Oakmont, Pennsylvania
CNN
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Scotty Schaeffler bent the course to his will in 2025. The world’s number one golfer looked unstoppable in the commemorative tournament when he won a four-stroke victory at Muirfield Village Golf Club in Ohio just two weeks ago.
However, courses at Oakmont Country Club outside of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania are more than just courses. Orcmont is demonic.
The rough is deeper than the shoe covers. It’s thick enough that PGA officials tasked with finding a Wayward Shot appear to be trying to find contact lenses in a crowded room. The fairway is thin with pencils and if you are lucky enough to find it, they are tilted towards the bunkers that fall straight to the earth. Those bunkers are very deep, they appear to engulf the entire player, defending Oakmont’s greens like the relentless royal guards of Buckingham Palace.
Once all these obstacles are eventually discontinued, players hope to find rest on the green. Instead, they are essentially fitted with a sheet of glass that has sufficient ridges, slopes, twists and turns.
Schaeffler felt Orcmont’s wrath at Monster 618 yards. I felt the par 5 12th hole when I had the opportunity to scrape the tip from the rough near the green and set up an unusual birdie opportunity. Unfortunately for PGA Championship winners, this course has a way of making even the best players in the world look like handicap weekend warriors.
This is Schaeffler’s ability and that he was able to stand up for Pa. However, I was beginning to show frustration. A 13 bogey dropped his chin. The approach, filmed in 14, spun through the hole, yelled at him as he slammed the club into the fairway. I came to 15 after another bogie missed the 6 footer with another evil green.
“The golf course is challenging,” he said afterwards.
“The Greens tried later that day,” he added. “There are so many people riding these greens, so there are so many people who ride these greens, so it can get a bit bumpy, but I know it will be part of the challenge.
It was a brutal day for Schaeffler and many others. And what’s the worst news for 156 players in this field? That may become even more difficult.
“We’re just constantly putting pressure on every part of the game, and whether it’s off the tee, around the green, or a green iron shot, said Thomas Detley, who finished with a 1-under 69.
Oakmont, Pennsylvania’s Friday forecast includes Rain showers and possible thunderstorms. The forecasts for Saturday and Sunday look roughly the same. If rough gets wet and the wind picks up, the monsters on this course may be eating the fields for dinner.
Oakmont Gibeth and Oakmont Takes (more) away
On this course, 286-yard Albatross from No. 3 Shane Raleigh’s Eagle and No. 4 Patrick Reed gave up some of the most notable 286-yard Albatross, but every highlight reel moment had countless stolen strokes that could cost Sunday.
Rory McIlroy, No. Two straight shots of 4 only made it a few yards out of catastrophic conditions. 12 Bryson Deccanbo’s approach shot bouncing back three times, rolling all the way from behind Green.
And as the golden hour glow settled on the course, Tony Finau found the greenside sprinkler head and flew his ball into the grandstand, only to miss out on an audience who had never seen it come.
There were so many more. Deccanbo said this course didn’t give inches.
“Raf is incredibly punished. Even for someone like me, I can’t get out of it by lies. It was a tough one. It was a brutal test of golf,” he said.
Robert McIntyre, who shot an equal 70 on Thursday, said the course is in his head, even if he was very pleased with the round.
“It’s there in the top ten of the rounds I’ve played. It’s very difficult. Honestly, it’s all the shots you’re at the edge of the knife,” he said. “If you missed it – even if you missed the green, you’re still missing it too much and you try to play an 8-yard pitch on the rough.
Playing Oakmont well doesn’t mean you felt confident that day.
For JJ Spaun, who leads the tournament after the opening round, the best move was to lean on his anxiety.
“I was definitely not nervous, so I was definitely nervous. All you were hearing is how difficult this place is. It’s hard to hear the noise and see social media, Twitter and all of these things,” he said. “You’re just asking how difficult this course is.”
“I was actually quite nervous, but I actually tried to take advantage of the nerves, anxiety because it raises my focus, so I’m better. I don’t know.
After filming a 2-under par 68, Kim Si-woo finished the day in third place and admitted that he really didn’t know what he was doing.
“To be honest, I don’t even know what I’m doing on the course,” he told reporters. “It takes a bit of a good hit, but I feel this course is too difficult for me. So, I don’t expect it, but I played great today.”
Even an experienced major champion like Spain’s John Lahm finished his day tied to sixth place after filming a 1-under 69, but he felt he had the accomplishments to celebrate by staying at the norm.
“I’m very happy. I played incredible golf to shoot a 1 under, but we don’t usually say it, right?” he said.
A second round action will begin early Friday morning as the field is set to narrow it down to the top 60 players making cuts.