7 months ago
7
Paolo UggettiJun 13, 2025, 05:25 PM ET
OAKMONT, Pa. -- The mode the shot kissed the articulator connected the 15th spread and didn't trickle successful for bogey felt cruel. It was arsenic if Oakmont Country Club was showing George Duangmanee each 1 of its teeth connected a time erstwhile his crippled had ghosted him.
Playing successful his archetypal U.S. Open, Duangmanee made his 4th treble bogey of the time connected the agelong par-4. Eleven holes prior, helium had played pingpong connected the 4th greenish and made a quadruple bogey connected his mode to a shocking people of 47 connected the beforehand nine.
At this level, a people adjacent 40 implicit immoderate 9 holes is ever an eyesore. One that astir reaches 50 is similar a unicorn. And yet, that's what Oakmont specializes in. Those who get astatine its gates with hopes of showcasing their games are often humbled successful the look of a play people that was explicitly built to frustrate them. Of the 4 highest single-round U.S. Open scores that person been recorded implicit the past 20 years, 3 of them person happened here.
But the quality of the U.S. Open, arsenic USGA CEO Mike Whan volition repeatedly archer you, is its openness. Anyone tin effort to suffice and tee it up with the champion successful the world. A 17-year-old. A dentist. And a 23-year-old from Fairfax, Virginia, chasing his pro play dream.
Duangmanee turned nonrecreational successful 2024 aft graduating from UVA and made his PGA Tour debut successful May 2025 astatine the Myrtle Beach Classic successful South Carolina. There, helium carded 2 under-par rounds to marque the chopped and would spell connected to decorativeness astatine 5 implicit for the tournament.
For a subordinate who has lone conditional presumption connected PGA Tour Americas that helium earned via qualifying school, it was further impervious that helium belonged. But the U.S. Open? This was different.
"I consciousness similar this was the biggest signifier of play I've ever played in," Duangmanee said.
Duangmanee had played arguably 2 of the champion rounds of his beingness to adjacent person the accidental to locomotion down Oakmont's fairways. At Springfield Country Club successful Ohio connected June 2, wherever professionals specified arsenic Max Homa and Rickie Fowler tried and failed to suffice for the U.S. Open, Duangmanee changeable 68-67 to punch his ticket.
It's intolerable to summarize this athletics amended than that: sprout 5 nether to get into the U.S. Open, wherever an 86 connected Thursday and a accidental to flirt with 90 awaits the adjacent day.
"I knew it was going to beryllium a hard trial coming in," Duangmanee said. "I didn't deliberation it was going to beryllium that hard."
An exhausted Duangmanee appeared amazed erstwhile a USGA authoritative told him a fewer reporters wanted to speech to him. He had conscionable wrestled the play people for implicit 5 hours and had mislaid successful a landslide. But his outlook spoke of thing different.
"I'm truly affirmative astir conscionable being present and excited for the assurance I tin get from it," Duangmanee said. "It's a small spot intimidating being astir radical you ticker connected TV each week, but I'm trying to larn arsenic overmuch arsenic however they signifier now, however they lukewarm up and everything. So I've been keeping an oculus connected however the champion successful the satellite bash it, truthful I'm going to usage that going forward."
In betwixt holes connected the backmost nine, Duangmanee allowed himself to breathe. He exchanged speech with Austen Truslow, 1 of his playing partners, drank immoderate h2o and ate a grape jelly Uncrustable. His crippled was successful dire shape, but his cognition didn't person to be.
"Going into today, I conscionable wanted to person amusive retired there," Duangmanee said. "I knew I was benignant of retired of it aft my archetypal round, truthful I conscionable tried to bask the acquisition arsenic overmuch arsenic possible, effort to support my caput up, and I didn't truly get down to myself. I conscionable kept going, and I was conscionable blessed to beryllium here."
The vexation was surely there. When helium was incapable to get the shot from the fescue to the greenish connected 17, helium dropped his caput successful disappointment. His changeable from the unsmooth wasn't overmuch better, but Duangmanee simply kept going. Every changeable was not without its routine. On a time erstwhile Oakmont ejected players near and right, including immoderate of the champion successful the world, Duangmanee had opted to grind.
His tee shot connected 18 -- a wayward changeable that landed successful a fairway bunker acknowledgment to a operator that had been giving him occupation each time -- acceptable up the signifier for what would find his last score. Duangmanee pitched retired of the bunker and near himself a tricky wedge shot, which landed agelong of the hole. The downhill par putt ne'er had a accidental of going successful and slipped good past the hole.
The imagination of the U.S. Open had brought not conscionable Duangmanee present but his household too. Both of his parents, his member (a inferior connected UVA's play team), his grandfather, his woman and much household had each traveled to Pittsburgh to ticker him play. Whatever helium changeable would beryllium secondary.
"It does mean a batch to person radical who privation to beryllium retired present and watching maine play play and supporting me," Duangmanee said.
On a humid day successful Pittsburgh, with the stands astir the 18th greenish that volition beryllium packed successful 2 days' clip hardly filled, Duangmanee lined up his bogey putt. He had near himself 6 feet, 7 inches.
He studied it carefully, arsenic if it were to marque the cut, and poured it in.
As Duangmanee walked toward his caddie helium couldn't assistance but ace a smile. His 89 is tied for the second-highest people successful a azygous circular astatine a U.S. Open implicit the past 20 years.
"Just making it present was a large accomplishment for me," Duangmanee said. "It proves that what I'm doing, the hard enactment I'm putting successful practice, is paying off. Being capable to vie against the champion guys successful the world. It's truly wherever I privation to be."
Oakmont mightiness beryllium sending Duangmanee location with his scorecard speechmaking plus-35, but he's not leaving. He enactment successful a batch of enactment to get here, and he's not acceptable to determination connected conscionable yet.
"I'm decidedly going to instrumentality astatine slightest 3 oregon 4 days disconnected and conscionable bask it with the family," helium said. "I deliberation I volition enactment around. We're already here, and it's the U.S. Open."
