At the end of an otherwise forgettable opening round of the 2025 U.S. Open at Oakmont, Tony Finau made a closing par he’ll remember forever. Not because it saved his round (it didn’t), but because of a wild series of events that involved a wayward shot, a sprinkler head, a grandstand and a sleeping fan.
Tough conditions at Oakmont take toll on Finau
By the time Finau had reached Oakmont’s 512-yard, par-4 18th hole, not much had gone right for the six-time PGA Tour winner. The brutal test that faced competitors on Thursday took its toll.
He made double bogey on his second hole of the day and finished the front nine at three over. Thanks to a triple a 10, Finau sat at six over through 17.
He would make par at 18 to finish his round at six over. By day’s end, that left him 10 shots back of first-round leader J.J. Spaun.
But the bizarre way in which he made his par at 18 could never be revealed by a quick look at his scorecard.
Here’s what happened.
Finau’s wild bounce off sprinkler head into fans
A solid drive on the finishing hole left Finau with just over 200 yards to reach the green. Finau pulled a long iron and prepared to hit his shot from the right side of the fairway, hoping to set up a birdie to end the day with some positive momentum.
That’s when things went haywire.
Finau’s approach shot sailed long of the hole and just missed the back left edge of the green. But instead of thundering down onto the short grass, or plummeting into thick rough, something else happened.
His ball came crashing down right smack on top of a greenside sprinkler head. From there it took a huge bounce up and into the grandstands behind the green, where it nearly nailed an unsuspecting fan.
“Unsuspecting” might be an understatement. When Finau’s shot clanged into a barrier next to his head, the sitting spectator jolted to life. In the play-by-play booth, Notah Begay III and Smylie Kaufman speculated that the fan may have been sleeping, and that the shot had rudely awaken him.
“Woah, that guy was taking a nap! Smylie, that guy was taking a nap,” Begay remarked from the booth. “Just woke him up.”
“Well he aint taking a nap anymore, Notah, I’ll tell you that.”
The fan, now officially wide awake, went to grab the ball, inciting shouts of “Don’t touch it!” by the announcers. But then he realized his mistake, backed off and raised his hands. Check it out below.
