US Open History Beckons For Possibly Six Oakmont Players

4 months ago by Comments Off on US Open History Beckons For Possibly Six Oakmont Players

US Open history possible beckons for as many as six players heading into the final round late today at Oakmont.

You have 54-hole leader Sam Burns, a former junior and college All-American with five PGA Tour victories, but no majors. Burns backed up his second-round, 5-under-par 65 – the third-lowest in Oakmont U.S. Open history – with a 69 on Saturday for a three-round total of 4-under 206.

There’s J.J. Spaun, a one-time PGA Tour winner who has resurrected his career in 2025 with four top 10s, including a playoff loss at The Players Championship. Thursday’s opening-round leader has continued to hang tough, posting a 69 for a 54-hole total of 207. He remains the only player in the field with a bogey-free round (66).

And then we have Adam Scott, the only player in the top 10 with a major to his name, the 2013 Masters. The 44-year-old from Australia matched the day’s lowest round with a 67, and the 14-time PGA Tour winner is the lone competitor to shoot par or better all three days.

He’ll be in Sunday’s final pairing with Burns, making for an eclectic twosome: the young star bidding for a major breakthrough against the highly popular veteran who could become the second-oldest champion in U.S. Open history. Only Hale Irwin, who was 45 when he claimed his third title in 1990, would be older. Scott turns 45 on July 16.

They aren’t the only intriguing plots to follow at the top of the leader board.

Viktor Hovland, of Norway, a seven-time PGA Tour winner, sits just three strokes back after an even-par 70 that included a remarkable up-and-down birdie from nasty rough on the par-4 17th.

Carlos Ortiz, of Mexico, a qualifier with one PGA Tour victory and a handful of other worldwide titles that includes the 2024 LIV Golf event in Houston, is at even par after nearly producing the second bogey-free round of the championship. Ortiz posted a 67 (even-par 210) that saw him play flawless golf until he missed a 8½-foot par putt on Oakmont’s punishing 492-yard closing hole. He would be the first qualifier since Lucas Glover in 2009 to win the U.S. Open.

Third-Round Notes – Saturday, June 14, 2025 (Thanks to PGA Tour)

Weather: Cloudy and rainy. High of 77. Winds SW at 3-6 mph.

Third-Round Leaderboard

Pos. Player R1 R2 R3 Total
1 Sam Burns 72 65 69 206 (-4)
T2 Adam Scott 70 70 67 207 (-3)
T2 J.J. Spaun 66 72 69 207 (-3)
4 Viktor Hovland 71 68 70 209 (-1)

 Sam Burns (1st/-4)

  • Posts his low 54-hole score in a major (206); previous low: 209 (two times; 2022 U.S Open; 2022 PGA Championship)
  • Fifth time leading/co-leading after 54 holes on TOUR (1-for-4); won the 2021 Valspar Championship; first 54-hole lead/co-lead in a major (previous best position in a major: T2/2024 Open Championship/finished T31; previous best position in a U.S. Open: T7/2022/The Country Club/finished T27)
  • Held the outright 36-hole lead after carding a second-round 65, the low 18-hole score by any player this week
  • 28-year-old seeks his sixth win in his 174th start on TOUR (2021 Valspar Championship; 2021 Sanderson Farms Championship; 2022 Valspar Championship; 2022 Charles Schwab Challenge; 2023 WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play)
  • Seeks his first major title (best finish: T9/2024 U.S. Open); most recent first-time major winner: Xander Schauffele (2024 PGA Championship); most recent to win first major at the U.S. Open: Wyndham Clark (2023)
  • Three top-10 finishes in 16 starts this season (T8/The Sentry; T5/THE CJ CUP Byron Nelson; P2/RBC Canadian Open)
  • Looks to become the first player on TOUR to lose in a playoff (RBC Canadian Open/lost to Ryan Fox) and then win the next week since Andrew Novak (lost in a playoff at 2025 RBC Heritage, won 2025 Zurich Classic of New Orleans)
  • One top-10 finish in six previous appearances at the U.S. Open (T9/2024/Pinehurst No. 2); MC at Oakmont Country Club in his U.S. Open debut in 2016 (74-75)
  • In the first two majors of the 2025 season, he finished T46 (Masters Tournament) and T19 (PGA Championship)

Adam Scott (T2/-3)

  • At 44 years, 10 months, 30 days, would become the second-oldest winner U.S. Open history (Hale Irwin/1990/45 years, 0 months, 15 days)
  • Looks to become the oldest winner of the 2025 season on TOUR (Ryan Fox/RBC Canadian Open/38 years, 3 months, 20 days)
  • Looks to become the third player from Australia to win the U.S. Open (David Graham/1981; Geoff Ogilvy/2006)
  • Seeks his second major title (2013 Masters Tournament); is making his 96th consecutive major appearance, dating back to the 2001 Open Championship; longest active streak and second-longest streak all-time (Jack Nicklaus/146)
  • Looks to become the fifth player to win the Masters Tournament and the U.S. Open at Oakmont Country Club (Ben Hogan; Jack Nicklaus; Angel Cabrera; Dustin Johnson)
  • Seeks his 15th victory on the PGA TOUR in his 419th start; would move him into T60 on the all-time wins list; last win: 2020 Genesis Invitational; would snap a winless streak of 5 years, 3 months, 30 days (or 1,946 days)
  • Three top-25 finishes in 11 starts this season (T15/The Sentry; T22/AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am; T19/PGA Championship)
  • Three top-10 finishes in 23 previous appearances at the U.S. Open (T9/2014/Pinehurst No. 2; T4/2015/Chambers Bay; T7/2019/Pebble Beach Golf Links); in two previous appearances at Oakmont Country Club, he finished MC (2007) and T18 (2016)

 J.J. Spaun (T2/-3)

  • Posts his low 54-hole score in a major (207); previous low: 209 (2018 PGA Championship)/finished T35
  • T2 is his best 54-hole position in a major; previous best: T18 (2022 Masters Tournament)/finished T23
  • 34-year-old seeks his second win on TOUR in his 236th start (2022 Valero Texas Open)
  • Seeks his first major title (best finish: T23/2022 Masters Tournament)
  • Four top-10 finishes in 16 starts in 2025 (T3/Sony Open in Hawaii; T2/Cognizant Classic in The Palm Beaches; P2/THE PLAYERS Championship; T6/Charles Schwab Challenge)
  • Second appearance in the U.S. Open; MC in 2021 at Torrey Pines (South) after shooting 77-75
  • Looks to become the first player since Webb Simpson (2012) to win the U.S. Open on his second attempt

 Additional Notes

  • Viktor Hovland (4th/-1) posts even-par 70; seeks his first major title (best finish: T2/2023 PGA Championship); looks to become the first player from Norway to win a major; Valspar Championship winner looks to become the sixth multiple winner of the 2025 season (Scottie Scheffler/3; Rory McIlroy/3; Ryan Fox/2; Ben Griffin/2; Sepp Straka/2)
  • Carlos Ortiz (5th/E) matches the low round of the day (67); earned a spot in the field via final qualifying (T4/Bent Tree Country Club; Dallas, Texas); looks to become the first player since Lucas Glover (2009) to win the U.S. Open after advancing through final qualifying
  • Thriston Lawrence (T6/+1) seeks his first win on TOUR in his 27th start (best finish: 4th/2024 Open Championship); would become the first player since Matt Fitzpatrick (2022) to make the U.S. Open his first TOUR win; looks to become the second rookie winner of the 2025 season on TOUR (Karl Vilips/Puerto Rico Open)
  • None of the 67 players to make the cut carded a bogey-free round on Saturday


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