What a whirlwind U.S. Open Sunday we just got at Oakmont Country Club.
As much credit as I gave Scottie Scheffler for the mid-round adjustment to capture the PGA Championship in May, J.J. Spaun deserves all the credit in the world for taking advantage of the rain delay, completely resetting and turning around all of his bad momentum from his start and taking the tournament down.
His drive on 17 is right up there with Collin Morikawa's drive on 16 in the 2020 PGA Championship, and that putt he drained on 18 will live on forever. I hope all golf fans embraced the chaos yesterday, because it was entertaining to watch.
The PGA Tour now moves onward to TPC River Highlands for the Travelers Championship, the only consistent Tour stop in my home region of New England since they took the Dell Technologies out of the FedEx Cup, which is probably for the best, as these guys would beat up TPC Boston.
A true staple in the Tour schedule, the Travelers serves as the last of the eight Signature Events this season, giving us a strong field making its way from western Pennsylvania to Connecticut.
TPC River Highlands is a small ballpark, officially listed at 6,844 yards. In terms of analysis and predictions, I've looked at other shorter courses on Tour (Harbour Town, Philly Cricket Club, Pebble Beach, etc.), because driving accuracy and strong short game are going to be key for success around River Highlands.
Additionally, solid approach play in the 125-175 range is needed, since most of the par-4s will lead to second shots coming from this range.
Sam Burns almost pulled off the win for the rankings last week, but the weather delay completely screwed up his flow for Sunday. My rule for this week is that I'm strongly fading those who were in contention throughout the whole weekend at Oakmont.
As such, Spaun, Burns, Viktor Hovland, and guys like that won't make the rankings. If they do manage to overcome the exhaustion of battling through the elements and the pressure of trying to win the U.S. Open to play well in Cromwell, Connecticut, then more power to them.
Let's find another winner this week.
Honorable Mentions: Christiaan Bezuidenhout, Akshay Bhatia, Corey Conners, Si Woo Kim, J.T. Poston
9. Brian Harman
Brian Harman loves playing TPC River Highlands.
In his last seven starts here, Harman has six top-10 finishes, including a runner-up two years ago. What intrigues me most about the lefty is that he is able to play well at the Travelers even when his form isn't the best, which is where the 2023 Open Championship winner stands right now with his game.
His driving accuracy and short game play very well around here, so don't be surprised by Harman making a run.
8. Keegan Bradley
The New England boy returns "home" this week, and this should be a good bounce-back spot for Keegan Bradley.
The Ryder Cup captain could still play his way onto his own team, but he does need to start picking up his form. Bradley has been top-30 on Tour in strokes gained off the tee, approach, and around the green this season, with his one weak spot still being his putter.
If the 2023 Travelers champ can find a hot week with the short stick, then the local kid should make a charge this weekend.
7. Robert MacIntyre
For a moment, it looked like Big Shot Bob MacIntyre would steal the U.S. Open, but he came up just short.
Still, the lefty has found his form again, and he should line up well for River Highlands this week. MacIntyre finished T16 last year, losing strokes to the field on approach, which shouldn't happen with the Scot having seven straight weeks of plus-approach play coming into the Travelers.
Especially since distance is not a pre-requisite for success here, MacIntyre should be in the hunt.
6. Sepp Straka
Sepp Straka missed the cut this past week at Oakmont, and I had a bad feeling putting him as an honorable mention (he took Cameron Young's spot), but alas, we keep moving.
It was really just the putter that let Straka down last week, which was to be expected on the U.S. Open greens. When he has played well this year, it has been on courses that favor driving accuracy over distance, and his iron play can give him plenty of scoring opportunities.
Considering the two-time winner this year plays well after missing the cut at big events, Straka's hot season should continue this week.
5. Cameron Young
Genuine question for everyone: Is Cameron Young back?
His iron play had fallen off a cliff in the first half of this season, but he's managed to pull it back to at least Tour-average, which has turned things around. He's had three top-10s in his last five starts, including back-to-back T4s in Canada and at the U.S. Open.
Young also finished T9 at the Travelers in 2024, and I genuinely wouldn't be surprised if he shoots the low round of the week at River Highlands en route to another high finish.
4. Ben Griffin
If it wasn't for his finish to his third round, Ben Griffin would've been truly contending on Sunday at his U.S. Open debut.
The surefire Ryder Cupper is still arguably the hottest player on the planet right now, and I'm going to keep putting him in these rankings while the form is there.
Griffin is great up and down the bag, but his short game prowess is really what has been driving his breakthrough campaign. Keep it in the short grass, and he should continue his ascension this week.
3. Russell Henley
Russell Henley's T10 at the U.S. Open really came out of nowhere to me. I figured that the length would overpower the shorter hitter, but his exceptional play in all other aspects made up for this deficiency.
Henley cooled off for a little while after his win at the Arnold Palmer, but with back-to-back top-10s at the Memorial and the U.S. Open, it appears that he has found his footing again. He's accurate off the tee, hits his irons really well, and has a great short game.
Russell Henley could easily pick up his second win of the season this week.
2. Xander Schauffele
Last week was the first week since The Masters where Xander Schauffele was plus strokes gained in all four categories. This hasn't been the 2025 Xander expected coming into it, but he's still playing at a very high level; it's all about getting everything to click each week.
Schauffele has five top-20s in six starts at TPC River Highlands, including a win in 2022. He likes the course, knows how to attack it, and could find his first win of the season in Connecticut.
1. Scottie Scheffler
Scottie Scheffler's top-10 finish at Oakmont will make the Wikipedia page look better and trick everyone in the future into thinking that he actually contended.
It was very disappointing to see Scheffler not be a factor at all, mainly due to his putting, even when everyone above him on the leaderboard seemed to crumble.
With that being said, the number one player in the world had his D+ game at best this week and still posted a T7 finish. He is inevitable at every tournament he plays, so why would I put anyone other than Scottie at #1?
Scheffler is the defending champion here at River Highlands, and one has to assume he will be a true factor this Sunday.