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All week long, golf fans have heard about the treacherous conditions that lurk at Oakmont Country Club for the 125th U.S. Open.
Rory McIlroy was among those golfers who proved why the course is so tough in this third major of the season.
The 2025 Masters champion was truly going through it at Oakmont during his Thursday round, and it came toward the end of what looked to be a great start for McIlroy.
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Rory McIlroy hits his shot on the 17th hole during the first round of the U.S. Open. (Bill Streicher-Imagn Images)
McIlroy posted a front-nine 33, birdying his second and third holes while shooting par on the rest. However, the back nine was where things started to fall off the rails, and Oakmont’s infamous thick rough played a huge part in that.
His first bogey of the day came on Hole 1 (McIlroy began his round on Hole 10), and things could’ve been much worse on Hole 4 when his drive on the par-5 fired to the right and landed on horrible, high grass.
The ball wasn’t visible at all as McIlroy took a hack at it, and the result was it landing just a few feet in front of him. So, with one foot in a fairway bunker, McIlroy swung again but to no avail. The ball landed a few feet to the right this time.
McIlroy was stepping into his fourth shot on a hole that could’ve derailed his entire round. But he was able to get the ball on the fairway just in front of the green with a chance to at least go up and down to save bogey.
That’s exactly what he did, needing a 30-foot putt to fall into the hole and he got it. McIlroy walked away hoping that was all the mishaps he would face, but more were coming.
Holes Nos. 6-8 saw bogey, bogey and double-bogey respectively, as McIlroy couldn’t find any consistency in his swing. His putting stroke also didn’t help, missing short putts that could’ve gone down for par.
Rory McIlroy plays a shot from a bunker on the 17th hole during the U.S. Open. (Bill Streicher-Imagn Images)
On his second-to-last hole, McIlroy’s tee shot on the 289-yard par-3 went deep into the rough behind the green, and he let off a frustrating swipe at it when his pitch shot once again went just a few feet in front of him.
McIlroy finished his round 4-over (74), which puts him tied for 64th on the U.S. Open leaderboard.
McIlroy wasn’t the only one dealing with the harsh conditions at Oakmont, as one of his best friends, Shane Lowry, was truly going through it in his 9-over 79 on Thursday. He was even spotted throwing a microphone around the green after a chunked chip shot.
Top players like Justin Rose (7-over), Patrick Cantlay (6-over), Matthew Fitzpatrick (4-over) and Wyndham Clark (4-over) were also among those struggling on Thursday.
Rory McIlroy walks off the first tee during the first round of the U.S. Open. (Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images)
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It will be interesting to see the leaderboard once those in the afternoon finish their rounds, as McIlroy and more could have some work to do on Friday to make the U.S. Open cut.
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