OAKMONT, Pa. — The best way the ball kissed the lip on the fifteenth gap and did not trickle in for bogey felt merciless. It was as if Oakmont Nation Membership was exhibiting George Duangmanee each one in all its enamel on a day when his sport had ghosted him.
Enjoying in his first U.S. Open, Duangmanee made his fourth double bogey of the day on the lengthy par-4. Eleven holes prior, he had performed pingpong on the fourth inexperienced and made a triple bogey on his strategy to a stunning rating of 47 on the entrance 9.
At this degree, a rating close to 40 over any 9 holes is at all times an eyesore. One that almost reaches 50 is sort of a unicorn. And but, that is what Oakmont focuses on. Those that arrive at its gates with hopes of showcasing their video games are sometimes humbled within the face of a golf course that was explicitly constructed to frustrate them. Of the 4 highest single-round U.S. Open scores which were recorded during the last 20 years, three of them have occurred right here.
However the great thing about the U.S. Open, as USGA CEO Mike Whan will repeatedly let you know, is its openness. Anybody can attempt to qualify and tee it up with the very best on this planet. A 17-year-old. A dentist. And a 23-year-old from Fairfax, Virginia, chasing his professional golf dream.
Duangmanee turned skilled in 2024 after graduating from UVA and made his PGA Tour debut in Could 2025 on the Myrtle Seaside Basic in South Carolina. There, he carded two under-par rounds to make the minimize and would go on to complete at 5 over for the event.
For a participant who has solely conditional standing on PGA Tour Americas that he earned through qualifying faculty, it was additional proof that he belonged. However the U.S. Open? This was totally different.
“I really feel like this was the most important stage of golf I’ve ever performed in,” Duangmanee mentioned.
Duangmanee had performed arguably two of the very best rounds of his life to even have the possibility to stroll down Oakmont’s fairways. At Springfield Nation Membership in Ohio on June 2, the place a number of professionals tried and did not qualify for the U.S. Open, Duangmanee shot 68-67 to punch his ticket.
It is unimaginable to summarize this sport higher than that: shoot 5 below to get into the U.S. Open, the place an 86 on Thursday and an opportunity to flirt with 90 awaits the subsequent day.
“I knew it was going to be a tough check coming in,” Duangmanee mentioned. “I did not suppose it was going to be that tough.”
An exhausted Duangmanee appeared stunned when a USGA official advised him a couple of reporters needed to speak to him. He had simply wrestled the golf course for over 5 hours and had misplaced in a landslide. However his outlook spoke of one thing totally different.
“I am actually optimistic about simply being right here and excited for the arrogance I can get from it,” Duangmanee mentioned. “It is a bit of bit intimidating being round individuals you watch on TV each week, however I am making an attempt to be taught as a lot as how they apply now, how they heat up and all the things. So I have been maintaining a tally of how the very best on this planet do it, so I’ll use that going ahead.”
In between holes on the again 9, Duangmanee allowed himself to breathe. He exchanged dialog with Austen Truslow, one in all his enjoying companions, drank some water and ate a grape jelly Uncrustable. His sport was in dire form, however his perspective did not should be.
“Going into at this time, I simply needed to have enjoyable on the market,” Duangmanee mentioned. “I knew I used to be form of out of it after my first spherical, so I simply tried to benefit from the expertise as a lot as potential, attempt to hold my head up, and I did not actually get down on myself. I simply stored going, and I used to be simply comfortable to be right here.”
The frustration was definitely there. When he was unable to get the ball from the fescue to the inexperienced on 17, he dropped his head in disappointment. His shot from the tough wasn’t a lot better, however Duangmanee merely stored going. Each shot was not with out its routine. On a day when Oakmont ejected gamers left and proper, together with a few of the finest on this planet, Duangmanee had opted to grind.
His tee ball on 18 — a wayward shot that landed in a fairway bunker because of a driver that had been giving him bother all day — arrange the stage for what would decide his closing rating. Duangmanee pitched out of the bunker and left himself a difficult wedge shot, which landed lengthy of the outlet. The downhill par putt by no means had an opportunity of moving into and slipped nicely previous the outlet.
The dream of the U.S. Open had introduced not simply Duangmanee right here however his household too. Each of his mother and father, his brother (a junior on UVA’s golf group), his grandfather, his girlfriend and extra household had all traveled to Pittsburgh to observe him play. No matter he shot can be secondary.
“It does imply lots to have individuals who need to be out right here and watching me play golf and supporting me,” Duangmanee mentioned.
On a damp afternoon in Pittsburgh, with the stands across the 18th inexperienced that shall be packed in two days’ time barely stuffed, Duangmanee lined up his bogey putt. He had left himself 6 toes, 7 inches.
He studied it fastidiously, as if it have been to make the minimize, and poured it in.
As Duangmanee walked towards his caddie he could not assist however crack a smile. His 89 is tied for the second-highest rating in a single spherical at a U.S. Open during the last 20 years.
“Simply making it right here was a giant accomplishment for me,” Duangmanee mentioned. “It proves that what I am doing, the arduous work I am placing in apply, is paying off. Having the ability to compete in opposition to the very best guys on this planet. It is actually the place I need to be.”
Oakmont is perhaps sending Duangmanee residence together with his scorecard studying plus-35, however he is not leaving. He put in numerous work to get right here, and he is not prepared to maneuver on simply but.
“I am positively going to take a minimum of three or 4 days off and simply take pleasure in it with the household,” he mentioned. “I believe I’ll keep round. We’re already right here, and it is the U.S. Open.”
