The ‘interesting’ comment J.J. Spaun’s coach made after seeing him chip in during the final round of the FedEx St. Jude

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J.J. Spaun confirmed his spot on the USA Ryder Cup team with a superb performance at the FedEx St. Jude Championship, with the US Open champion losing out in a playoff with Justin Rose at TPC Southwind.

Understandably, so much of the attention heading into the final round of the FedEx St. Jude Championship was on Tommy Fleetwood and Scottie Scheffler. Fleetwood is still hunting for his first victory on the PGA Tour.

Meanwhile, Scheffler seemed to be poised to make a Sunday charge to secure his fifth win of the year.

However, it proved to be Justin Rose and J.J. Spaun in a playoff to decide the winner in Memphis. Ultimately, it was Rose who won on the third playoff hole. But Spaun did enough to ensure that he will indeed make his Ryder Cup debut next month.

What J.J. Spaun’s coach said after he chipped in during the final round of the FedEx St. Jude Championship

Spaun birdied two of the final three holes to secure the clubhouse lead. But it was a moment right at the start of the round which saw the 34-year-old put the rest of the field on notice.

Spaun’s approach into the first hole finished right of the green. But he managed to chip in for birdie to get his round off to a flyer.

And speaking on The Smylie Show, Smylie Kaufman suggested that the moment felt like a significant one to his coach given what they have been working on over the last few months.

“J.J. Spaun chipped in at the first hole. A lot of people probably didn’t even see that to begin the day, but that was such a tone-setter for my perspective. He didn’t hit the best iron shot to the first hole, but still to get up there, chip it in, playing with Scottie, big pairing, J.J.’s been in a ton of big situations before, but Sunday playing with Scottie was like you’re going to be feeling your nerves on the first hole,” he said.

“And he had a chip shot that I felt was totally puttable, and I talked to his coach Josh Gregory off the green, I was like, ‘well, that’s a great start’. He’s his short game coach. He was like, ‘you know what, that is something that he would have putted last year, but now he’s got more and more confidence around the greens to where he’s actually thinking about holing these shots’. So I found that interesting.”

How J.J. Spaun’s final round display compared with Scottie Scheffler

Spaun’s win at Oakmont was arguably what proved to be the moment that ensured he would be playing at the Ryder Cup. But there is no question that it was hugely impressive to see him outshine Scheffler in the final round of a playoff event.

It would have certainly struck a chord with Keegan Bradley as he considers how important Spaun will be to his plans.

As the statistics show, Scheffler had the advantage over Spaun when it came to strokes gained off the tee and approaching the green.

But his countryman was much better on and around the green, with the chip-in proving to be the highlight.

It was yet another reminder that J.J. Spaun is not to be taken lightly or underestimated.