OverDrive - Hoggard on the U.S. Open storylines, McIlroy out of character and Scheffler's approach at Oakmont

Episode Date: June 12, 2025

Golf Channel Writer Rex Hoggard joined OverDrive to discuss the headlines of the U.S. Open, the experience at Oakmont Country Club, the large challenges of the course, Rory McIlroy's performance and his odd character, Brooks Koepka stepping up in majors, Scottie Scheffler's style and more.

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It is so demanding and we saw some around earlier today where players seemed like they were getting things moving in the right direction. I think it was a little bit of a surprise. We know how hard Oakmont is, but Oakmont ended up Oakmonning to turn it to turn into a verb i guess because it's such a difficult golf course in even if you're a roaring after lawyer justin thomas or some of the other players that we call struggle today it doesn't take much to get sideways and that happened to a quite a few guys

rex is a scoring better or worse than you thought a little bit better actually if you look at we sort of broke this down earlier in the week if you look at winning scores on this golf course Hosting the us open last time around it was Dustin Johnson He finished it for under par but time for that it was hand to hail Cabrera. He finished at five over par So I was thinking somewhere in between those two extremes somewhere. Maybe one or two under par So when you have someone like JJ Spahn who gets off to such an unbelievable start, that's

pretty amazing. No bogeys on that golf course, four birdies, that's something. Rex, what is that golf course? Is that the hardest course in the world? Is that the best course in America? Is it the best course in the world? Is it just plain insane? What is that place?

It's still an anomaly. I've talked about it a little bit this week it is the hardest course in the world and i think i was the goal of the club of the the people who started the club hundred-plus years and that they wanted to create a very demanding cut the map exactly what they've done over the years

i thought board that the long time pro they're one of the best club pros and the business he's sort of initiated the tree removal program so now you end up with this sweeping vista. It is, as John Bodenhammer from the USGA said earlier in the week, it's a cathedral. With Rex Hoggard, and generally speaking, when that's the case, and at any major in the US Open in particular, the cream will rise to the top. Now it's day one, but you mentioned a few names that are struggling out there Scheffler McElroy shot four over Bryson was three over

You know of those names Scheffler's the most predominant one because he's such a heavy favorite and he's still on the course So we'll see what he ends up on day one But do you expect the three of them Scheffler Bryson Rory? You know let's say they're three over, four over on day one, are they just simply in the mix? Are they still the pace cars even though they're so far back in terms of day one? But because this course is going to humble everybody, do you think they can kind of reason with that and still feel good about their chances?

I think Scottie's going to feel fine about his chances. He'll probably be aggravated because everything didn't go his way like it normally does for Scottie Scheffler the last few years. But certainly if he finishes this up at three over par, he's going to feel fine going into the final three rounds of this tournament knowing that it's only going to get more difficult. It's a little bit different answer to Rory and Bryson. I actually picked Rory to miss the cut, which is pretty amazing. About a month ago, we were probably sitting around talking the idea that after he wins

the career of Grand Slam at the Masters, just imagine how he can play unburdened and imagine the things he'll be able to accomplish in the major championships. But his last two starts he has played horribly. As a matter of fact, his last start at the Canadian Open, he posted his worst round ever in a non-major, a 78, to miss the cut. Probably the bigger deal is he has struggled with the driver. He's given up on more than five shots to the field in its last two starts that's not rory mackerel or so i had the idea that he probably was going to struggle man i

don't know how much company he had and writing i think it'll be different when it comes to that simply because writing is going to be the type of player that we all know what he did in twenty twenty when you have to put this isn't that term i don't think you'll be able to stand on every tee and hit drivers, so it's a little bit different animal. I watched Rory start today and he gutted one down the 10th fairway, hit a nice approach

and it was going swimmingly and then he kind of just imploded. But you mentioned his struggles at the Canadian Open in here, but what I'm wondering is like why is he so pissy? Like why after a guy that just won the career Grand Slam, why is he so pissy? Why after a guy that just won the career grand slam, why is he storming off the golf course, not addressing the media again? What is up with this guy? Good question. Good way of putting it. I like that word pissy. I'll go along with you on that one. I think it's a combination of things. He voiced it earlier this week. I've always

said that when Rory McRory is being interviewed and he's in a good mood, he's one of the best interviews in the world, but when he's in a bad mood, this is what you're going to end up, and he has been strangely in a bad mood, to your point. This would be the happiest time in his life. He had a quote earlier in the week that I was stuck by,

and I wrote an entire column around the idea. He said, you envision yourself standing on that green and talking about the Masters, and you envision how special that moment is and putting the jacket over your shoulders. You never envision what comes next. And for Rory, what has come next has not been great. He hasn't played his best golf. We never go back to the PGA Championship when his driver was deemed non-conforming.

I think that aggravated him. I don't think he liked the way that story came out. I don't think he liked the way the narrative tracked. And I don't think he likes the way that story came out. I don't think he liked the way the narrative track, and I don't think he likes the way his life has seemed to change so much. He's sort of coming to grips with, I'm now one of the six greatest players who's ever played the game. That would be tough for anybody to wrestle with.

I'm not here to apologize for Rory, but I could certainly sympathize. With Rex Hoggard of the Gull Channel. So we've got a number of names at the top of the leaderboard right now. Again, it's day one. JJ Spahn's been great. Sung Jae-Aim's up there. Si-Woo Kim. But then there's a number in the clubhouse at two under that really piques my interest.

And that would be Brooks Kepka. Oh, wonder who has him. Oh, you picked him yesterday. And I naturally looked at you and said, I don't i don't know man i guess been in a weird place but he's one five majors when the u.s. open twice uh... we all remember about page black which is not quite oklahoma but it's not far behind he absolutely torched that place this guy

everyone i don't know it just wasn't he didn't even seem like it was part of the conversation this week racks part of that's live part of it he's played the major tournaments in the last year or so. But this guy shows up and when it's tough, like, Kapka can do it, man. Like did you see enough from him day one that would make you believe this guy could legitimately win the golf tournament? I did, and I don't want to get too far out of my skis.

I don't have a betting slip on him like someone else apparently does. So I'm good for that person. I will say, I'll take a bit of a humble brag on this one, that earlier in the week I picked him as, the way we sort of identify our dark horses, I think this week, were anybody 55 to one or below. And he was right at 55 to one. And I picked him for the reasons that you just pointed out.

That it wasn't that long ago when we were talking about Major Championship Brooks. And that was the guy who maybe didn't play his best golf everywhere else at normal tour events or normal live events. But when he showed up at major, something clicked inside of him. There was something about being at the biggest events, playing against the best players on the toughest golf courses that brought out the best. And that was my argument. I saw his dad, Bob, the very next day.

And I mentioned that to him and he got a big smile on his face. And he said, that's where they feel like they are right now that his game is trending in the right direction again it's a role to play on this particular golf course anything can go wrong and it's one point every single player just not brooks all hundred fifty six guys are one swing away from just absolute disaster and there we you've been ended that quickly so i'm still going to take a wait and see

approach but i do like that pick. Talk about a wait and see approach, Rexie. I want you to talk me into Giordano's spieth keeping it on the rails and holding it together for three more rounds. Tell me how that can happen, Rex. Not the course that I would ever pick Jordan to play well on. No kidding! But he does well, and it doesn't seem like that's the case. The funny thing is this version of Jordan, and I was noticing this the last few weeks

as you look at his stats, he's driving the ball better than he probably ever had, even when he was playing his best golf in 2015 and 2016. What's holding him back is his putting. And in a strange way, this golf course mitigates the good putters. Talking with a lot of players this week, and Brad Faction, who was Rory McIlroy's putting coach, he said that Rory sort of embraced the idea that you would at Augusta, where everything

is a two-putt. It doesn't matter how close you are or how far you are, and it requires a lot of creativity. It requires a lot of things like putting when it comes to just trying to get the ball in that we see it all the time, that two or three foot circle, just to give yourself a chance and to keep it stress-free that's probably helping Jordan you don't have guys making a lot of putts so he doesn't have to depend on it like he used to I don't know if I would be very bullish on Jordan again not his kind of golf course but it's cool that he's up there well

that's the amazing thing about this place in these greens and I noticed that was Scheffler today he had a couple of putts you know early in his round that were like 50-60 foot lag putts that he didn't do a very good job on and I'm guessing he just he never has to do them you know like everywhere else on tour the guys inside 15 feet 20 feet this course like put him in spots where he's you know and a 60 foot lag putt is difficult for anybody clearly But a guy like sheffler he's in some funky spots at a place like this because generally he's just right in the middle of the fairway right in the middle of the green and

two pots and leaves and I guess that's the beauty of the us open And these greens are running 14 and a half 15 on a step meter Which is a ridiculous speed like you would never see that anywhere else, not at Augusta, nowhere else in the world of golf would you ever see that, to your point. I talked to Randy Smith, Scotty's Swim Coach earlier in the week, about that idea, and Randy's argument actually was

it kind of brings out the artist and Scotty, that he equates it to Augusta National as well, and we all know, he's got two green jackets, he seems to like that place just fine. And it requires a lot of creativity It's not a point a to point B Situation a lot of times with those 60 footers that you just mentioned You're just trying to give yourself a five to ten footer from somewhere

That's below the hole and that's probably a best-case scenario It takes a lot for a player like Scottie Scheffler to your point to play that kind of shot But he's really good at it most times point to play that kind of shot, but he's really good at it most times. Rex, does JJ Spahn ever, does that type of player, is it just a fantasy world kind of like the players where the superstar roars up and catches him and gets it done? Like, do you ever see a guy like JJ Spahn or somebody of that ilk kind of closing the deal here, or is that just a good first round? It's a really good first round uh... to really good first round of the phenomenal first round i think i thought

that today that only dot johnson in the first round twenty sixteen had a bogey free round at oakmont so gives you an idea of how difficult that is i i would come to the uh... sent the defense and jay-jay spawn only on this cap where we are kind of having a conversation early in the week about what would be who qualified as a as a surprise winner and I think the conversation

was Tommy Fleetwood, Cameron Young, a player who hasn't won in the PGA Tour but a player that's clearly talented. JJ would be a surprise, he would be a surprise winner but I think what happened to him at the players, twofold. One, what coming down the stretch with what Rory was able to do just to force the Monday playoff was pretty impressive. Two, a three force the Monday playoff was pretty impressive. Two, a three hole Monday playoff in those conditions on that golf course was always going to go against JJ Spahn and anyone else who was standing on that tee against Rory. Rory could not have came up with a better scenario of, oh, I can win the players playing

these three holes the way I got them able to do them with my driver. No one else can match that. So I don't know if it's a Cinderella story, but I think JJ has proven to be a really good player. I don't know that I would count on him to do it through the weekend, not because of who's around him or another superstar stepping up, because Oakmont is gonna do what it does.

Well, I guess we'll get you out of here on that prediction. How much more difficult can they even make this course, and what do you think it'll look like the next three days? I know you like seeing this guy guy struggle but i don't want to see any harder than i'm like that i'm cool with a little bit tougher than this and just a little bit more uh... yeah yeah i think you're the polar opposite i get that i enjoy that uh... i do enjoy the best place being tested

sometimes you worry that the best players are being embarrassed it's a lot of the year the USGA uses all the time. I don't know if we're at that point. I think there was a moment this morning when JJ Spahn was close to four under and you had, I don't know, probably a dozen guys under par that there were some eyebrows being raised. Like, oh, did they set it up too easy? I don't think that's ever going to be the case.

I think the USGA, the modern USGA has not pushed it over the limit in a very long time. So I'll give them the benefit of the case. I think the USGA, the modern USGA, has not pushed it over the limit in a very long time. So I'll give them the benefit of the doubt. But I think this is probably the best going day that we'll see the rest of the week. All right, Rex. We're just getting started. I know it's a busy time. We know it's a busy time. We can't thank you enough for finding some for us. Enjoy the rest of the US Open. We'll do it again soon. Appreciate it. See you guys. There's Rex Hoggart of NBC the Golf Channel.

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