Kevin Kisner says he once ‘grabbed’ J.J. Spaun in the locker room because of his ‘attitude’

Add as preferred source on Google

J.J. Spaun won the US Open in dramatic fashion on Sunday, by holing a 64-foot putt to cap off an exceptional week at Oakmont.

The US Open was a real war of attrition throughout the week at Oakmont, and that’s the way it should be.

Spaun was the only player who finished up under par in the end, and that tells us all we need to know about how hard the golf course was playing.

The really amazing thing is that Spaun spent the early hours of US Open Sunday at CVS, collecting medicine for his sick child.

It’s little wonder why his final round got off to such a slow start!

The 34-year-old showed real courage to bounce back from an outward nine of 40, to shoot 32 on the back nine and win by two.

Spaun came out firing after the rain delay at the US Open on the final day, and his unflappable nature clearly played a key role in him winning the tournament.

However, perhaps Kevin Kisner should be given some credit for Spaun’s US Open win, after a no-nonsense pep talk he gave him back in 2022.

Kevin Kisner reveals why ‘grabbed’ J.J. Spaun in the locker room

Kisner, a four-time PGA Tour winner, traveled on a similar path to Spaun regarding their golfing careers.

They played mini-tour golf before hitting the big time, and both have struggled on the PGA Tour on separate occasions.

However, it could be argued that Spaun genuinely has Kisner to thank now for the fact that he has become a major champion.

The 41-year-old from South Carolina spoke to SiriusXM PGA Tour Radio about Spaun’s win at Oakmont on Sunday.

And he explained how he had to really give the 34-year-old a kick up the backside three years ago.

Kisner explained, “You know, I’ve played with him, and those drives he hit on 17 and 18 he hit every round I played with him. And I’m heel-cutting it over there in the right rough and tying him. And I’m like, ‘dude you’re just so hard on yourself and your performance, you don’t realise how good you are, you keep beating yourself up out here, nobody is going to care about you in the future and and you’re going to be bagging groceries at Publix’.

“It’s just how fast the tour can come at you, he hadn’t had any wins up to that point and I’m like, ‘you lose your card and it’s a really hard hit to climb to get back out here, and nobody is going to have to like yourself, so you need to change that attitude because you have the game to be really a successful player on tour’.

“I didn’t think anything of it when I did it, it was on a Friday when we both missed the cut, and I grabbed him in the locker room, and I remember his caddie Mark Carens said to me a few weeks later, ‘dude that was so good, his attitude has changed,’ He ended up winning a few weeks later and was off to the races.”

Spaun won the Valero Texas Open in 2022, so Kisner’s intervention must have happened just before that victory.

And the US Open champion must now be so grateful that Kisner had the guts to tell him what he needed to hear.

J.J. Spaun was supreme in every aspect during the US Open

Spaun was in stunning form at Oakmont pretty much all week, aside from his front nine on Sunday of course.

Here is how his numbers stacked up for the week.

What an incredible example of consistency those stats are from Spaun.

He was by far and away the best player at the US Open last week.

But could Spaun have won the US Open without Kisner’s no-nonsense words back in 2022? The answer to that question genuinely might be no.