US Open 2025: Two picks from Dave Tindall in his early look at Oakmont

• Dustin Johnson won the last time Oakmont hosted in 2016

• 60/161.00 Shane Lowry is over twice the price he is for The Open

• 40/141.00 Patrick Cantlay has the game/temperament for this

Tournament: The 2025 US Open
When: June 12-15
Where: Oakmont, Pennsylvania
How to watch: All four days live on Sky Sports

No venue has held more US Opens than Oakmont and the famed course in Pennsylvania will stage the event for a 10th time in 2025.

Most golf punters won't recall the vast majority of those although recent editions have reminded us of one thing: it's brutally hard.

Dustin Johnson won the last Oakmont US Open with 4-under (just three other players broke par) while in 2007 scoring was off-the-scale hard with Angel Cabrera's 5-over (yes, over) edging out Tiger Woods and Jim Furyk by a shot.

That makes Johnny Miller's closing 63 to win the 1973 US Open here look even more astonishing.

Oakmont also staged the 2010 Women's US Open won with 3-under by Paula Creamer so the theme continues.

Most recently it was host for the 2021 US Amateur although none of the quarter-finalists in that tournament have made much of an impression since so there's no sneaky formlines there.

2016 US Open

1. Dustin Johnson (DD 1st, DA 18th, GIR 1st, SCR 1st, PA 43rd)
2. Jim Furyk (DD 67th, DA 10th, GIR 5th, SCR 10th, PA 21st)
2. Shane Lowry (DD 15th, DA 6th, GIR 12th, SCR 6th, PA 27th)
2. Scott Piercy (DD 13th, DA 40th, GIR 14th, SCR 3rd, PA 24th)
5. Sergio Garcia (DD 5th, DA 40th, GIR 14th, SCR 5th, PA 44th)
5. Branden Grace (DD 7th, DA 47th, GIR 9th, SCR 35th, PA 19th)

Distance was more important than accuracy - as it almost always is in US Opens with the longer hitters further down the hole and more able to reach the green in two from rough. Greens in regulation and scrambling also stand out as key while putting was far from vital.

2007 US Open

1. Angel Cabrera (DD 2nd, DA 48th, GIR 3rd, SCR 40th, PA 10th)
2. Jim Furyk (DD 44th, DA 2nd, GIR 17th, SCR 18th, PA 7th)
2. Tiger Woods (DD 11th, DA 25th, GIR 1st, SCR 8th, PA 47th)
4. Niclas Fasth (DD 6th, DA 59th, GIR 49th, SCR 7th, PA 2nd)
5. David Toms (DD 44th, DA 39th, GIR 3rd, SCR 58th, PA 16th)
5. Bubba Watson (DD 10th, DA 31st, GIR 8th, SCR 17th, PA 17th)

Again, DD stands out although Jim Furyk (as in 2016) and David Toms were shorter hitters able to thrive. GIR ranked highly once more while short-game was needed too, with putting more important than in 2016.

Oakmont in 2025

The official US Open website lists the course as a par 70 measuring 7,372 yards although adds 'subject to change'.

It starts with a nice, easy 488-yard par 4! The two par 5s are both well over 600 yards: the 4th (611 yards) and 12th (632 yards). For those who have no time for long par 3s, look away now as the 8th is 289 yards and the 16th 236 yards.

The course was designed by Henry Fownes but has had a Gil Hanse renovation.

Back Shane Lowry @ 60/161.00

Given his thrilling and emotional victory in the 2019 Open Championship at Royal Portrush, it's no surprise to see Shane Lowry relatively short in the betting at 28/129.00 when the tournament returns there in July 2025.

But given that he's gone close to winning here too, surely there's some value in his price of 60/161.00 to take victory a month earlier at Oakmont.

Because of bad weather, that 2016 edition was disrupted and Lowry had to return to the course early on Sunday to complete his third round. When he did, he made a couple of birdies and when round three was in the books he held a convincing four-shot lead thanks to rounds of 68-70-65.

It wasn't to be in the final round as he slumped to a 76 but Lowry was still ahead with 10 to play and clearly knows how to get around this course.

Looking at his stats in 2016 (DD 15th, DA 6th, GIR 12th, SCR 6th, PA 27th) he did most things very well and, of course, since then he's become a Major winner so knows how to get it done.

Lowry is one of those players who thrives at this level.

In 2024 he made the top six in both the US PGA and the Open while he's made the top 25 in 12 of the last 16 Majors. That includes top 20s in the last two US Opens.

Adding another filter he's also done well in Majors held in the Northeastern States.

As well as his tied second here, he has an 8th (Bethpage 2019) and 12th (Oak Hill 2023) in the US PGA.

And finally, he certainly looked in very good nick when finishing 2024 with a run of eight straight top 13s, rounded off by a tied third in November's DP World Tour Championship in Dubai.

Back him now at 60s with the each-way terms of 1/5 Odds, 6 Places.

Back Patrick Cantlay @ 40/141.00

I've already put up Patrick Cantlay in my 2025 US PGA preview at 33s and I can't get past him here at the bigger price of 40/141.00.

As mentioned in that column, in his last 10 Majors he has a third, an eighth, a ninth, three 14ths and two other top 25s.

The third came in this event last year when he threatened to win his first Major but just didn't have quite enough to chase down Bryson DeChambeau and Rory McIlroy, finishing two off the winner.

As with Lowry, he's also done well in Majors in this corner of the United States.

Although Cantlay didn't play at Oakmont in 2016, he has a 14th at Brookline (2022) while his two best US PGA performances were third at Bethpage in 2019 and 9th at Oak Hill in 2023.

In terms of stats, he certainly hits it far enough (top 15 for DD in two of the last three US Opens) while he has the required sharp short game: Cantlay's scrambling ranking in the last five US Opens reads 6th, 12th, 21st, 1st, 6th.

Beyond that, the 32-year-old American (he'll be 33 at Oakmont) has the low-key, switched off, horizontal temperament common in other US Open winners. Think Dustin Johnson here in 2016 and past double US champions Ernie Els and Retief Goosen.

A quick spin through the dozen players ahead of Cantlay in the betting.

His great pal, Xander Schauffele, won two Majors last year so perhaps it's Cantlay's time to shine in 2024.

The current market (Christmas Eve 2024) shows 7/24.50 Scottie Scheffler, 10/111.00 Rory McIlroy, Xander Schauffele, 12/113.00 Bryson DeChambeau, Jon Rahm, 16/117.00 Ludvig Aberg, 20/121.00 Collin Morikawa, Viktor Hovland, 25/126.00 Brooks Koepka, 28/129.00 Hideki Matsuyama, Justin Thomas, 33/134.00 Cam Smith.

Read Dave Tindall's ante-post preview of the 2025 Masters