Rex Hoggard has issue with golf in America and Oakmont as he claims it’s ‘ruined’ what the sport used to be about

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The US Open has returned to Oakmont this week, with the major championship having last been held there in 2016.

Rex Hoggard thinks Bryson DeChambeau has more chance of US Open success than Jon Rahm, with the duo putting their LIV Golf duties aside for the tournament.

Both players are former US Open champions, with DeChambeau winning in 2020 and 2024, and Rahm winning in 2021.

Another current LIV Golf player in Dustin Johnson meanwhile won at Oakmont in 2016, with all three players in the field this week.

They are among 14 full-time LIV Golf players at the US Open, where they will be looking to outshine their PGA Tour counterparts.

Rex Hoggard shares issue with American golf and Oakmont before the US Open

But it is the course itself as opposed to the field that has been a major discussion for many in the build-up to the major.

Sharing his take, Hoggard said on the Golf Channel Podcast with Rex & Lav: “Oakmont is such a unique test and I did speak glowingly about the idea that if you need a hype man for a major championship there is no better hype man than John Bodenhamer, the chief championships officer of the USGA, when he talks about this golf course and it being a ‘cathedral’ and the 10th time the national championship is being played here.

READ MORE: Scottie Scheffler explains what happens when you miss a green at Oakmont which is totally different to Augusta

“All of those things I appreciate and as a golf fan I am looking forward to. I am going to pivot and go in a slightly different direction though, only because full disclosure here, I got stuck in traffic this morning for over an hour trying to get to the golf course.

“So I am going to make two points. I am not 100% sure this being the hardest test in golf is a good thing. I get it for this one particular week out of a year and I’m not talking about the national championship, I am talking about this golf course. Oakmont.

“This feels like to me the epitome of American golf excess. It is overly difficult, it is overly long. The grass is overly long, the rough is overly difficult to play out of, the greens are overly fast. And it is very exclusive and very expensive.

“All of the things that made golf so special when they created it in Scotland all those millennia ago, it seems like we have ruined here in the United States and this is the epitome of that.”

Which recent US Open titles have been won over par?

This week’s US Open is expected to be one of the most difficult in quite some time, with several world-class players certain to miss the cut.

Very long rough, long holes and fast greens are among the expected challenges, which are only going to be made more difficult by inclement weather.

READ MORE: US Open 2025: Projected cut line, how many players make it and who will miss out

The challenges should, however, at least make the US Open enjoyable viewing for fans, with many of their heroes set to be brought crashing back down to earth.

It remains to be seen what the winning score will be, but recent history at the tournament has involved low scoring in that regard.

DeChambeau finished on six-under at Pinehurst this time last year, after Wyndham Clark won on 10-under at Los Angeles Country Club in 2023.

In fact, Brooks Koepka is the last player to win the US Open over-par, having finished on one-over back in 2018.

Before that victory at Shinnecock Hills, golf fans must look back to Justin Rose’s one-over win at Merion Golf Club in 2013.

Such history could be repeated at Oakmont this time around, with the tournament certain to test even the world’s best from their very first tee shot.