00:00Live right here on the early line on Sports Grid, round number one of the 2025 United States Open is underway at Oakmont Country Club outside of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
00:11And that's where we find our guy, Keith Stewart, with a round one check-in.
00:15What we are seeing early in the opening round of the 2025 U.S. Open and what we expect the remainder of this opening round Thursday outside the Steel City.
00:26Keith, as always, we appreciate the time. Thanks for joining us live right in early on this Thursday as round number one is starting.
00:34Ben, Donnie, the U.S. Open is upon us. It's happening. It was a little sticky out there this morning, so the guys are feeling pretty about themselves.
00:44J.J. has made a case, a couple guys chasing him. It's on at Oakmont. Let's go.
00:48We've got a pretty good leaderboard, Keith, at this moment in J.J. Spahn, a top by himself at four under par.
00:57But let's start with the story that is the golf course. Of course, all the conversation entering the U.S. Open.
01:03Golf's toughest test, the third major championship of this year.
01:06How difficult Oakmont was playing. How difficult Oakmont has always been hosting the United States Open.
01:14We've got 14 guys at his current moment, Keith, though, in red figures under par early on this Thursday.
01:21What have you seen of how Oakmont is faring so far here in the opening round?
01:26Ben, it's funny. You know, you're kind of leading me down a path there.
01:29And the coverage that you're watching on USA, you know, the guys keep talking about, oh, everyone's making birdies.
01:34Everyone's doing this.
01:36The current scoring average for the 78 guys that are on the golf course is four over par, right?
01:41Like you said, there's only 14 guys. There's only four to under par.
01:45Be careful what you listen to. It was, you know, it's very warm out here today.
01:49It was about 75 degrees at 7 a.m. when these guys were teeing off.
01:53It was very humid. It was icky. It's going to get up to about 90 degrees.
01:57There's not much you can do about the ground in the morning when it's wet and it's dewy.
02:02These guys benefited from that for their first nine holes.
02:05You're going to start to see this place get pretty spicy leading into the afternoon,
02:08even for the back nine, for Bryson and Rory and these guys that went off in the morning.
02:13The golf course is going to continue to evolve. It's going to continue to fight back.
02:16I mean, right now, a scoring average of four over par, it's going to be five or six over par by the end of the day.
02:23Which will be really interesting to watch, too, Keith.
02:25Talk to me about, like, Scotty Scheffler set the tee off, I believe, at 1.25 p.m. Eastern.
02:29He sees some of these numbers here.
02:31Does that sort of affect those guys in the second wave of how they want to play out the afternoon action at this point?
02:36Or is it just like, you know what, I'm just going to play my game, rounds number one, wait for a moving day, and sort of make my move?
02:41So, Scotty Scheffler in that afternoon wave, effective for him today to sort of try to gun down those leaders or just play his game?
02:48I think he's going to play his game.
02:50It's the first round of four, Donnie.
02:52And I think he's also looking at these things.
02:55Well, you know, these guys are making a couple of birdies.
02:58That's nice. I like that.
02:59But at the same time, if you'll just look at the live odds board, he's plus 300, and J.J. Spahn is plus 2,500.
03:06I don't think he's worried about J.J., right?
03:08He's going to do his own thing, make his game just like Quail Hollow.
03:10Look for him on Saturday night to be in a perfect position to try to take home another major championship trophy comes Sunday.
03:17So, for today, just plod right along.
03:20Pre-tournament, Scotty Scheffler, of course, a very short favorite.
03:23At plus 230, Bryson DeChambeau, our reigning champion at the United States Open, second best number at 7-1.
03:31Rory McIlroy and Jon Rahm tied for that third best price before we got started on this Thursday at 12-1.
03:38We talked about Rory yesterday, not really in great form after winning the green jacket at the Masters.
03:44He is two under, two back of J.J. Spahn.
03:47And I want to direct your attention, Keith, at those updated and live odds as we have you live here for who that round one leader is going to be.
03:57J.J. Spahn, the favorite, at plus 280.
03:59Gary Woodland is one shot back at 6-1.
04:02Rory, 10-1, and Bryson at 25-1.
04:06J.J. Spahn in front by himself right now.
04:09Keith, do you think that's a good wager?
04:11Will Spahn be leading at the end of round number one?
04:14I definitely think that the leader at the end of round one is going to come out of this AM wave.
04:20He's got, what, eight holes left to go, and he looks very solid.
04:23Ben, it seems like a smart bet to me.
04:25I mean, I would definitely take bird in hand in this moment because this afternoon, the breeze will kick up a little bit.
04:30It's going to be super hot.
04:32It's a mental test.
04:33It's going to feel like a pressure cooker out here.
04:35And the place is just, you know, all of these shots, it's amazing.
04:39You watch them land, and we're so used to that, oh, you know, the camera, the neck, and the coverage.
04:44And in this case, like, they keep watching the ball.
04:46They keep watching the ball.
04:48We have eight-second shots, ten-second shots.
04:50You just don't see it anywhere else.
04:52I wouldn't want to be out here this afternoon, and that's why they flip the waves, you know, traditionally.
04:56You've got to give the guys the chance in the morning.
04:58I'd stick with J.J.
05:00Take a look at Bryson DeChambeau.
05:02Minus one through eight holes here.
05:03A good start here as he tries to get on that defense here for the U.S. Open Championship.
05:06Keith, talk to us about how the rest of the week sets up, like Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.
05:11Will changes be made to the golf course overnight, and what can we look forward to?
05:15You know, Donnie, that's a great question.
05:17A lot of people are going to say, oh, this should be playing harder, you know, as if four over par, as a scoring average wasn't hard enough.
05:23But they have 156 golfers.
05:25They have to get through the golf course today and tomorrow.
05:27So look for it to be set up very fair, right?
05:30A lot of equity in where these whole locations are, how long they make the golf course.
05:34And then when they step into the weekend and they have just the low 60 in ties left, that's when they're really going to, the U.S.
05:40GA is going to pull out the teeth on this golf course, and they're going to give you some hole locations that are going to be super, super spicy and entertaining.
05:46So, but for right now, you've got to get the field through.
05:49So, Donnie, again, just like today with the dew on the ground into getting a little drier in the afternoon, as we go through these four rounds, it's going to continue to get a little bit harder and harder as they choose these hole locations.
06:00And the golf course and the competition is going to evolve.
06:04Bryson DeChambeau just gave one back to end out his opening nine in the title defense.
06:09He is even par.
06:10Rory's still two under.
06:12Ludwig Oberg under par as well to begin.
06:15The 2023 U.S. Open champ, Wyndham Clark, a few shots under par in red figures as well.
06:21Keith, final minute of this segment with our live check-in at Oakmont.
06:25Yesterday, the early leans on the early line, focusing on Jon Rahm, a deeper shot down the board in Harris English to have a good week there in Pittsburgh.
06:34Any of these golfers that have started strong that you think will continue that way through these four rounds outside of Pittsburgh?
06:41Well, Ben, I have to love the way that Ludwig Oberg started out this morning.
06:45He goes birdie, birdie.
06:46He gets tripped up on the par five, but he closes his first nine holes with a birdie on the very difficult par four 18th.
06:53I love where Ludwig sits right now.
06:54He's in a good group with Adam Scott.
06:56They're both a couple under par.
06:57They seem to be feeding off one another.
06:59Bryson and Xander going back and forth, a little bit too much of a roller coaster.
07:02Let's stick with Ludwig for a little while.
07:04And hey, cheer on Jon Rahm this afternoon.
07:0714 to 1, the price now on Oberg and Rahm as he waits to get started at the U.S. Open.
