J.J. Spaun is the US Open champion after a dramatic final day at Oakmont Country Club and he’s been explaining some of the method behind his brilliance on the back nine.
Spaun looked all but out of things at five over on the opening nine but he rallied superbly, making four birdies in a superb back nine 32.
Spaun’s win puts to bed the demons of The Players this year, where he suffered a big loss to Rory McIlroy in a playoff.
Key to Spaun’s win were some huge shots in the final five or six holes. The American pulled out all the stops and showed huge bravery to go for the par four 17th with driver.
Spaun’s bravery was rewarded too, as he landed his drive on the green before two-putting for a crucial birdie.
Indeed, discussing that very shot, Spaun has now revealed that it was very much something he’d worked on.
J.J. Spaun shares why his shot on 17 at the US Open was pre-planned
It takes a real element of desire to be chasing a major and take out driver on a reachable par four surrounded by treacherous rough.
But golf is very much a risk and reward game as we know and Spaun certainly got his reward.
However, it wasn’t a fluke either and he revealed to the media afterwards that he had executed the same shot in his practice round.
“In the practice round I hit a nice, same sort of ball shaped shot to the pin and I was just envisioning that. I pulled it off and it was a nice finish, where it was 12 or 15 feet behind the hole. I was happy to walk away with the birdie,” Spaun admitted.
On making his long-range putt on 18 to put the seal on his victory, Spaun then referenced Hovland’s help in getting his own putt in the hole.
“It was nice to get a little teach from Viktor,” Spaun laughed. “When I hit it I thought it was a little short but it was right on the line I was going for. Then about eight feet out it was just looking really good, I kind of went up to the left and down the lie and it was going right at the hole.
“It was just one of those moments in major championships where that is what happens to seal the deal and fortunately it was my time.”
J.J. Spaun deserves huge credit at the US Open
With Oakmont playing so tough and conditions getting harder in the rain throughout the final round, many a player would have given up had they started like Spaun.
At five over and looking nowhere near like winning, it would have been easy to let the course gobble him up.
But Spaun wasn’t here for that. The American dug deep, showing determination, grit, and crucially, class, when it mattered the most.
Scottie Scheffler might have wanted Sam Burns to win, but he won’t mind Spaun getting the job done either in a Ryder Cup year for Team USA.
Whether this proves a platform for Spaun to go on and win more, remains to be seen. But right now, he simply deserves massive kudos for a memorable win.
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