What Gil Hanse has told Claude Harmon the winning score at Oakmont will be for the US Open this week

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Oakmont is being tipped to play as one of the most difficult US Open venues of all time this week.

The US Open is one of the most eagerly anticipated major championships in recent memory, mostly because of the carnage that awaits at Oakmont.

Scottie Scheffler is being heavily tipped to win, whilst the likes of LIV Golf duo Bryson DeChambeau and Jon Rahm should be right in contention come Sunday afternoon.

Andy North has actually backed Scheffler to win the US Open by four or five shots, and it would surprise nobody if that happens.

The difficulty at Oakmont goes beyond purely just the thick rough and the undulating greens.

The fairway bunkers at Oakmont are said to be dastardly as well.

Only the fittest, both physically and mentally, will survive this week, but what winning score could we be looking at?

Gil Hanse tells Claude Harmon the winning score at Oakmont for the US Open

Back in 2023, Gil Hanse led the project of restoring Oakmont Country Club, and by all accounts, he has done a great job of that.

Hanse has an extensive portfolio of golf course designs, including Castle Stuart in Scotland and the Olympic Golf Course in Rio de Janeiro.

While he didn’t design the Oakmont layout, he has played a key role in making it the golf course that it is today.

And Claude Harmon has shared what Hanse told him the winning score will be at Oakmont this week, when speaking on the Son of a Butch podcast.

Harmon said, “I was out on the course today, walking the practice rounds. Gil Hans, the famed architect who was in charge of the restoration here, he told me he thought even par was probably going to be a safe bet for winning score.

“You know the membership here wants it to be 15 or 20 over. Members at Oakmont are famous for loving the fact that their golf course is really difficult and really hard. They will tell anybody who will listen how fast the greens are all the time.

“I thought it was interesting listening to Gil Hans over what the USGA want. I asked them do they have a score in mind and he said no. I asked him what he thought and he said even par but I don’t really have a score in mind. I just think even par sounds about right.

“The membership at all of these major championship venues want their golf course to play as hard as humanly possible for the best players in the world.

“I don’t know why. I think it’s an ego thing. It’s not something I think is really cool. I just think they want the best players in the world to struggle on a golf course they struggle on. I guess that it’s such a hard golf course when they play it they want it to be as difficult as possible.“

Previous US Open winning scores at Oakmont

The most recent US Open held at Oakmont was in 2016, when Dustin Johnson won by three shots on four-under par.

The golf course seems to be even harder now than it was nine years ago.

Here are all nine winning scores from the US Opens held at Oakmont throughout the years:

With the rough thick and dense, and the greens approaching 15 on the Stimpmeter, the players will face all sorts of problems this week.

A score of somewhere around even-par will undoubtedly win the event, unless someone like Scheffler has an unbelievably good week.

The US Open at Oakmont this week could well be one for the ages.