Players hope previous Oakmont experience pays off in 125th U.S. Open

DUBLIN, Ohio — After finishing his final round at the Memorial on Sunday, Denny McCarthy set his GPS for Oakmont Country Club. McCarthy planned to spend Monday and Tuesday getting a feel for the legendary course ahead of the U.S. Open on June 12-15.

Not that McCarthy, 32, was a stranger. As a first-year pro in 2016, he qualified for the U.S. Open at Oakmont, missing the cut by two strokes.

“I learned that I needed to get a whole lot better after I played there. That place kind of ate my lunch,” McCarthy told TribLive after his opening round at Muirfield Village. “I actually started really poorly. I think I was 7-over through 10 holes, then I played the next 26 holes 1-over and I missed the cut by a shot or two.

“I actually hung in there really nice. If anything, that 26 holes gave me a nice little boost going into the next week.”

And McCarthy hopes his experience at Oakmont gives him a nice boost going into this year’s U.S. Open. He is one of several players who will be getting another crack at the course after playing in previous USGA events there.

That group also includes world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler, who was just days from his 20th birthday when he competed in the 2016 U.S. Open. Scheffler was among the leaders after a first-round 69, but he was done in by a 78 in the second round and missed the cut by a stroke.

Scheffler will be one of the favorites to win the 125th U.S. Open, and having played competitively at Oakmont could help his cause. But plenty of other players are out for a little redemption — not to mention a major title — in their return to Oakmont.

“I think there’s always an advantage to seeing places before, especially difficult golf courses,” said Ryan Gerard, who played in the 2021 U.S. Amateur at Oakmont and will be in the U.S. Open field next week. “ … Just getting more comfortable with seeing visuals.

“Oakmont is a very wide, kind of vast property with a lot of hidden little bunkers, kind of deceptive-looking hills. So the more looks you get at certain things, the more comfortable you can get.”

Gerard, 25, advanced to the Round of 32 in the match play portion of the ’21 Amateur, and after his experience at Oakmont four years ago, he feels better prepared than if he was coming in cold. Plus, he said he feels like his game has matured since he turned pro three years ago.

The same can be said of Tony Finau, who comes to Oakmont with six PGA Tour wins but no major titles. The 35-year-old has been close: He finished tied for third at Pinehurst No. 2 in last year’s U.S. Open, and he has four other top-fives in major championships.

Like McCarthy and Scheffler, Finau just missed the cut at Oakmont in 2016. He, too, is eager to see how his game has matured since his previous visit.

“At that moment in my career, I had never seen a golf course that played that hard,” he told TribLive. “… I’ve grown in a lot of places in my game. I feel like most parts of my game are pretty simple at the moment.

“It’s a never-ending thing. You always feel like you’ve got something to work on, but I think, overall, (my) game is in a good spot for this time of the season.”

While having previous tournament experience at Oakmont could be an advantage, it’s no guarantee of success. With seven of nine U.S. Open winners at Oakmont being first-time major champions, the 125th U.S. Open could be anybody’s ballgame.

“A guy who’s never played there before and shows up with his ‘A’ game,” Gerard said, “there’s no reason they can’t win.”