excessive.
6. Neither is Cameron Smith faring well with his move to LIV, it is what it is. But if we are waiting patiently for one Cameron, Young, how can we not do the same for the other, Smith.
7. Tyrrell Hatton has achieved the best result (4th) of his career in a Major. With the Englishman, there are no shadows of doubt, whether he plays in LIV or wherever he chooses: he will win one sooner or later. And it wouldn’t be surprising if it were the US Open. Although it may seem otherwise, because it is the major where the most patience and composure are required, it actually suits him perfectly, as no one else can get angry and calm down with such poise and naturalness.
8. Rasmus Neergaard Petersen. He has played the first two Majors of his career in the last month. In the first (PGA), he missed the cut. In the second, against a giant like Oakmont, he finished twelfth. Yes, he learns quickly. A few years ago, he was still making his way (very successfully, indeed) on the Hotel Planner Tour. He may not yet be a global ‘crack’, but he continues to take the right steps. It would be unusual if he doesn’t win for the first time on the DP World Tour this year 2025. Of course, bets are welcome.
9. We are still waiting for a player born in the 21st century to be able to win a Major. It hasn’t happened yet. Gene Sarazen, who was the first player born in the 20th century to win a Major, already needs a companion in a club where members only join every hundred years. And the fact is that there aren’t many clear candidates. Tom Kim, the Hojgaard brothers… No matter how quickly he learns, even Neergaard Petersen wouldn’t qualify, as he was born in 1999.
10. The history of golf Majors, as we tell it today, turns 165 years old in 2025, since that first Open was played in 1860. As we tell it today, we said. And this nuance is important because probably until the mid-20th century, the concept of major wasn’t forged. However, it is fair to give the pioneers their place and highlight the dawn of those competitions that over time (very soon, really) became these mega sporting events. In this time, 473 Majors have been played, and J. J. Spaun, the recent winner at the US Open in Oakmont, has been the 234th player to win at least one.
11. Only 89 of these 234 have won more than one. This is Spaun’s challenge. And it’s not that simple, as seen: in Spaun’s fold, the one of single Major winners, are guys like Adam Scott, Jason Day, Justin Rose, Sergio García, Louis Oosthuizen, Jim Furyk, Tom Kite, Fred Couples, Ian Woosnam…
And also others like Jason Dufner, Todd Hamilton, Ben Curtis, Yang, Shaun Micheel, Rich Beem, Mark Brooks… They are all excellent, but these two groups have played in different leagues, let’s not fool ourselves. Spaun is still writing his story (he is 34 years old), and we’ll see in which league he ends up or feels most comfortable.
12. Josele Ballester has been the 20th Spanish player to debut in a US Open since Ángel de la Torre broke the ice exactly a century ago (1925). Who will be the twenty-first? Let’s throw out some names. For example, it’s almost absurd that Jorge Campillo hasn’t played this Major yet, and he deserves to enjoy it. And Ángel Ayora seems like a safe bet.
13. Stay calm: in just eight years, the US Open will return to Oakmont, and off the top of our heads, two questions come to mind. The first: how many Majors will Scheffler have won by the time he returns to this venue for the third time? And the second: will the 8th hole, par 3, be played, let’s say, from beyond 310 yards?
