Nick Piastowski

1 week ago | golf.com | Nick Piastowski

OAKMONT, Pa. — On the Oakmont Country Club range, about an hour or so ahead of a most consequential afternoon, J.J. Spaun’s white golf bag with red and black trim sat, and he and his caddie, Mark Carens, stood, but there was no way for the 500 faithful perched behind them to know with certainty who was warming up for Sunday’s U.S. Open final round. The white placard behind his range station was blank.      J.J. Spaun was a no-name. But he’d show ’em.

1 week ago | golf.com | Nick Piastowski |Claire Rogers

OAKMONT, Pa. — Hello, friends, and happy Saturday from the U.S. Open! It’s been an eventful day here at Oakmont. I made the 40-minute trek out to the media center to get some Father’s Day gifts (my dad will be receiving U.S. Open merchandise for the fourth consecutive year), watched the final groups warm up on the range and then followed Viktor Hovland’s and Adam Scott’s round. I’ve also improved my golf course photography game a lot this week, which I’m feeling particularly proud of.

1 week ago | golf.com | Nick Piastowski |Josh Berhow

OAKMONT, Pa. — At last week’s RBC Canadian Open, Rory McIlroy, your 2025 Masters champ, still fresh off completing the career Grand Slam, was asked what he’s chasing now. He could have said winning another major to pass one of his heroes, Seve Ballesteros, and get to six. Or winning two more to pass greats like Nick Faldo, Phil Mickelson and Lee Trevino. He could have said the goal was to win three more and jump Palmer, Snead and Jones.

1 week ago | golf.com | Nick Piastowski

OAKMONT, Pa. — Dad hit golf balls. Son hit golf balls. Late Saturday afternoon, on the far left side of the Oakmont Country Club range, the scene was, by all measures, cute. Scottie Scheffler struck shots as his longtime coach, Randy Smith, watched. And a few feet behind them, Scheffler’s 1-year-old son, Bennett, struck shots from the ground as caddie Ted Scott rolled balls in his direction. Every so often, dad looked back and smiled, before he, too, sent some balls toward his boy.

1 week ago | golf.com | Nick Piastowski

OAKMONT, Pa. — Johnny Miller wanted to win by a touchdown. Or even two. “I was more of a guy that didn’t like it to be close,” he said. “… I wanted to win it by — when I won the Phoenix Open by 14 shots, I liked it. If that ball is going in the hole, I’m going to fill it up until the round is over if I can. None of this fancy stuff about hitting away from the target. I wanted to have the thrill of going for knocking down pins out of the green. That was my fun.