J..J. Spaun is the man with his neck out in front at the US Open at Oakmont and in getting himself ahead he’s also written his name into the history books.
Spaun came agonisingly close to the biggest win of his career when he lost to Rory McIlroy at The Players but has persisted and managed to keep himself in good spots through the season.
Now after round one of the US Open, Spaun finds himself in the ideal position at four under, with many of the big names like Rory McIlroy, Scottie Scheffler and Bryson DeChambeau struggling a touch.
Of course, to post a good score around Oakmont takes some doing.
And for Spaun, it took something he’d not done in his career and never seen before at Oakmont.
J.J. Spaun makes history as he leads the US Open on day one
While Oakmont might have gobbled up some of the biggest names in golf during the opening round, J.J. Spaun kept his head and produced a fine round of golf through all 18 holes.
However, it was his opening nine that caught the eye more than anything as he wrote himself into the US Open record books.
Spaun went round for his front nine in just 31 shots, making it the best first nine in US Open history at Oakmont.
While Spaun couldn’t quite build on that to go any better than four under, it gave him the platform needed to be in pole position going into day two.
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J.J. Spaun says he played Oakmont with more nerves than normal
It was some round from Spaun to get to four under and he becomes the first player to go bogey free at Oakmont since Dustin Johnson in 2016 at the US Open.
Of course, not many expected Spaun to be up at the top but he’s admitted his lack of experience at Oakmont has helped him.
“It’s hard to not hear the noise and see what’s on social media and Twitter and all this stuff. You’re just kind of only hearing about how hard this course is. I was actually pretty nervous,” Spaun said.
“But I actually tried to harness that, the nerves, the anxiety, because it kind of heightens my focus, makes me swing better, I guess. I don’t know, I kind of get more in the zone, whereas if I don’t have any worry or if I’m not in it mentally, it’s kind of just a lazy round or whatever out there. I like feeling uncomfortable.”
The leading score of all time in a US Open opening round is 66, meaning Spaun has very much put his name in lights across the board here.
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