J.J. Spaun recovered from a nightmare start to win the biggest title of his career at the US Open and had Tiger Woods to thank.
A breakthrough year for Spaun at the highest level has seen him rise to 25th in the world rankings, and it had it’s crowning glory when he sunk a barely believable 65 foot putt on the final hole to pass the draining Oakmont test.
Spaun is now the US Open champion, finishing on -1GettyIt gave him a two-over-par round of 72 on a brutal Sunday in Pennsylvania, but most notably a place at the top of the leaderboard as the only man under par for the gruelling four days.
He also claims the the winners cheque of $4.3million and the gateway to the riches that follow as a major champion.
“It was nice to get a little teach from Viktor [Hovland’s putt],” Spaun said afterwards.
“When I hit it, I thought it was a little short, but it was right on the line I was going for and about eight feet out it was looking really good.
“It was just one of those moments in major championships and fortunately it was my time.”
The 34-year-old from California saw off Scotland’s Robert MacIntyre who had produced a sparkling round of 69 in terrible conditions to set the clubhouse lead.
Fierce downpours and gloomy skies threatened to take the third major of the year, into a fifth day but Spaun produced a special run to win his national championship.
He follows world no.1 Scottie Scheffler and world no.2 Rory McIlroy as the men’s champions this year, Scheffler winning the PGA Championship last month, and McIlroy completing a career Grand Slam by winning the Masters.
Early on, Spaun, who started the day a short behind leader Sam Burns whose challenge fell away had looked like sitting on another near miss when he began the final round with three consecutive bogey fives.
However, there was some advice he heard from the great Tiger Woods that was ringing around his ears at Oakmont.
Reigning in the Rain
2025 US Open final leaderboard
-1 J.J Spaun
+1 Robert MacIntyre
+2 Viktor Hovland
+3 Cameron Young, Tyrrell Hatton, Carlos Ortiz
+4 Jon Rahm, Scottie Scheffler, Sam Burns
“I was having lunch with Max Homa at home,” Spaun said.
“He was telling a Tiger story where he was like, ‘As long as you just like are still there, you don’t have to do anything crazy, especially at a U.S. Open.’ He’s like, ‘Tiger said this would happen, and the wind will switch, but you’ve got to just stay there. Even if you’re four back, you’ve just got to stay there. You don’t have to do anything crazy.’
“I kind of was thinking about that out there this afternoon, where I was four back, maybe going back out after the delay, and then I made some good pars, nothing crazy.
“Then, next thing you know, I’m like tied for the lead, I think, and within four holes of the restart. That just kind of goes back to that, like you just try to like stay there. You don’t have to do anything crazy, especially at a U.S. Open. All those things came true.”
Earlier this season Spaun had come close to ending a three-year wait for his second PGA Tour title.
He finished as runner-up to McIlroy in a play-off at the Players Championship, after being just roll of the ball away from winning in regulation, took a tie for third at the season-opening Sony Open, and he finished second at the Cognizant Classic at the Palm Beaches.
MacIntyre came up just short on a memorable final dayGetty GettyTyrrell Hatton threatened the lead on the back nine but came up short[/caption]On Sunday, the Californian started 5-5-5-5-5 on a day when the weather twice closed in to soak the course, causing a near two-hour delay as the leaders headed into the middle of their rounds.
Spaun was playing in the penultimate group alongside Viktor Hovland and used the rain delay to his advantage – not least two huge birdie putts from distance on the back nine.
He returned from the near two-hour weather delay to find birdies at 12, 14 and 17, catapulting him into the lead at level par for the tournament heading down the final hole.
Scotland’s MacIntyre, with a brilliant Saturday-Sunday double of 69-68, had posted the clubhouse lead at one-over par, but Spaun’s finish on 18 was deserving of the title, US Open champion.
Having struck a fine tee shot down the middle of the fairway he fired his iron into the green to give himself two putts from 65 feet to be the champion. He needed just one.
Spaun lifted the US Open at OakmontGettyFittingly for an attritional day the rain lashed down for one final time and an uphill putt across a sodden putting surface faced him.
Spaun got a perfect read from Hovland’s putt from similar distance and in a stirring finish, he watched his perfect putt break and borrow to drop to the bottom of the cup.
As chants of ‘JJ, JJ, JJ’ echoed around the 18th green, it gave Spaun a round of 72 to go with rounds of 66 on day one and 72 and 69 on Friday and Saturday and it meant he finished as the only player under par.
But now he is a champion again, with a place on the United States Ryder Cup team on Bethpage in September secured.
“I don’t think I did keep my composure with all the bad breaks I was getting,” he said during the trophy presentation interview.
“I just tried to dig deep, hit some good shots. And honestly, the weather delay we had just changed the whole vibe for the day. I leaned on the experience of a delay at The Players, and I kept pushing.
“I bounced back and fought really hard on the back nine.”
Spaun becomes champion on only his second career start at the US Open – and ninth career appearance in the majors.
He missed the cut at Torrey Pines in 2021, and now hold a US Open record of CUT-Champion.
As he explained afterwards, Spaun has battled back through adversity and having been a regular on leaderboards this season his story is well known.
Now as a major champion for life, his story will be told again and again.
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