NEED TO KNOW
J.J. Spaun has won his first major championship
The Los Angeles native went birdie-birdie on the last two holes to win the U.S. Open at Oakmont Country Club in Pennsylvania
The difficult and water-logged course tested the world’s best golfers, with Spaun being the only player to finish under par
J.J. Spaun rallied back from a no good, very bad start to win the U.S. Open by two shots — which he partly credits to long-ago advice given by fellow golfer Tiger Woods.
The 34-year-old Los Angeles native sealed the deal to win his first major at Oakmont Country Club in Pennsylvania on Sunday, June 15 by sinking a 64-plus-foot putt in rainy conditions that only told half the story.
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“I felt like I had a chance, a really good chance, to win the U.S. Open at the start of the day,” Spaun told reporters after his win, according to ESPN. “It just unraveled very fast.”
What happened?
Spaun — who was Thursday’s leader after hitting a bogey-free round of 66 — started Sunday one stroke behind leader Sam Burns, but he then carded five bogeys on his first six holes.
“It felt like, as bad as things were going, I just still tried to just commit to every shot,” Spaun said, per ESPN. “I tried to just continue to dig deep. I’ve been doing it my whole life.”
Ben Jared/PGA TOUR via Getty
J.J. Spaun (right) on the 18th hole at the U.S. Open on June 15, 2025
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Enter the 90-minute rain delay, which actually helped the San Diego State University alum to regroup and refocus, after a coach told him he was “trying too hard.”
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He also flashed on advice once relayed to him by friend and golfer Max Homa.
“[Homa] 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,’ ” Spaun recalled, according to Golf.com. “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.’ ”
Spaun — who had never finished in the top 20 in a major and had previously only won once, at the Valero Texas Open in 2022 — went on to make five straight pars and a 40-plus-foot putt for birdie on the 12th hole, moving him into a five-way tie for first.
The father of two then made two birdies on 17 and 18, becoming only the fifth Open champion to birdie-birdie on the final two holes, ESPN reported, according to Elias Sports Bureau.
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“Just to finish it off like that is just a dream,” Spaun said after he drained the 18th hole, finishing as the only player under par.
On Father’s Day, Spaun tossed his club in the air, enveloped his caddie, Mark Carens, and later hugged his wife, Melody, and their daughters, Violet, 2, and Emerson Lili, 4.
“You watch other people do it,” Spaun said. “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.”
Read the original article on People
