U.S. Open 2025: This crazy stat will have you wondering about Adam Scott’s chances this weekend at Oakmont

OAKMONT, Pa. — He’s played in 96 straight major championships, second only to Jack Nicklaus for the most consecutive major starts in history. Naturally, then, Adam Scott has more experience than anybody else on the leaderboard halfway through the 2025 U.S. Open. And the fact that he’s only three shots off Sam Burns’ lead heading into Saturday’s third round—a pair of 70s leaving him tied for fourth along with being the only player who hasn’t posted an over-par round yet at Oakmont—would suggest the 44-year-old Australian is somebody to keep an eye the next two days.

But a closer look at Scott’s record in the USGA’s marquee championship suggests that this is rare territory for him as well. In 23 previous starts in the U.S. Open, Scott has been in the top 10 after 36 holes just once: in 2005 at Pinehurst. And by the end of the championship, Scott has finished in the top 10 just three times: T-9 at Pinehurst in 2014, T-4 at Chambers Bay in 2015 and T-7 at Pebble Beach in 2019.

And his recent play hadn’t hinted necessarily that Oakmont would be the place where Scott would shine. In 11 starts on the PGA Tour in 2025, he has made nine cuts but hasn’t finished better than T-15 at the Sentry. He currently ranks 98th in FedEx Cup points.

Even so, Scott says he carried hope coming into the week.

“I feel like there's probably not been many signs to anyone else but me the last month or six weeks that my game is looking better,” Scott said on Friday. “But I definitely feel more confident than I have been this year.

“I feel like this is what I've been working towards. I was kind of in the mix late at the PGA [finished T-19], and now kind of putting myself in this one for the weekend. It's a long way to go, but I feel like my game is in good enough shape to do this.”

Of course, what Scott brings with him, even if his U. S. Open record isn’t more stout, is the intangible of having played in the caldron of major championships. Additionally, there’s the understanding that the opportunities to add a second major title to his 2013 Masters victory are starting to run out.

“I have put together a nice career, but I think another major more would really go a long way in fulfilling my own self, when it's all said and done,” Scott said.

It’s a similar motivation to what Justin Rose displayed earlier in the year at the Masters. A second major win, to go with 14 PGA Tour titles that include a win at the Players Championship, could put Scott over the line for a place in the World Golf Hall of Fame.

“This is all I'm really playing for are these big events. There's probably eight of them off the top of my mind a year that I really want to win.”