Trevor Cone is in a world of his own at Oakmont.
While some tournaments rely on regular score updates for the players’ sake and aggressive outwitting of opposing golfers, Oakmont brings a different tone. Cone wants to just pay attention to his game and not pay attention to anyone else.
“A lot of times you do, because you kind of have to make birdies,” Cone said. “But when par is your friend, it’s a lot more like you’re really playing [against] the golf course.”
Most golfers at the 125th U.S. Open are simply trying to stay above water, and Cone is no different. He is not a hardened PGA tour regular, unlike the golfers around him with similar scores like Scottie Scheffler, Collin Morikawa and Denny McCarthy.
Cone’s journey is far from traditional. After winning All-American honors in 2014 and an ACC championship in 2015 with Virginia Tech, Cone has played on the PGA Americas, PGA Canada and Korn Ferry tours. Cone is now on his second stint on the PGA tour due to finishing within the top 30 point leaders for the 2024 Korn Ferry Tour season in 2024.
Cone qualified for the tournament at one of nine “final qualifying” tournaments two weeks ago, and then, this past week, finished 1-over-par and tied for No. 68 in the RBC Canadian Open the week prior to the U.S. Open.
Coming into the tournament, Cone had made two of a possible ten cuts on the PGA Tour this season. For Cone to receive a renewed tour card for 2026, he must either win an event or finish within the top 100 in FedEx Cup points. He currently ranks No. 205 of a possible 228.
Cone had to start off well at his first U.S. Open, and his first round set the tone with an impressive 1-under-par, but could he repeat this magic on one of the toughest courses in the world?
Cone birdied his first hole of the day, and it looked like he would back up his impressive first round. However, after that, he struggled and shot a 5-over-par 40 on the front nine.
Something had to change for Cone if he wanted to make the cut in his first-ever U.S. Open start.
“I was hitting some good putts on the front [nine] and just not hitting any fairways, so it’s hard to get anything going,” Cone said. “[I had] a couple of free ones given away, but didn’t play too bad. Just hit a few poor shots.”
On the four par-4’s Cone got bogey or worse on the front nine — he missed the fairway three of the four times and shot 4-over-par. When in the fairway on the par-4’s, he shot 1-over-par.
“I really think you have to give yourself the most opportunity,” Cone said. “I think strokes gained off the tee is probably the most important [add a noun in brackets here] out here… You can’t get to the green if you’re in the rough.”
On the back nine, something clicked for Cone —- he wasn’t in the rough nearly as much as in the first nine and birdied four of his first five holes. The worst position Cone found himself in was the first cut, and he still birdied that hole.
Cone, however, did have one hole to forget on the back nine — it was when he hit the ball into the right rough on hole No. 15 and wound up with a double bogey. But Cone didn’t let that misfortune get the best of him. He locked in and parred his last three holes to finish the back nine 2-under par.
“It’s the hardest tournament we play all year. You’re mentally just so focused on each shot, and you can’t really afford to get ahead of yourself,” Cone said. “So you don’t really have time to think about it.”
But now, Cone can process the fact that he made the cut in his first-ever U.S. Open appearance, something even the best of the best struggle to do.
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