Post-Gazette golf insider Gerry Dulac joins King Jemison to break down everything you need to know ahead of the opening round of the 2025 U.S. Open at Oakmont Country Club on Thursday.
Can Rory McIlroy shake off some of the Masters hangover and find his form again? Can world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler continue his torrid pace and pick up yet another major after reigning victorious at the PGA Championship this year? Can the mad scientist of golf, Bryson DeChambeau, pick up his third U.S. Open? How will the conditions be now that the weather is warming up again and causing the course to become firmer? What kind of player will be able to find success? Gerry and King give their predictions for the winner and the winning score.
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hey everybody I’m King Jimson alongside Jerry Dulac of the Pittsburgh Post Gazette and we’re here at day two of the 2025 US Open at Oakmont Country Club and we’re going to talk a little bit about what we saw what we heard today how the course is playing but first this US Open coverage is brought to you by Mike’s Beer Bar your spot for every major sporting event with over 20 TVs you won’t miss a moment of the action from the US Open to Pirates baseball mike’s has hundreds of local beers available so tell your friends to meet me at Mike’s now Jerry what were your biggest takeaways from what you heard we heard from quite a few of the big names today you did that very well by the way um you know I think probably I I I think maybe the most popular player out here today was Paul Skins he was out with a handful of the power players but you know today was a big practice day uh everybody’s here by now i think the one thing we’ve have seen and this is true of most majors but especially at the US Open and especially at Oakmont a lot of the guys the star players they do not play 18 hole practice rounds because it takes too much time it’s they’re they’re it’s taking them three three and a half hours to play nine holes so the guys break it up they play the back nine one day the front nine another day and some of them won’t even practice tomorrow won’t go out and play they might practice so um that’s the big thing we’re seeing on Tuesday it’s always the busiest day it’s always the biggest preparation day uh for the players i think the other big thing in terms of the playability in the golf course is what we’re seeing right now King is the sun is out supposed to be three straight days of that the wind is blowing which the you know I was I saw the Oakmont club president earlier and he was just thrilled that the wind’s blowing and the sun’s out so they feel by Thursday Oakmont will be Oakmont because you’re going to have three straight days of this and so however moist it was out there and it was ne these last couple days is never as bad as it was in 2016 when they got the Thursday storm and so this will dry up fairly quickly the greens have been firm anyhow so from a playability standpoint as we go forward it’s only going to get more difficult and again it’s much to the delight of the Oakmont members so they want their golf course to play the way it the way it typically plays and not what they saw in 2016 and we are definitely trending in that direction colin Morawa even said in his press conference that it was different today than it was yesterday greens were much faster that will just continue with weather reports looking pretty good until at least the weekend um but you heard today from Rory Mroy who won the Masters this year to complete the career grand slam is was off to an unbelievable start but has slowed down of late didn’t really ever get into contention in the PGA Championship and then had a bit of an equipment controversy coming out of that tournament what did you hear from him today well what I heard from him King is beyond trying to get comfortable uh with trying to find a new driver he’s trying to find the momentum that he had leading up to the Masters and he admits that he’s just had a difficult time kind of regaining and recapturing that determination that desire all the hard work that he did from last fall to April to lead up to what he has done winning the players championship winning at Pebble Beach and of course winning the Masters and completing the Grand Slam the his last two times out tied for 47th at the PGA did absolutely nothing missed a cut embarrassingly at the Canadian Open his highest 36ole total of his PGA Tour career so you couple that with with um not being comfortable with his uh with his driver he’s gone back and forth he’s he plays a tailor made model he’s gone back and forth between the new model the Qi35 and the Qi10 he was asked today “What one have you decided you’re going to play this week?” He says “Come watch me hit balls and see for yourself.” So he thinks over the last over the weekend down in Florida that maybe he has I don’t want to say cured his driving concerns but you’re talking about the not only the greatest driver of the ball in a PGA tour or Rory Maroy is arguably the greatest driver of the ball in history that is his major weapon and that’s going to that needs to be a big weapon out here not only just for distance but for control and accuracy because you start missing fairways okay that’s one thing but if you’re going to miss fairways it’s better that you miss fairways 50 yards farther than the other guy in the rough so that’s what he’s battling right now but this is a guy who’s tested in the US Open he’s finished in the top 10 in the last six US Opens uh he’s been runner up each of the last two years we saw what happened last year down at Pinehurst where he missed two short putts on 16 and 18 right and Bryson Dashambo took it away from him so I mean he’s played US Opens well he’s won a US Open it’s hard to discount him uh coming here but he talked about he needs to uh recapture that desire again and it’s been harder than he thought i mean it’s going on well since the Masters in April and um you know we’re going to find out we’re going to find out where he is because he’s going to be tested out here well somebody who never seems to lack for desire is the man you mentioned who beat Maroy at last year’s US Open Bryson Dashambo we heard from him today he’s also known for toying with his equipment and he said there’s going to be some changes there and you know can you speak to a little bit about what you heard and and maybe what surprised you about Bryson well I asked him because after the PGA Championship where he finished second and he and he had some problems coming down the stretch with the wind knocking the ball in the water and whatnot and he said after the tournament that he needs to make some changes especially with the ball and the wind because of how fast he swings and the sid spin he puts on the ball and he says “I have a few tricks up my sleeve for Oakma.” Well I think the only trick up his sleeve is he’s he’s uh taken he’s put a new set of irons uh in his bag and I’m not going to even begin to explain the the the scientific dynamic behind it because one it takes too long two I can’t and three I don’t quite understand it even though I like to understand equipment but as far as the golf ball he said that’s still a discussion it’s going to go on for a while that’s not an easy thing to do just switch a golf ball and find the right one so you know he’s a he’s a master tinkerer it’s what he always does and it’s one of the reasons I think he’s so engaging especially to u to a golf purist but you know he has a massive following over two million followers on his YouTube channel but you know in the major tournaments you know he’s everybody knows he’s on the live tour but in five of his last six majors he’s finished in the top six and he’s won two two US Opens if you would have told him or ask anyone to bet on Bryson Dashambo winning US Opens that was that layout uh setup is not tailored to his game the Masters is and yet here he is a two-time champ coming in here hot again and you know what wouldn’t surprise me at all if he won yeah and then the world number one player who’s coming off a major in May at the PGA Championship Scotty Sheffller we also heard from him you know there’s almost no controversy ever with Scotty he’s just a straight shooter um but what do you think about how this course fits his game you know uh uh backtracking just a little bit you know Rory’s problems began when his driver failed uh the uh the random test for conforming clubs right before the PGA well so did Scotty Sheffers and and as Rory Mackoy said when he was asked “Did that bother you at the PGA?” He said it didn’t bother Scotty and so he’s been fine and I think what’s impressive about him King is that he’s won three of his last four events but he’s won them by an average of 5.7 shots that’s a staggering amount that just shows you his dominance and so when you watch guys like Roy Moy or even Bryson Deambo if they have a three-shot lead with three holes to go you’re sitting there with your fingers crossed wondering okay what’s going to happen here what might happen in these in his last three holes that doesn’t happen with Scotty Sheffer makes all the right decisions makes all the right shots he does tiger-l like stuff and that’s why he’s doing what he’s doing it’s uh he is clearly the number one player in the world do I think Roy Moy when he’s on his game is the most talented and can be the most dominant player in the world or is the most dominant player in golf yes but for consistency quality and everything he’s done uh Scotty Sheffller unquestionably the number one ranked golfer in the world 143 weeks at number one only Tiger Woods and Greg Norman has spent longer periods of time as a number one player in the world and that just speaks to how good this guy is and to do that in this era of golf that is so deep where we have so many different players who are now sitting on multiple majors um is there anybody we haven’t talked about today that you think is one of the big contenders here yeah no I I I think it’s John Rom i you know it’d be very easy for me king to sit here and say I like Scotty Sheffer and say go oh Jerry Duck went out on a limb and picked Scotty Sheffler anybody can do that i always like to look and and I do think Scotty Sheffller is clearly the betting favorite it’s not even close but I always look try to look beyond that and the guy I like to win is John Ro his last three majors 14th 7th and sixth he’s won a US Open he’s a two-time major champ and he he’s just dying to get back to these full field events against the best players in the world look he made a commitment to live he’s played well won the Live Tour uh I think he has um his last uh five or six starts he’s finished in the top 10 but he even he acknowledged today that he says “Look I’m I’m not going to lie to you finishing in the top 10 on the Live Tour with a limited field.” He says it’s not the same as finishing in the top 10 out here and so he relishes these opportunities to get back against the best players in the world and uh I like John Ramen i like him for another reason too i think with this rough I think it’s going to require not necessarily a long player but he is that it’s going to require a strong player because they have to be able to uh handle that rough anal Cabrera strong powerful player in ’07 dustin Johnson a strong powerful player in 2016 the rough is thicker now than it was then it’s at 5 in i think it’s going to be a player who is strong enough to handle that rough it’s why I don’t like Colin Morau unless he hits every fairway but I think uh like John Rom is one of those guys you know certainly Dashambo and certainly Rory and even Scotty Sheffller but John Rom certainly capable of it and that’s my pick yeah all right well I went out on a limb and picked Scotty there you go see that’s what I’m talking about so five of the past six champions here were first time major winners including your your last three in Ernie Ellera and of course Dustin Johnson 2016 all of those players went on to win more majors another one right but is there a player who doesn’t have a major yet who you think is is really going to be on the leaderboard late on Sunday well I’ll tell you a couple guys to watch which is basically what you’re asking me uh Robert McIntyre the the Scottish player he he won the Scottish Open last year won the Canadian Open last year you see him on a lot of leaderboards you know these are the types of courses with these conditions where you have to be able to navigate your way around he’s a guy to keep a guy an eye on and I’ll tell you the other one is Waqen Neman from Live Golf he’s won four times already this year on the live tour uh he’s from Chile he’s a very talented player um he did not play well in the PGA in fact I think he missed a cut but nonetheless um he’s coming in here as as the hottest player in live golf he’s another guy to keep your eye on both of those guys of course have never won a major this could be the time to win make their first one uh right here at Oakmont yeah one more name I’ll add there is Seb Straa very accurate player two time winner already yep and yeah as you said two-time winner on the tour this year but he has not performed well in major so now he’ll have to change that to to contend but another strong guy who big strong guy who can handle you know he’s not the longest guy out there surprisingly but he’s a strong guy and he’s a guy capable of handling that rough any other takeaways from a beautiful sunny day two at Oakmont yeah I just think everybody including myself you know it was so disappointing last time because in 2016 the the leadup right up until Wednesday night the golf course was as firm and as fast and as nasty as it was ever going to play and everybody was excited about okay the possibilities of how grueling this test is going to be well now the opposite has happened it’s been wet uh leading up to this point but now it’s going to dry up and so we’re going to see Thursday you know be pretty nasty and and the Pittsburgh native the Cranberry native Matt Vote first player off Thursday morning off number one T on 645 that’s a nice little honor for him i know he’s thrilled what a way to start and we’ll have a lot more content on Matt over the course of the week um as as you’ve already written quite a bit about him too well let’s take a a quick break to get a message from our sponsor and then we’ll wrap up this US Open preview at the Pittsburgh Post Gazette looking for more than just a shed at Amish Yard we build handcrafted structures that elevate your space and your lifestyle from backyard barns to fully finished retreats like this customuilt golf simulator and pool house our team works with you to design a structure that fits your vision every detail is thoughtfully designed and built with precision using the highest quality materials available call today to discuss a customized quote built to last built with care built by Amish yard coming back here with the Pittsburgh Poke Dazette i’m King Jimson alongside Jerry Dulac jerry you’ve talked a lot about today that the conditions that are firming up looking like we’re going to get Oakmont at Oakmont’s finest there is a chance of rain Saturday and Sunday but that’s too far out to really prognosticate at this point if you had to pick a winning score right now what what would you want to sign for you know uh typically the winning score although you go back to is right around par you go back to Anhal Cabrera in 07 he was five over dustin Johnson wins last year at four under actually five under but he got penalized that shot that’s nine shots lower than on Hal Cabrera but that’s because of the course condition and I remember last time in 16 I asked the course superintendent John Zimmers how you know how did the rain affect the golf course and he said probably he made it a shot and a half easier around and so you do that times four that’s five shots and that takes you back then to even par so there aren’t going to be many guys if any under par um so you know I think one or two over can win somebody’s at even poor i’d say run to the betting parlor right now and put the money on them because that you can pretty much figure that’s what’s going to happen as good as these guys are Oakwan is is is it’s so difficult because the the pitches in the fairway the slopes on the green the nasty rough the speed of the greens there’s so many facets here that you have to be able to handle these guys know it they all talk about it they all call it the hardest course in the world toughest one they’ve ever played that’s not just a you know they’re not blowing a bunch of smoke it’s the reality of this situation if you get any kind of wind and I don’t know what kind of wind we’re supposed to have but even if they don’t have any wind you know it’s a golf course with no trees no water and it’s the hardest golf course in the world it’s just because of the way it plays so if somebody gets to even par uh bet on them I’ll you know I don’t maybe I don’t think any higher than plus two only because these guys are so good and they figure it out pretty quickly yeah it’ll be interesting it’ll be sort of a litmus test of where golf is to see if it is firm and fast like it was in 07 when plus 5 won what do golfers today do now uh about 18 years later jerry last question for you um if you were coming out to Oakmont as hopefully very many people will and they’re expecting about 200,000 people total over the course of the week what are a couple holes that you would like to watch from well the simple ones because a lot of the fans are dropped off uh over by the second green where the merchandise tent is number 3T that’s a great spot because you have that drivable par4 number two you can see the number three the 3T is right there that’s the church pews hole um so people have never been here they get the Oakmont uh uh uh visual right away at that point you’re not very far from three green uh excuse me uh 18 green the 299 yard par three so on that side of the turnpike there’s some good spots right there and then you go to the other side i mean to me the best viewing spot and I don’t know because I haven’t been out to the tea i don’t know what the setup is but if you stand on 18T you can watch 18 this way you can watch 17 come up you can watch 15 that way and you can even see 16 down there so I know there’s a grand stand up there i’m not sure which way they decided to angle it but if you get up in that grandstand up around 18T that’s the best viewing spot on the golf course and that is where hopefully the climactic action will happen on usually does you better run if you want one of those good spots in the grand stand on 17 or 18 on Sunday because everybody’s going to be thinking the same thing and then I liked how Jeff Hall of the USGA put it about hole eight if you want to see pros play a par three like we have to taking a head cover off go to hole eight i was there for most of the morning today and pretty much everybody hit driver i was talking to Victor Havlin at the memorial and he said something’s wrong when you have to pull your head cover off a club on a par three no PGA Tour player likes any par three longer than 230 yards they don’t like number eight they think it’s silly they think it’s ridiculous jack Nicholas who never designs par threes longer than 225 230 at any of his courses thinks to have a hole at 299 is ridiculous as well but it will be fun to see what they do there’s no question about it once again it’s like trying to wait for a train wreck and there’s a lot of them out here and I did see one player hit the green with a three iron today and it was playing about 295 yards that was an amateur named Noah Kent in the same group as Scotty Sheffller and Sam Burns took driver to hit there so that was really fun to see and it’s been fun for these first couple days and we’ll be back with you tomorrow i’m King Jimson alongside Jerry Dulac with the Pittsburgh Post Gazette [Music] thank you for checking out this content from Postgazette Sports if you watch this video on YouTube please like the video and subscribe to our channel for all the sports coverage the PGazette has to offer visit post-gazette.com [Music]
