Rory McIlroy was second in driving distance at the Masters and fourth at the PGA Championship but he finally took the top spot at Oakmont with an average of 330.3 yards, nine yards longer than the next guy on the list.
Here’s the thing: it didn’t help him at all.
While Rory was launching missiles off the tee, he couldn’t convert the length into a winning score. Oakmont’s narrow fairways and punishing rough reminded everyone that driving distance is only part of the story.
Who else topped the charts and what can we take away from the numbers this week?
Longest drivers of the 2025 U.S. Open
The first name I looked for on this list was tournament winner J.J. Spaun. He was tied for 34th for driving distance with just under 300 yards as an average distance.
Spaun was, however, top 30 for Strokes Gained off the tee and top 20 for driving accuracy percentage.
| Rank | Player | Avg Yards |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Rory McIlroy | 330.3 |
| 2 | Chris Gotterup | 321.4 |
| 3 | Jhonattan Vegas | 315.8 |
| T4 | Ben Griffin | 315.1 |
| T4 | Cameron Young | 315.1 |
| T6 | Niklas Norgaard | 313.4 |
| T6 | Sam Stevens | 313.4 |
| 8 | Trevor Cone | 311.5 |
| 9 | Jon Rahm | 309.3 |
| 10 | Justin Hastings | 307.4 |
| T11 | Keegan Bradley | 307.3 |
| T11 | Taylor Pendrith | 307.3 |
| 13 | Sam Burns | 307.0 |
| 14 | Rasmus Højgaard | 306.3 |
| 15 | Viktor Hovland | 305.8 |
| 16 | Ryan Gerard | 305.3 |
| 17 | Harris English | 305.1 |
| T18 | Thomas Detry | 304.6 |
| T18 | Brooks Koepka | 304.6 |
| 20 | Michael Kim | 304.5 |
| 21 | Max Greyserman | 304.0 |
| T22 | Tony Finau | 303.5 |
| T22 | Adam Scott | 303.5 |
| 24 | Daniel Berger | 301.9 |
| 25 | Carlos Ortiz | 301.5 |
| 26 | Scottie Scheffler | 301.4 |
| 27 | Patrick Reed | 301.3 |
| 28 | Maverick McNealy | 301.1 |
| 29 | Tyrrell Hatton | 300.9 |
| 30 | Victor Perez | 300.8 |
| 31 | Russell Henley | 300.6 |
| 32 | Jordan Spieth | 300.3 |
| 33 | Emiliano Grillo | 300.1 |
| T34 | Sungjae Im | 299.8 |
| T34 | Xander Schauffele | 299.8 |
| T34 | J.J. Spaun | 299.8 |
| 37 | Ryan Fox | 299.4 |
| 38 | James Nicholas | 299.3 |
| 39 | Mackenzie Hughes | 298.4 |
| 40 | Marc Leishman | 297.3 |
| 41 | Thriston Lawrence | 297.1 |
| 42 | Jordan Smith | 296.9 |
| 43 | Chris Kirk | 296.8 |
| 44 | Laurie Canter | 296.1 |
| 45 | Jason Day | 295.4 |
| 46 | Johnny Keefer | 295.3 |
| T47 | Matthieu Pavon | 294.6 |
| T47 | Nick Taylor | 294.6 |
| T49 | Christiaan Bezuidenhout | 294.4 |
| T49 | Rasmus Neergaard-Petersen | 294.4 |
| T49 | Andrew Novak | 294.4 |
| 52 | Tom Kim | 294.0 |
| 53 | Si Woo Kim | 293.5 |
| 54 | Collin Morikawa | 292.6 |
| 55 | Matt Fitzpatrick | 292.5 |
| 56 | Matt Wallace | 291.9 |
| 57 | Hideki Matsuyama | 291.6 |
| 58 | Aaron Rai | 291.3 |
| 59 | J.T. Poston | 290.9 |
| 60 | Denny McCarthy | 290.8 |
| 61 | Philip Barbaree, Jr. | 290.6 |
| 62 | Ryan McCormick | 290.5 |
| 63 | Robert MacIntyre | 289.6 |
| 64 | Cam Davis | 288.6 |
| 65 | Adam Schenk | 288.3 |
| 66 | Brian Harman | 287.3 |
A few interesting points
- Rory McIlroy topped the field in distance at 330.3 yards but failed to convert the power into a win. Despite leading in total driving yards and ranking in the top 10 in Strokes Gained off the tee, a cold putter and inconsistent iron play left him outside the top 10 overall.
- Chris Gotterup continued to prove he’s one of the longest hitters, finishing second in driving distance. He also cracked the top 25 in Strokes Gained tee-to-green.
- Ben Griffin quietly finished in the top five for distance for the second major in a row. He’s been trending upward in 2025 and used his length to attack par-5s consistently.
- Scottie Scheffler, the PGA Championship winner, was outside the top 25 in distance (301.4 yards), but once again ranked near the top in Strokes Gained total. It’s becoming a theme: his all-around consistency outweighs raw power.
- Cam Davis, Robert MacIntyre and Brian Harman were some of the shortest hitters in the field but made the cut and finished inside the top 40. MacIntyre earned himself a second-place finish.
Final thoughts
Big drives can create easy birdie looks but, as always, distance alone doesn’t win majors. Oakmont’s tight landing areas and punishing rough meant that only those who paired length with control had a chance at this one.
Want to compare this to the PGA Championship or the Masters? Check out our full recap:
The post Driving Distance At The 2025 U.S. Open: Did Rory Top the Charts? appeared first on MyGolfSpy.
Article Link: https://mygolfspy.com/news-opinion/driving-distance-at-the-2025-u-s-open-did-rory-top-the-charts-again/