OAKMONT, Pa. — If there’s a textbook U.S. Open round to be played, J.J. Spaun executed it to perfection in Thursday’s opening round at mighty Oakmont.
The 34-year-old San Diego native carded a bogey-free, 4-under-par 66 to take the lead in just the 27th major championship round of his career.
He was the only player in the morning wave to card a bogey-free round. At the time Spaun finished his round, only six of the 78 players in the morning wave were under par.
His 66 tied the lowest opening round in U.S. Open history.
Birdieing four of his first eight holes, Spaun shot a 4-under-par 31 on his first nine holes, which is a U.S. Open record for best score on the opening nine holes of a first round.
“I knew it was going to be tough,’’ Spaun said. “I tried my best to grind through it all, and fortunately put together a clean card today.’’
Spaun began the day with a chip-in birdie from 20 feet on No. 10, his first hole of the round, and never looked back.
En route to taking only 26 putts in his round, Spaun holed out a number of key par-saving putts to keep his round going.
“This was one of my better putting rounds of the year,’’ he said. “Those (par-save putts) are huge — especially for a U.S. Open — to keep the round going keep you from going backwards.’’
His round tied the record for the lowest first round ever shot in a U.S. Open at Oakmont. He now shares it with Andrew Landry, who shot a four-under 66 in the opening round in 2016.
Spaun is ranked 25th in the world. The past eight U.S. Open winners have come from a player ranked within the top 25.
This is Spaun’s second career U.S. Open start, the other coming in 2021 at Torrey Pines, where he missed the cut with rounds of 77-75.
He’s in the midst of the best year of his career, having taken Rory McIlroy to a playoff at the Players Championship in March before losing in extra holes.
The Players was his second runner-up finish in 2025 after a T-2 showing at the Cognizant Classic. He also finished T-3 at the Sony Open in Hawaii earlier in the year.
Spaun entered the week ranked sixth in the FedEx Cup points list and 13th in the U.S. Ryder Cup standings.
“This is obviously a breakout year for me,’’ he said. “I’m starting to believe in the things I can do. My finish at the Players was very eye-opening to me to have that self-confidence to play on biggest of stages. This week is off to a very good start.’’