JJ Spaun posted the lowest round of his major career to vault into the first-round lead at the 2025 US Open.
Spaun, 34, carded a flawless 4-under 66 to hit the front at famed Oakmont Country Club.
It was the first bogey-free round in a US Open at Oakmont since Dustin Johnson's first round in 2016.
Spaun will be hoping that's a good omen since Johnson went on to win his first major title that week.
One-time PGA Tour winner Spaun incredibly made 18 of 19 putts inside of 20 feet during his round of 66.
South Africa's Thriston Lawrence also got off to a fast start with a 3-under 67.
Lawrence, who came close to winning his first major at The Open last July, entered this week off the back of seven missed cuts in eight starts.
Elsewhere, five-time major champion Brooks Koepka, twice a winner of the US Open, bounced back to his best with a solid 2-under 68 alongside South Korean duo Si Woo Kim and Sungjae Im.
Koepka was the last player to successfully defend the US Open in 2018.
Former US Open champion Jon Rahm is also in the red at 1-under par alongside in-form PGA Tour pro Ben Griffin.
However, the three tournament favourites starting the week in Scottie Scheffler, Bryson DeChambeau and Rory McIlroy all had opening rounds to forget.
Scheffler, who started the week a red-hot favourite at the lowest major odds since Tiger Woods in 2009, has it all to do at 3-over par.
DeChambeau, who is attempting to become the first player to successfully defend the US Open since his LIV Golf peer Koepka, matched Scheffler's round of 73.
McIlroy is off and running with a par on his first hole, the par-4 10th.
He found the fairway with an iron and then spun a fantastic approach shot in to 10 feet under the hole.
McIlroy missed his putt on the high side.
A solid par nevertheless.
McIlroy comes in to this week off the back of missed cut at the RBC Canadian Open.
He appeared a little downbeat during his Wednesday's press conference for some reason.
A fast start today will no doubt cheer him up.
McIlroy's playing partners Lowry and Rose also made safe pars on their opening hole.
Rory McIlroy
12:51
Aberg hits the front
Aberg - 2 (2*)
It's a fantastic start from Aberg.
The Swede has just sent another dart in to four feet this time on the par-4 11th.
He duly sunk the birdie putt and Aberg moves into the outright lead on 2-under par.
Aberg is considered by many as the best player in the world without a major to his name, even though he's only playing in a seventh career major this week - testament to his rapid rise in the game.
12:47
Moldovan bogey
Moldovan -1 (2)
It's a bogey for the American at the 2nd after failing to get up and down from the right side of the par-4 2nd.
Moldovan is now back into a tie for the lead on 1-under par alongside Aberg, Blair and Spaun.
12:43
Aberg birdie at 1
Aberg - 1 (1*)
Ludvig Aberg sends a dart in to five feet on the par-4 10th and converts the putt for an early birdie.
The talented Swede is playing in his seventh career major and his second U.S. Open.
Ludvig Aberg
12:32
Take a closer look at Oakmont
The Golf Channel crew have taken a great in-depth look at all 18 holes at Oakmont Country Club.
Check out the front nine in this video:
Remote video URL
Now check out the back nine here:
Remote video URL
12:25
EAGLE TWO AT THE 1ST!
Moldovan -2 (1)
Little-known American Maxwell Moldovan has just got off to a dream U.S. Open start.
He's just holed out his second shot for eagle from 189 yards at the par-4 1st.
Moldvan, 23, moves straight to 2-under par and he's one shot clear of Blair and Spaun, who both birdied their first holes.
We thought Oakmont was hard?!
Maxwell Moldovan is competing in his fourth straight U.S. Open this week.
He missed the cut in 2022 and 2024, but finished 65th in 2023.
moldovan
12:16
Driving accuracy leaders
Driving accuracy will matter a great deal to successfully navigate Oakmont this week.
GolfMagic has crunched the numbers over on the PGA Tour and LIV Golf to find out which players are most likely to find the short grass off the tee, and give themselves the best chance of victory.
We're off and away in the first round and Zac Blair in the first group has just made the first birdie of the tournament.
Blair, who is competing in his fourth U.S. Open this week, drained a 43-foot bomb for birdie on the par-4 10th, his first hole of the day.
His playing partner Alistair Docherty did not fare so well though as he made a double.
There will certainly be plenty of those and worse on scorecards this week.
12:05
My pick to win the U.S. Open
Scottie Scheffler
Outright Pick
Scottie Scheffler
Best price (pre event)
11/4(+275)
Last 5 starts on Tour
8-1-1-4-1
Last 5 starts at U.S. Open
MC-7-2-3-41
It might not be the most adventurous outright pick you have ever seen, but I have genuinely never been more confident in tipping the winner of the U.S. Open than this week.
Scottie Scheffler will not just win the U.S. Open this week to move within one leg of the career grand slam, but he will run away with it.
The dominant World No.1 has his ball on a piece of string once again following three victories in his last four starts on the PGA Tour.
What I love about Scheffler's performances at the minute is that he's not just stumbling home for victories, he's destroying fields.
Yes, life has been made easier for him in recent seasons as a result of DeChambeau, Rahm and Koepka joining LIV Golf, but I am still of the mindset that Scheffler would still be cleaning up if they were still on the PGA Tour.
Scheffler is available at pre-tournament odds of 11/4 (+275) across the board, which yes, is very skinny for a U.S. Open test where one hole could easily send you packing this week.
These betting odds on Scheffler are also the lowest any player has been before the start of a major since Tiger Woods in 2009.
The rough is up and the greens are going to be running up to 15 on the stimp, but I think that only goes to play in Scheffler's favour.
The harder and tougher it gets, the stronger his chances are because of just how in control he is from tee to green right now.
Scheffler ranks first in strokes-gained total (2.687), strokes-gained off the tee (0.776) and strokes-gained approach to green (1.342) on the PGA Tour so far this season - all statistics that will come into play at a brutal test that is 10-time record U.S. Open venue Oakmont.
As for his closest rivals in the betting market ahead of the first round, I have huge question marks over McIlroy's game at the moment, so I am going to put a line through his chances, especially as he continues to mess around with the top end of his bag.
I could be wrong, but you can't be doing that with just a few days to go ahead of a U.S. Open.
McIlroy also missed the cut on a shocking 9-over par at last week's RBC Canadian Open.
Defending champion DeChambeau could prove a big danger to all, especially since he's won two of these now, but he raised concerns about his driver in Virginia over the weekend and he won't get away with errant tee shots here.
I think even if Scheffler brings his B-game to the U.S. Open then it's game over for the others. If he brings his A-game then we could be looking at yet another runaway victory, just as we've seen recently on the PGA Tour.
The bookies certainly think so, with one firm indicating Scheffler is the most-bet player by total wagers (18%) and total money wagered (31%) ahead of the U.S. Open getting underway this Thursday. I'm joining the party too.
None of us will get rich backing Scheffler this week, but I do think it's the prudent play.
