The first shot of the 125th U.S. Open on Thursday embodied so much of what this championship is about. Matt Vogt, an Indiana dentist who went through 54 holes of qualifying, sent his tee shot soaring into the rough at Oakmont.
Vogt, who once caddied at Oakmont before moving on to root canals, managed to use the severe slope of the first fairway for his ball to tumble onto the green for a par.
There are high expectations everywhere at the major known as the toughest test in golf — for Scottie Scheffler, the world No. 1; for Bryson DeChambeau, the defending champion; and for everyone facing an Oakmont course reputed to be the toughest in the land.
“Oakmont is relentless,” said John Bodenhamer, the chief championships officer at the USGA who sets up the course. “There’s no let up. It’s a grind. That’s the U.S. Open.”
The USGA is particularly fond of Oakmont, a big reason the U.S. Open returns to his course for a record 10th time.
It has been on the minds of all 156 players — from Scheffler and Masters champion Rory McIlroy to the 15 amateurs, and for the 16 players, like Vogt, who had to make it through 18 holes of local qualifying and then 36 holes.
Zac Blair had the first birdie of this championship, holing a putt from nearly 45 feet on the 10th hole after starting his round on the back nine.
Alistair Docherty suffered the first of what figures to be plenty of crashes. From just short of the 10th green, it took him two hacks to get it out of the cabbage-like rough, the second chip rolling and rolling some 12 feet by the hole.
That’s what Oakmont does — thick, gnarly rough and some of the fastest putting surfaces around. The USGA pointed out on the eve of the championship that only 27 of the 1,385 players who have competed in a major championship at Oakmont finished under par.
