The U.S. Open at Oakmont is going to be really hard. Here's what the players think about the course.
The U.S. Open is going to be extremely difficult this week -- and there's been no shortage of discussion about the conditions at Oakmont Country Club from some of the best golfers in the world.
Oakmont is hosting the U.S. Open, often regarded as golf's toughest test, for a record 10th time. The historic cathedral of the game is known for being extremely challenging with firm fairways, deep and penal bunkers, and extremely fast and undulating greens.
A little bit challenging isn't good enough for the USGA, however, so for the U.S. Open, things are ramped up a little more with the rough at Oakmont grown up to a solid five inches.
"It's a great test of golf."
Defending U.S. Open champion Bryson DeChambeau said he thinks everybody knows that Oakmont is probably the toughest golf course in the world right now.
"You have to hit the fairways, you have to hit greens, and you have to two-putt, worst-case scenario," DeChambeau said. "When you've got those putts inside 10 feet, you've got to make them. It's a great test of golf."
With a great test in front of him like Oakmont, DeChambeau said there are times you can play fearless golf, but there are also times to be more reserved, citing wind conditions, green softness, and pin locations.
"I think with this golf course, you have to be just a fraction more strategic, especially with the rough being so long," DeChambeau said. "I'm going to be as fearless as I can possibly be out there, I know that."
DeChambeau said he's looking forward to the test Oakmont is going to bring this week and thinks the person that wins the tournament is going to hit a lot of fairways and make a lot of putts.
"This one's hard no matter what -- soft, firm, windy, no wind."
Dustin Johnson, who won the U.S. Open last time it was at Oakmont in 2016, said it's probably the hardest golf course he's ever played.
"The course is just as hard as I remember, if not harder," Johnson said.
Early this week, the course was playing a bit less fiery than usual as the Pittsburgh area had been inundated with rain in recent days, but even under softer than normal conditions, Johnson says it's going to be difficult whether things firm up or not.
"This one's hard no matter what -- soft, firm, windy, no wind," Johnson said.
"I've played it. I know it's difficult."
Justin Thomas shared the same sentiment, saying that even under softer conditions, Oakmont is still extremely challenging.
"I understand this place is hard, Thomas said. "I don't need to read articles or need to hear horror stories. I've played it. I know it's difficult."
Thomas, the No. 5 ranked player in the world, said one of the special things about Oakmont is that the USGA doesn't need to do much to take the course from how it's played on a daily basis to how it plays for the U.S. Open -- and that the course is plenty challenging for both the physical and mental parts of the game.
"I just think it requires patience and discipline," Thomas said. "If you just get lazy, like on any drive, any wedge shot, any chip, any putt, you can kind of look stupid pretty fast, especially at a place like this.
"Maybe I'm just sick and enjoy the challenge."
While some may not love being dropped into intense conditions like Oakmont where lightning-fast greens and incredibly thick rough will be the talk of the town, don't lump Xander Schauffele into that bunch.
"Maybe I'm just sick and enjoy the challenge," Schauffele said. "Something about it playing really hard."
Schauffele, the No. 3 ranked player in the world, said he knows Oakmont is going to be hard this week, but says he thinks that's what the fans want to see.
"I think they turn on the U.S. Open to see a guy shooting 8-over and suffer," Schauffele said. "That's part of the enjoyment of playing in the U.S. Open for viewers."
"I think they're a lot of fun," Schauffele said of the difficult test, adding that part of the fun itself comes from the chance to take some risks when you have a decent lie in spite of the challenging conditions.
"It's very penal if you miss."
Missing fairways was a big topic of discussion among players, including Rory McIlroy, who spoke at length about the difficulties Oakmont brings when you find yourself in the high grass.
"It's very penal if you miss," McIlroy said. "Sometimes it's penal if you don't miss. But the person with the most patience and the best attitude this week is the one that's going to win."
McIlroy, the No. 2 ranked player in the world and runner up at the U.S. Open the past two years, revealed that he was at Oakmont last week to play in a member's outing and despite feeling like he didn't play that bad, he shot 81 with birdies on his last two holes.
"You miss a fairway here, you can't really do anything with it unless you're in the middle of a fairway bunker and you can get something over the lip," McIlroy said. "Much more penal if you do miss it."
McIlroy said that when it comes to making calculated decisions about how to play shots out of Oakmont's thick rough, everything comes down to the lie.
"Just whatever club you think you can get on it," McIlroy said. "If you have a half-decent lie in the rough, it gives you a chance to at least run the ball up to the front of the green if you've got a decent lie.
"This is probably the hardest golf course that we'll play, maybe ever."
While a majority of the discussion among top players was about Oakmont's thick rough, for Scottie Scheffler, he seemed to focus more on Oakmont's penal bunkers.
Scheffler, the world's No.1 ranked player, said that given Oakmont's nearly 200 bunkers scattered throughout the property, he's not sure it's a type of course where you can try and overpower things with a "bomb and gouge type strategy."
"This golf course is so well bunkered, especially for a golf course without trees, I think this is a place that can get away with it really well because there's so many bunkers everywhere and they're deep and it's a real penalty when you hit the ball in the bunkers here," Scheffler said.
Scheffler said Oakmont is probably the hardest golf course that the players will play and when stacked up against other difficult challenges, it's just a different type of test and one that won't afford a lot of "green light places.
Scheffler added there are some opportunities to score when you find the fairway off of the tee, but that's not always the case.
"There's certain holes where you know when you step on the tee box, par is going to be a really good score."
"It's just a tough course."
Jon Rahm, the winner of the U.S. Open in 2021 at Torrey Pines, said that when you come to Oakmont, you know you're somewhere special and that you know the kind of challenges which come with playing in the U.S. Open. He also embraces those challenges.
"A lot of unfortunate things are going to happen," Rahm said. "It's hard fairways to hit, bad lies, difficult bunkers, difficult greens. It's going to be a nice test, a difficult test. And I think one of the truest representations of what a U.S. Open is all about."
Rahm said if it doesn't rain through the rest of the week, it's more likely than not that the winning score for the championship will be over par.
"It's something that none of us, I would say, are used to, but it's a challenge you need to embrace," Rahm said.
COMPLETE U.S. OPEN COVERAGE:
