Garbage Time Sports

Oakmont, a name recognized by golf fans worldwide for its tight fairways, knee deep rough, and glass covered greens. This weekend, this sleepy town outside of Pittsburgh will host the 125th U.S. Open, the tenth time that the club has hosted this prestigious event. Scottie Scheffler is once again the favorite to come out on top, but realistically it’s anyone's weekend. In this preview we will cover the history, the course, and the field, so you can go home and tell your friends that you know (golf)ball.

The Agony on the Allegheny

Oakmont Country Club; the first and only design by Henry Fownes, opened in 1903. Apparently, after a year of watching 150 men and two dozen mule teams turn perfectly good farmland into a golf course, Fownes decided he had inflicted enough genius upon the world and retired from design. The layout straddles the Allegheny River Valley and offers a unique, minimalistic approach to hazards: it has virtually no water and, after a little landscaping project in 2007, almost no trees. This was a considerate choice, as it leaves you with an unobstructed view of all 175 bunkers waiting to accept your generous donations.

The Favorites

On Monday, the reigning champion Bryson DeChambeau stepped out of his Bentley Bentayga holding his 2024 U.S. Open trophy, striding to the clubhouse, (reluctantly) to return it to its case. This ceremony signifies the official start of a week in which Oakmont asserts its authority, reminding everyone that it’s in charge - not the players. Bryson is coming off two top-ten finishes in his major appearances this year, proving the oil-rich LIV boys are indeed here to play. However, a major question is where exactly they'll be playing from. Bryson has found the fairway only 63.10% of the time this year, a stat that would put him well outside the top 100 on the PGA Tour. That other 36.9% could be problematic seeing as the rough at Oakmont is measured in feet, not inches.

Meanwhile, the best golfer on the planet is looking to go back-to-back on majors and pick up his 4th trophy overall. Scottie Scheffler has been the definition of metronomic consistency, finishing in the top 10 in an absurd 8 of his last 10 major starts. He’s essentially renting real estate on the front page of the leaderboard. Scottie and Oakmont first got acquainted at the 2016 U.S. Open, where he shot a respectable 76-75 during his tenure as a Texas Longhorn. Nine years later, he returns as the undisputed king. If he can keep his ball out of the famously punitive rough, and avoid going on one too many beach trips, the engraver might as well get started on the trophy early.

Rory McIlroy Is another favorite for this year's tournament coming off of his emotional play-off win at Augusta. He now sits pretty with his green jacket, completing the notorious career grand slam. Although none of this really matters, he's probably gonna miss the cut anyway.

Let's talk about a guy who’s been flying under everyone's radar this year, and for somewhat good reason. Collin Morikawa has shown time and time again that he is not afraid of the spotlight, winning two majors before the age of 25. In his recent starts he has “struggled,” a period of strife defined by his failure to crack the top 15 of a major leaderboard since last year's PGA Championship. While he works through that, one stat really pops off the page: his Fairways Hit percentage. Coming in at a 72.19% clip, this ranks him #1 out of the 156 total golfers on the PGA tour. This bold strategy of keeping his ball on the mown grass could allow Morikawa to avoid the rough and pews this week, a tactic that might just set him up for more opportunities to score.

The Best of the Rest

The last time the U.S. Open was hosted at Oakmont, only four golfers shot under par. This shows that one or two under-par days can result in anyone taking home the trophy. Let's break down some basic qualifications that could allow some dark horses to come out on top.

Driving Accuracy: Oakmont's main defense is its rough, where golf balls often go to start a new life. Missing the fairway doesn't just make it harder to hit the green; it makes finding your ball the primary objective for the hole. Keeping it in the short grass is the recommended, though seldom executed, strategy.

Strokes Gained: Approach: The greens here are sloped enough to be considered black diamonds at your family’s ski trip. Hitting the green is a fine start, but hitting the correct few square feet is what separates a routine par from a physics lesson on gravity that ends in a three-putt.

Scrambling: Everyone will miss greens. Constantly. The ability to save par from a bunker or the deep rough isn't so much a skill as it is a damage control operation. The winner will simply be the person who is best at managing their own slow-motion disaster.

For an in depth look at who leads these stats, click HERE

What to Expect

This weekend at Oakmont should be a "fun" one, if fun means watching professionals suffer through the TV screen. The USGA's marketing machine has been working overtime, pushing this championship through every golf creator with a tripod and a YouTube channel, and the hype is at a fever pitch. It is, by all accounts, shaping up to be one of the most anticipated majors in recent memory. And while the competition looks fierce on a course where, frankly, only one thing can happen—methodical, soul-crushing difficulty—you have to sift through the noise. The LIV boys are here with oil money and something to prove, Collin Morikawa is armed with his fairway-finding scalpel, and Bryson is doing complex physics equations on every blade of grass. But amidst all the chatter and analytics, a simple truth has emerged. Understand this: Scottie Scheffler has just left the Triple Rock Baptist Church and is now on a mission from god. He's got a full tank of gas, half a pack of TP5’s, it's 7,217 yards to glory... and he's wearing sunglasses.

-HB