JJ Spaun climbed more than one mountain to be crowned the unlikely US Open champion on Sunday.
First, the American was the only player able to beat the fearsome Oakmont Country Club and finish the tournament under par.
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Spaun pulled off one of golf’s most incredible stories in recent yearsCredit: Getty
Second, Spaun became the first man since 2003 to shoot 40 on the front nine on Sunday and still win at any PGA Tour event.
His rotten luck on the outward nine included ricochets off flagsticks and rakes, resulting in five bogeys in his opening six holes.
Third, as the rain came pouring down and Oakmont bordered on unplayable, it would have been easy to think the golfing gods were against him winning a first ever major title.
Fourth, Spaun needed two putts from 64 feet on a treacherous, sodden 18th green to immortalise himself in golfing history.
But the fifth mountain gives insight into why the 34-year-old was able to hole it on the first attempt, sinking the longest putt of the week in the most pressurised moment.
Just 12 months ago, Spaun was thinking about quitting professional golf entirely.
The new world no.8 was on the verge of losing his tour card last season amid a terrible run of results.
Speaking at the Players Championship in March, Spaun said: “I think it was kind of in the middle of the season last year when I played really terrible to start the year.
“I had some health stuff, like, fighting off viruses and flus that put me physically unwell. I didn’t want to blame that on my poor play.
“But halfway through the season it was looking like I was going to be done, like not going to finish 125, and I kind of was thinking about, ‘Hey, I played eight years out here, I’ve got a great family, I’ve accomplished, I’ve won. So it’s not the end of the world if this is how it ends for me.’
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Spaun went from the brink of golf retirement to becoming a major championCredit: Getty
“With that, that’s kind of when my attitude changed.”
Spaun’s watershed moment came from an unlikely source: a film called ‘Wimbledon’.
“It was this… not washed up, but older tennis player and he’s thinking of quitting and he wants to retire at Wimbledon and he ends up winning Wimbledon,” Spaun said.
“He meets a girl and goes through all this stuff. And it kind of resonated with me you know. You can’t give up yet. I was watching it and was like, ‘Maybe that can be me.’”
In that sense, Spaun’s victory at the US Open is one of sport’s great fairytales, hinged entirely on the outcome of a ‘sliding doors’ moment.
And the US Open is not a flash in the pan, either. After turning pro in 2012, Spaun is enjoying arguably his best season on Tour.
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It is easy to see why Spaun was overcome with emotionCredit: GettyIan Poulter was close to being US Open CADDIE before late heartbreak
He finished T-3 at the Sony Open and T-2 at the Cognizant Classic, while narrowly missing out on the Players Championship title to Rory McIlroy in a play-off.
Before the US Open, his lone victory was the Valero Texas Open in 2022.
Reflecting on his monumental breakthrough on the biggest stage, it was not lost on Spaun how everything played out like a Hollywood movie.
“It’s definitely like a storybook, fairytale ending, kind of underdog fighting back, not giving up, never quitting,” he said.
“With the rain and everything and then the putt, you couldn’t write a better story. I’m just so fortunate to be on the receiving end of that.
“Just to finish it off like that is just a dream. You watch other people do it. You see the Tiger chip, you see Nick Taylor’s putt, you see crazy moments.
“To have my own moment like that at this championship, I’ll never forget this moment for the rest of my life.”
