OAKMONT, Pa. — As the 2025 U.S. Open at Oakmont Country Club heads into its pivotal third round on Saturday, golf fans are growing restless with a leaderboard they’ve dubbed “mid” and are banking on blockbuster comebacks from major champions Brooks Koepka, Scottie Scheffler, and Jon Rahm to inject star power into a tournament dominated by underdogs.
With Sam Burns leading at 3-under-par, followed by J.J. Spaun (-2) and Viktor Hovland (-1), the absence of golf’s biggest names at the top has sparked a wave of frustration, with fans and social media buzzing for a dramatic weekend surge from the game’s marquee heavyweights.
Burns, a five-time PGA Tour winner with just a single top-10 major finish, sits atop the leaderboard after a dazzling 65 on Friday, but the lack of household names in contention has left fans “pissed off.” Spaun, a one-time Tour winning journeyman, and Ben Griffin (even-par), who was selling mortgage loans until recently, round out the top five, prompting posts on X, formerly Twitter, like, “This U.S. Open leaderboard is giving B-tier vibes. Where’s the juice?” Another user vented, “Burns is fine, but I didn’t tune in for a Spaun-Griffin showdown. Need Koepka or Rahm to go nuclear.”
The sentiment reflects a tournament where Oakmont’s brutal setup — fast greens, thick rough, and narrow fairways — has humbled stars, with only three players under par and a cut line at 7-over.
Koepka, at 2-over (68-74) and sitting at T8, is the fans’ brightest hope. The two-time U.S. Open champion (2017, 2018) is five shots back, and his history of major dominance — five titles and 19 career U.S. Open rounds in the 60s — has supporters salivating. “Brooks smells blood,” posted one X user. “Oakmont’s his kind of grind.”
Koepka’s opening-round eagle and clutch birdies on 17 and 18 Thursday showcased his big-game mentality, and his 16-1 betting odds reflect confidence. “I’m right there,” Koepka said Friday, per NBC Sports.
Scheffler, the World No. 1, sits at 4-over (73-71), seven shots off the lead, but fans aren’t counting him out. The reigning PGA champion’s elite ball-striking and recent PGA Tour wins make his +800 odds tempting. “Scottie’s too good to stay quiet,” posted a fan. “One 66ish, and he’s back in it.”
Scheffler’s ability to go low has supporters dreaming of a Saturday charge, though his 30 putts per round at Oakmont, per USOpen.com, must improve.
“It’s challenging out there,” said Scheffler, in what is the understatement of the week. “I was not getting the ball in the correct spots and paying the price for it.”
Rahm, the 2021 U.S. Open winner, is also at 4-over (69-75), his Friday struggles dropping him to +2500 odds. Despite a sloppy second round with three bogeys, Rahm’s pedigree and 10-of-14 fairways hit Friday keep fans hopeful.
Rahm, though, was not happy at all with the greens at Oakmont.
“Honestly, I’m too annoyed and too mad right now to think about any perspective,” said Rahm. “Very frustrated. Very few rounds of golf I played in my life where I think I hit good putts and they didn’t sniff the hole, so it’s frustrating.”
The “mid” leaderboard narrative stems from a star-studded field’s collapse. Defending champion, and golf’s biggest star, Bryson DeChambeau missed the cut, as did many of the pre-tournament marquee names like Ludvig Aberg, Sepp Straka, Shane Lowry, Joaquin Niemann, Patrick Cantlay, Justin Rose, Tommy Fleetwood, and Justin Thomas, among others. Meanwhile, superstars like Jordan Spieth (+5), Xander Schauffele (+6), Rory McIlroy (+6) and Hideki Matsuyama (+7) cling to the fringes.
Ireland’s Shane Lowry, who finished T2 here in 2016 and was a pre-game betting favorite, finished at a mind-blowing +17 and was just laughing at the USGA setup by the end.
Oakmont’s punishing conditions—30-plus scores in the 80s—has elevated grinders over glamour, but fans crave a blockbuster.
“Give me Koepka storming to the lead or Rahm holing out for eagle,” posted one. “This U.S. Open needs a spark, it’s so mid I might go cut my lawn.”
As round three begins at 7:30 a.m. ET, with Burns expected to tee off at 2:45 p.m. alongside Spaun, all eyes will be on tee times about an hour earlier: Koepka, Scheffler, and Rahm. Softened greens from overnight rain could open the door for low scores, per CBS Sports, and historical U.S. Open comebacks — like Dustin Johnson’s rally in 2016 — fuel optimism.
“If Brooks, Scottie, or Rahmbo go off, this ‘mid’ talk is done,” said Pro Golf Weekly’s publisher Tom Gorman. For now, fans are holding their breath, hoping the stars can turn a lackluster leaderboard into a classic U.S. Open showdown. If not send complaints to the USGA.
