Utah's Tony Finau, Zac Blair and Preston Summerhays combined to shoot 18 over par Thursday in first round of 125th U.S. Open

By Frank Pingue OAKMONT, Pennsylvania (Reuters) -Former Oakmont caddie-turned-dentist Matt Vogt, who qualified for the U.S. Open last week, could have used some laughing gas after a rough start to the year's third major on Thursday but still walked away thankful for all he had accomplished.

Brooks Koepka, not Bryson or Jon Rahm, was the low LIV’er in Round 1 at Oakmont, while a trio of friends had a Thursday to forget.

If scores hold after the second round of the U.S. Open on Friday—and obviously they won't—the cut line is projected to claim anybody shooting worse than three over par.

Unheralded J.J. Spaun outshined the game's top players and led the U.S. Open by one shot after the first round on Thursday at steamy Oakmont Country Club where the big names like Scottie Scheffler, Bryson DeChambeau and Rory McIlroy all struggled.

Ortiz putted horrendously in round one but the rest of his game was world-class: third off the tee, seventh in approach play, 16th around the greens. The Mexican is probably the golfer who has improved for joining LIV who we don't hear about and it showed in round one.

SportsLine's model simulated the 2025 U.S. Open 10,000 times and revealed its PGA Tour golf picks for Scottie Scheffler, Rory McIlroy, and more

The former Masters champion got off to a hot start at Oakmont after hitting one of the best shots of his career at the U.S. Open.