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June 12, 2025
47 min

Thursday at the U.S. Open: Who's the real leader, Rough laments, and Early disappointments

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After a day on the ground at Oakmont, Andy and Brendan went live to share their thoughts from the first round of the 2025 U.S. Open. J.J. Spaun is in the lead at -4, so the two first debate who the "real" leader of the tournament is. Andy settles on a resurgent Brooks Koepka, sitting at -2, and is eyeing Jon Rahm at -1 a bit further down the board. Brendan shares some takeaways from following Spaun's second nine before transitioning to some course talk. The two discuss Thursday's pin placements, the setup "begging" for a fluke winner, and have some rough thoughts percolating already. Scottie, Rory, and Bryson are covered, with each finishing the first round over par. Games Within the Game are updated after some early commanding leads as well. Big Shot Bob MacIntyre had some critical quotes following his even-par round and Brendan loved what he was hearing. To close things out, the two look ahead to Friday and where the cutline might end up.

About the Hosts
Andy Johnson, Founder

Andy Johnson

Founder Andy Johnson started Fried Egg Golf in 2015 by answering his own question: What if we made golf architecture approachable? In looking at an entire golf course holistically, Fried Egg Golf brings another dimension to the game and fills a gap in golf coverage.

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Brendan Porath

Brendan Porath has spent more than a decade in digital golf media in multiple roles as a manager, writer, editor, podcaster, and contributor to television programs. He built and expanded Vox Media's golf coverage into one of the most popular destinations on the Internet at SB Nation. He's also written for the New York Times and contributed to Golf Channel programming, most often for the live studio show, Morning Drive. He founded the Shotgun Start podcast with Andy Johnson, and joined The Fried Egg full time as an editor, writer, and manager overseeing content.

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