This US Open promises to be the toughest ever – and Bryson DeChambeau has the proof

Bryson DeChambeau went to see just what’s in store at Oakmont ahead of his US Open title defence – and it looks like we’re going to see some big scores next week…

The US Open is always set up to provide golf’s toughest test – but Oakmont is a different beast. After all, that is what they call it.

Just 28 players have finished under par in the nine US Open championships held at the Pittsburgh layout, and it looks like the USGA don’t plan on having anyone add to that when the 125th playing of golf’s second oldest major takes place at Oakmont next week.

At a recent media gathering, officials from the governing body confirmed that they want a winning score around even par.

And, if Bryson DeChambeau’s latest YouTube video – The World’s Hardest Golf Course – is anything to go by, it looks like they’ll get their wish.

The 31-year-old, who won his second US Open title when he edged Rory McIlroy at Pinehurst 12 months ago, headed to Oakmont – which he describes as one his “favorite designs – for a quick reconnaissance before the LIV Golf season gets back underway in Virginia.

“In the heart of Pennsylvania lies a course so difficult, so unforgiving, and so formidable that they nicknamed it ‘The Beast’,” DeChambeau explains at the top of his video.

“It wasn’t designed to be fair. It was designed to be feared.”

• Is Rick Shiels’ reign as golf’s No.1 YouTuber almost over?

• Bryson DeChambeau addresses rumors he wants to quit LIV Golf

With narrow fairways you can barely see from the tees, greens so fast they inspired the creation of the Stimpmeter, and rough so long you’ll need to step on your ball to find it, Oakmont, DeChambeau added, “doesn’t just challenge your game – it challenges your sanity”.

And he got a stark reality check of what’s to come at next week’s major when, at the par-3 6th, he knocked his Pro V1 into the greenside thick stuff. (This hole, you might recall, was where DeChambeau’s now Crushers teammate Paul Casey was forced to play backwards out of the left-hand bunker before racking up a triple-bogey six back in ‘07.)

“Oh my gosh!” DeChambeau remarks when he eventually finds it. “That is cooked beyond belief.

“That’s more than half-baked there. It’s burnt to a crisp. Oh my gosh.”

Addressing his ball, he adds: “I’ve got nothing.”

After hacking out, he turns to the camera and says: “That’s what Oakmont does to you.”   

We won’t spoil any more of the video for you, because it’s a fascinating watch in the build-up to the third men’s major of the year, but DeChambeau promises that “this is the hardest this golf course could ever play right now”.

And now we’re excited. Because who doesn’t want to see the world’s very best play a little bit like us?

Should DeChambeau come out on top next Sunday, he will become just the eighth player to retain his US Open title – something even Tiger Woods and Jack Nicklaus never achieved.

Bryson DeChambeau vs Oakmont: The World’s Hardest Golf Course