OAKMONT, Pa. — Generally it helps not realizing what may go flawed.
Having by no means performed at Oakmont Nation Membership in a aggressive spherical earlier than, J.J. Spaun proceeded Thursday to chart his manner round one of many hardest U.S Open assessments in simply 66 strokes.
“I sort of got here out right here with no prior historical past at Oakmont, probably not realizing what to anticipate, even U.S. Open-wise. That is solely my second one,” Spaun stated. “I do not know if that freed me up in any facet, however I simply tried to sort of take what the course gave me.”
Spaun’s spherical of 4-under par featured no bogeys, making it the primary time that any participant has carded a bogey-free spherical at Oakmont since Dustin Johnson‘s first spherical in 2016. Johnson, after all, went on to win his first main championship and completed the event at 5 below.
Over his 18 holes in Thursday’s opening spherical, Spaun hit eight of 14 fairways and 12 of 18 greens in regulation. However the place most of his scoring got here on his first 9 (he teed off on the tenth gap) with 4 birdies in his first eight holes for a report rating of 31, what he did on his second 9 was maybe extra spectacular, as he scrambled for par and by no means had a three-putt on Oakmont’s treacherous greens.
“It is difficult in each form of facet or variable in golf,” Spaun stated of Oakmont. “You are clearly going to must grind whenever you’re out of place, and I did that actually nicely right this moment.”
Spaun’s putter was incandescent throughout the first spherical. The 34-year-old made 90 ft of putts and gained practically 4 strokes on the sector along with his putter alone.
“I believe right this moment was one in every of my greatest placing days I’ve had possibly all yr, particularly inside just like the makeable vary putts, inside 12 ft or so,” Spaun stated. “I like changing these putts, as a result of that is enormous for momentum and maintaining a spherical going, and that is sort of what occurs right here at U.S. Opens.”
The final time Spaun, who’s ranked twenty fifth on this planet, was within the highlight was three months in the past on the Gamers Championship, the place he went toe-to-toe with Rory McIlroy in a three-hole Monday playoff however couldn’t take down the five-time main winner.
With 5 top-15 finishes this season, Spaun has been taking part in nicely general, however he’s coming off a missed reduce on the Memorial. It is secure to say nobody anticipated him to sew collectively a spherical such because the one he did Thursday.
“I used to be truly fairly nervous. However I truly tried to harness that, the nerves, the anxiousness, as a result of it sort of heightens my focus, makes me swing higher,” Spaun stated. “I like feeling uncomfortable. I ended up feeling fairly snug in direction of the tip of the day, however there is a lengthy approach to go.”
Even being in rivalry at a Gamers is nothing like what Spaun will expertise now that he has put himself in prime place at a serious championship on a golf course that may get solely more durable, and the stress will solely develop.
Each he and his rivals comprehend it.
“It is Thursday,” Xander Schauffele, who birdied the final two holes to shoot 2 over, stated. “I simply advised J.J., ‘Unimaginable spherical, good taking part in. Good luck the remainder of the way in which.'”
