OAKMONT, Pa. — The best way the ball kissed the lip on the fifteenth gap and did not trickle in for bogey felt merciless. It was as if Oakmont Nation Membership was displaying George Duangmanee each one in every of its enamel on a day when his sport had ghosted him.
Enjoying in his first U.S. Open, Duangmanee made his fourth double bogey of the day on the lengthy par-4. Eleven holes prior, he had performed pingpong on the fourth inexperienced and made a quadruple bogey on his approach to a surprising rating of 47 on the entrance 9.
At this stage, a rating close to 40 over any 9 holes is at all times an eyesore. One that just about reaches 50 is sort of a unicorn. And but, that is what Oakmont makes a speciality of. Those that arrive at its gates with hopes of showcasing their video games are sometimes humbled within the face of a golf course that was explicitly constructed to frustrate them. Of the 4 highest single-round U.S. Open scores which have been recorded during the last 20 years, three of them have occurred right here.
However the fantastic thing about the U.S. Open, as USGA CEO Mike Whan will repeatedly let you know, is its openness. Anybody can attempt to qualify and tee it up with the very best on the earth. A 17-year-old. A dentist. And a 23-year-old from Fairfax, Virginia, chasing his professional golf dream.
Duangmanee turned skilled in 2024 after graduating from UVA and made his PGA Tour debut in Could 2025 on the Myrtle Seaside Basic in South Carolina. There, he carded two under-par rounds to make the lower and would go on to complete at 5 over for the match.
For a participant who has solely conditional standing on PGA Tour Americas that he earned through qualifying college, it was additional proof that he belonged. However the U.S. Open? This was completely different.
“I really feel like this was the most important stage of golf I’ve ever performed in,” Duangmanee mentioned.
Duangmanee had performed arguably two of the very best rounds of his life to even have the prospect to stroll down Oakmont’s fairways. At Springfield Nation Membership in Ohio on June 2, the place professionals equivalent to Max Homa and Rickie Fowler tried and did not qualify for the U.S. Open, Duangmanee shot 68-67 to punch his ticket.
It is unattainable to summarize this sport higher than that: shoot 5 below to get into the U.S. Open, the place an 86 on Thursday and an opportunity to flirt with 90 awaits the following day.
“I knew it was going to be a tough check coming in,” Duangmanee mentioned. “I did not suppose it was going to be that arduous.”
An exhausted Duangmanee appeared shocked when a USGA official advised him a number of reporters wished to speak to him. He had simply wrestled the golf course for over 5 hours and had misplaced in a landslide. However his outlook spoke of one thing completely different.
“I am actually optimistic about simply being right here and excited for the arrogance I can get from it,” Duangmanee mentioned. “It is slightly bit intimidating being round individuals you watch on TV each week, however I am making an attempt to be taught as a lot as how they follow now, how they heat up and the whole lot. So I have been keeping track of how the very best on the earth do it, so I’ll use that going ahead.”
In between holes on the again 9, Duangmanee allowed himself to breathe. He exchanged dialog with Austen Truslow, one in every of his enjoying companions, drank some water and ate a grape jelly Uncrustable. His sport was in dire form, however his perspective did not need to be.
“Going into at present, I simply wished to have enjoyable on the market,” Duangmanee mentioned. “I knew I used to be sort of out of it after my first spherical, so I simply tried to benefit from the expertise as a lot as doable, attempt to maintain my head up, and I did not actually get all the way down to myself. I simply stored going, and I used to be simply completely happy to be right here.”
The frustration was actually there. When he was unable to get the ball from the fescue to the inexperienced on 17, he dropped his head in disappointment. His shot from the tough wasn’t significantly better, however Duangmanee merely stored going. Each shot was not with out its routine. On a day when Oakmont ejected gamers left and proper, together with a few of the greatest on the earth, Duangmanee had opted to grind.
His tee ball on 18 — a wayward shot that landed in a fairway bunker due to a driver that had been giving him hassle all day — arrange the stage for what would decide his closing rating. Duangmanee pitched out of the bunker and left himself a tough wedge shot, which landed lengthy of the opening. The downhill par putt by no means had an opportunity of getting into and slipped properly previous the opening.
The dream of the U.S. Open had introduced not simply Duangmanee right here however his household too. Each of his dad and mom, his brother (a junior on UVA’s golf workforce), his grandfather, his girlfriend and extra household had all traveled to Pittsburgh to observe him play. No matter he shot can be secondary.
“It does imply lots to have individuals who wish to be out right here and watching me play golf and supporting me,” Duangmanee mentioned.
On a moist afternoon in Pittsburgh, with the stands across the 18th inexperienced that will probably be packed in two days’ time barely crammed, Duangmanee lined up his bogey putt. He had left himself 6 toes, 7 inches.
He studied it fastidiously, as if it have been to make the lower, and poured it in.
As Duangmanee walked towards his caddie he could not assist however crack a smile. His 89 is tied for the second-highest rating in a single spherical at a U.S. Open during the last 20 years.
“Simply making it right here was a giant accomplishment for me,” Duangmanee mentioned. “It proves that what I am doing, the arduous work I am placing in follow, is paying off. With the ability to compete in opposition to the very best guys on the earth. It is actually the place I wish to be.”
Oakmont is likely to be sending Duangmanee dwelling together with his scorecard studying plus-35, however he is not leaving. He put in numerous work to get right here, and he is not prepared to maneuver on simply but.
“I am undoubtedly going to take at the least three or 4 days off and simply get pleasure from it with the household,” he mentioned. “I feel I’ll keep round. We’re already right here, and it is the U.S. Open.”
