Maybe J.J. Spaun hadn’t heard about Oakmont Country Club’s nasty reputation since this was only his second U.S. Open and his first at the historically tough course.

That might explain the string of red numbers he put on the scoreboard, but Spaun quickly nixed that theory.

“I was definitely, like, kind of nervous,” said Spaun, who birdied four of his first eight holes Thursday to grab the first-round lead at the 125th U.S. Open. “All you’ve been hearing is how hard this place is, and it’s hard to not hear the noise and see what’s on social media and Twitter and all this stuff. You’re just kind of only hearing about how hard this course is.”

By the time Spaun finished his round, the noise he heard most was Oakmont fans shouting his name. A 32-year-old from Los Angeles with one career PGA Tour win, Spaun carded a 4-under-par 66 after shooting a bogey-free round.

In all, 10 players finished under par, hinting that a course touted as the toughest still had its teeth. There were worries that rain had maybe made the course too soft, but the scoreboard didn’t necessarily show it.

South Africa’s Thriston Lawrence is one shot back at 3-under 67 after six birdies, one bogey and one double bogey. He said his worst hole — a six on No. 9 — boosted his confidence when his name still stayed on the leaderboard.

“That sort of made me just realize again that you don’t lose much when you make bogeys around this golf course or in this tournament,” said Lawrence, who’s best major finish was fourth at the 2024 British Open.

Two-time U.S. Open champion Brooks Koepka was in a group tied at 2-under 68, joining South Korea’s Si Woo Kim and Sungjae Im. Spain’s Jon Rahm, the 2021 U.S. Open winner, was among five tied at 1-under. Nobody else in the field of 156 golfers broke par.

Friday’s round starts at 6:45 a.m.

“It definitely makes me feel good, makes me feel confident that I’m leading the tournament,” Spaun said. “But there’s plenty more golf left. This course is only going to get tougher.”

The course already proved tough enough for 85% of the field that finished above par, including some early favorites.

World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler and defending U.S. Open champion Bryson DeChambeau both finished 3-over, and five-time major winner Rory McIlroy was 4-over. Dustin Johnson, the 2016 U.S. Open at Oakmont, was 5-over.

“The greens just got challenging out there late in the day,” Scheffler said. “There’s so much speed and so much pitch. And then with the amount of guys going through on these greens, they can get a little bit bumpy. But you know that’s going to be part of the challenge going in.”

Spaun played in the morning session of tee times. In ways, his round was both surprising and historic.

• The bogey-free round was only the eighth carded at Oakmont in U.S. Open history, according to Elias Sports.

• His score through his first nine holes — 31 — was the lowest ever for a U.S. Open player making his Oakmont debut.

• Spaun’s 66 tied for the lowest U.S. Open first round at Oakmont, joining Andrew Landry in 2016.

• In eight previous majors, Spaun’s best leaderboard position after any round was a tie for 16th at the 2022 Masters.

A fortuitous start helped him Thursday.

Spaun chipped in for birdie on his first hole of the day — No. 10 — to quickly enter red numbers. He also birdied Nos. 12, 16 and 17.

“It kind of set the tone for how the day was going to go,” Spaun said of his chip-in. “You’re not really expecting to chip it in. You’re just trying to get yourself within making distance for par. … It was a nice little wake-up call at 7:10 in the morning or whatever it was.”

Spaun’s longest birdie putt — 11 feet, 6 inches — on No. 17 moved him to 4-under. He made about a 2-footer on No. 12, followed by a 5-foot, 4-inch birdie putt on No. 16.

An alum of San Diego State who turned pro in 2012, his lone PGA Tour win came in 2022 at the Valero Texas Open. He has four top 10s this season, but Spaun’s name wasn’t in the U.S. Open conversation until he put in there Thursday.

“I actually tried to harness that (nervousness), the nerves, the anxiety, because it kind of heightens my focus, makes me swing better,” Spaun said. “I kind of get more in the zone, whereas if I don’t have any worry or if I’m not in it mentally, it’s kind of just a lazy round or whatever out there. I like feeling uncomfortable.”

He seemed more comfortable than most Thursday on a course that severely punished balls in the rough.

McIlroy scrambled to make a 30-foot putt for bogey on the par-5, fourth hole after his errant drive found one of Oakmont’s ditches. The rough also cost McIlroy a double bogey on the eighth hole — a 276-yard, par 3 — where he needed two tries to escape the long grass around the green.

But McIlroy wasn’t the only one tested. A bad lie in the rough caused trouble at No. 12 for DeChambeau. He sent a wedge shot over the green and took two more hacks in the rough before making a 25-foot putt for bogey.

“The rough is incredibly penalizing,” DeChambeau said. “Even for a guy like me, I can’t get out of it some of the times, depending on the lie. It was tough. It was a brutal test of golf.”

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