The one green at Oakmont that many players have complained is ‘unfair’ after day one at the US Open

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Oakmont lived up to its reputation on day one of the US Open.

After day one, J.J Spaun leads on four-under par, whilst big names like Rory McIlroy, defending champion Bryson DeChambeau and world number one Scottie Scheffler struggled to rounds of 74, 73 and 73 respectively.

Si Woo Kim even suggested that Oakmont was ‘too hard’ for him, despite firing an opening round of 68.

Somewhere around even-par is expected to win the US Open this week, according to the man who restored the golf course – Gil Hanse.

The majority of players in the field, if not all of them, would take a score of 280 if it was offered to them now.

The rough at Oakmont is thick, deep and dense, whilst the greens are incredibly quick and undulating.

However, it seems like one green in particular is bordering on unfair, according to some of the players anyway.

The one green at Oakmont that players think is ‘unfair’ at the US Open

The golf course actually seemed to play quite fair on Thursday, on the most part at least.

Sure, there were some horror scores, but there were some exceptional rounds played as well, including J.J Spaun’s 66.

Whilst the general consensus was that Oakmont played hard but fair, there was one complaint in particular.

Paul McGinley lifted the lid on something he’s heard from the players at Oakmont about one hole on the course, when speaking on Sky Sports in the UK on Thursday.

He said, “The 12th is the one green that the players have complained about since Gil Hanse’s redesign, they say it’s unfair, with too much movement on it.“

Wayne Riley – the on-course commentator for Sky – suggested that he isn’t a big fan of the 12th hole in general.

He said, “I must admit I am not a fan of this hole, I think the camber from left to right is way too severe and as this golf course livens up towards the end of the week you won’t be able to hit it on this fairway.“

Scores on the 12th hole at Oakmont on day one of the US Open

The 12th was the third easiest hole of the day believe it or not, in spite of the criticism it received.

The field of 156 players averaged 5.096 shots on the hole throughout the day.

Here is the full breakdown:

The fact that the hole played above its par on average is a sign that perhaps the green is slightly unfair.

Par fives are usually eaten up by the best players in the world, but that simply wasn’t the case with the 12th hole at Oakmont on day one of the US Open.