U.S. Open 2025: Jordan Spieth’s 70 included 5 birdies, 5 bogeys. He’d gladly take 3 more rounds just like it

Warren Little

By Dave Shedloski

June 12, 2025

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OAKMONT, Pa. — Jordan Spieth will take three more rounds just like the even-par 70 he posted Thursday in the opening round of the U.S. Open at Oakmont Country Club.

OK, well, maybe not just like it.

One the best putters of his era, Spieth found himself playing the what-if game familiar to countless golfers after 18 holes on Oakmont’s famously confounding greens. Winner of the 2015 championship, Spieth on the one hand was mildly satisfied with his score and on the other couldn’t suppress a spasm of regret for how he got there.

“I played well. It’s not often that you play better than even at a U.S. Open, but I felt like I did that today,” said the three-time major winner after bogeying the 18th hole, his fifth of the day against five birdies.

He wasted no time explaining why.

“I got off to a poor putting start. And my speed control was certainly not what I was looking for,” Spieth said. “But I'm really happy with where my game's at.”

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Ranked 47th in the world, Spieth gained strokes in every category, but he shined in approach the green at plus-2.69 strokes, ranking 10th in the field. He hit 13 greens in regulation but needed 31 putts on the day. An especially preternatural sniper from long range, he left himself in positions after one putt that required a lot of effort to keep his round going.

It’s the darn greens, wouldn’t you know.

“I had 'em short and long. I left them short and hit 'em too hard, so it just wasn't quite dialed in on the speed,” said the 31-year-old Texan, who is making his 14th appearance in the championship. “I hit a lot of greens and regulation and that's about the most important stat you can have out here. There are a lot of guys that had problems with speed control.

“I think the thing is you get caught up in the reads because when you're far away, it's never one consistent break,” he continued. “You've either got a mound or a double breaker or something. So you're so focused on, if you get off by two feet, one direction, it could go 12, 13 feet the wrong way and then you just kind of lose sight of the speed a little. I think that's probably why people had trouble. That and the fact that you’re putting on greens as fast as we ever see on slopes that are, the holes are maybe on twos [two percent slope], but getting to the hole is four or five percent slope. So just the ball is spending most of its time in a position that we're not used to. And I think that makes it hard.”

Yep, sounds hard.

But, again, he’d take more of that the next three days. The score, that is

“Yeah, I’m pleased. I think I would've signed for it at the start of the day,” he said. “I think I would've probably signed for it three more times. That puts me in a good spot.”

It probably will put him in a good spot at the end of the tournament, too.