Oakmont, Pa. — The way the ball kissed the lips of the 15th hole and didn’t drip due to the bogey felt cruel. It was as if the Oakmont Country Club had shown George Duane Manny all of his teeth the day his game made him a ghost.
Duangmanee played in his first US Open and made the fourth double bogey of the day with a long par 4. Before the 11th hole, he played ping-pong on the fourth green and made a triple bogey on the way to a shocking 47 score on the front nine.
At this level, a score of nearly 40 over nine holes is always an eye-opener. Something that reaches almost 50 is like a unicorn. Still, that is something Oakmont specializes in. Those who arrive at the gate in anticipation of showing off the game will be humbled in the face of a golf course explicitly constructed to irritate them. Of the four best single-round US Open scores recorded in the last 20 years, three are happening here.
But as USGA CEO Mike Whan repeatedly tells you, the beauty of America is its openness. Anyone can qualify and try to tee up along with the best in the world. 17 years old. dentist. The 23-year-old from Fairfax, Virginia, is pursuing his dream of professional golf.
Duangmanee went on to become a pro in 2024 after graduating from UVA, and made her PGA Tour debut in South Carolina’s Myrtle Beach Classic in May 2025. There he carded two Pallu rounds to make the cut and finished with five or more for the tournament.
For a player with only conditional status in PGA Tour Americas, earning money from qualifying school, it was further evidence of his belongings. But is the US open? This was different.
“I feel this was the biggest stage of golf I’ve ever played,” Dummmanny said.
Duan Manny even had the chance to walk the Oakmont fairways, playing two of the best rounds of his life. Duan Manny shot 68-67 to punch the ticket as several professionals attempted and failed to qualify for the US Open on June 2 at Springfield Country Club in Ohio.
It is impossible to summarise this sport better than that. He scored 86 on Thursday and has a chance to flirt with 90 the next day.
“I knew it would be a hard test,” Dummmanny said. “I didn’t think it would be that difficult.”
The exhausted Dummy looked surprised when a USGA official told him that several reporters wanted to talk to him. He had just wrestled over five hours on the golf course and was defeated by a landslide. But he spoke about something different about his outlook.
“I’m really positive about being here and being excited by the confidence I get from it,” Dummmanny said. “It’s a bit scary to be around people who watch on TV every week, but I want to learn how they practice now, how they get warmer and everything. So I’m looking at how to do the best thing in the world, so I’m going to use it in the future.”
Between the back nine holes, Duan Manny allowed himself to breathe. He exchanged conversations with one of his playing partners, Austin Truslow, drinking some water and sniffing out grape jelly. His game was miserable, but his attitude didn’t have to be.
“When I walked in today, I was hoping I had fun there,” Dummmanny said. “After the first round, I knew I was coming from it, so I tried to enjoy the experience as much as I could and lift my head, but it really didn’t come down on myself.
The frustration was certainly there. He dropped his head in disappointment when he couldn’t get the ball from the Fest Kew to the Green. His shot from Ruff wasn’t that good, but Duan Manny simply continued. Not every shot has no routine. On the day Oakmont left the left and right players, including the best in the world, Duan Manny chose to crush them.
His tee ball of 18 – a whimsical shot landing in a fairway bunker thanks to a driver who had been giving him trouble all day – set the stage for what determines his final score. Dummy left the bunker and left a tricky wedge shot that landed long from the hole. I had no chance to get into the downhill par putt and never slipped far past the hole.
The American open dream has brought not only here but his family as well. His parents, his siblings (juniors on Uba’s golf team), his grandfather, his girlfriend, and more family traveled to Pittsburgh to see him play. Anything he films is secondary.
“It means a lot to have people here who want to see me playing golf and supporting me,” Dummmanny said.
On a humid afternoon in Pittsburgh, Duan Manny lined up bogey putts in the stands around Green No. 18, stuffed over two days. He left himself six feet, seven inches.
He studied it carefully and poured it out, as if it were a cut.
He was forced to smile as Duan Manny walked towards Caddy. His 89 has scored the second highest score in one round at the US Open over the past 20 years.
“Making it here was a huge achievement for me,” Duan Manny said. “It proves that what I do, the effort I actually do is rewarded. I can compete with the best guys in the world. That’s where I really want to be.”
Oakmont may be sending Doan Manny home with Scorecard Reading Plus 35, but he hasn’t left. He did a lot of work to get here and he is not ready to move on yet.
“I’m definitely going to have at least three or four days off and have fun with my family,” he said. “I think I’ll stay around. We’re already here. It’s the US open.”
