J.J. Spaun triumphed on a chaotic final day at the US Open, with the 34-year-old proving to be the only player to emerge from Oakmont under par for the week.
Those watching the final round of the US Open would have been forgiven for writing off J.J. Spaun after he made a number of bogeys over the front nine on Sunday at Oakmont. He was desperately unlucky on the second hole, in particular, with his ball hitting the pin and rolling off the green.
While no-one seemed keen to win the third major of the year, it did seem that Spaun was even further back. In fact, there were times on Sunday when some viewers would have been much more confident about Scottie Scheffler‘s chances than Spaun’s.
However, Spaun made four birdies in his final seven holes to get across the line. The incredible putt he holed on the final green was a fitting coronation moment.
What one PGA Tour player said about J.J. Spaun on Wednesday before the US Open
Spaun has had an extremely impressive year on the PGA Tour. He went into the week 13th in the USA Ryder Cup qualification standings. And of course, he was beaten in a playoff by Rory McIlroy at The Players Championship earlier in the season.
But this victory has confirmed Spaun’s spot as a superstar. And it seems that at least one PGA Tour player would not have been surprised to see him win in Pennsylvania.
Speaking on The Smylie Show, Smylie Kaufman shared the claim one tour player made about Spaun ahead of the US Open.
“I was out to dinner on Wednesday night with a player and asked him, ‘hey, who do you think is the most underrated player on the PGA Tour?’ And the answer he gave was, ‘well, I’m not sure if he’s underrated but J.J. Spaun would be my answer’. This was on Wednesday,” he said.
“And then I was thinking to myself, you know what, heading into the week, I don’t know if you consider him to be underrated, because he had had such a good season. He had finished second at The Players, he finished as a runner-up a couple of times. You make a case that he’s not underrated now because he’s pretty much in the conversation for a lot of things, but coming into this week, did anyone say a word about J.J. Spaun? I didn’t. But if you were to ask me what type of player fit out here, I’d say J.J. Spaun would be a great fit. I was naming all these guys, but never got to J.J. Spaun because guess what, he’s underrated and I never talk about him.
“We never talk about him. That’s not disrespectful to him, I think it’s always been with him continue to prove that you’re ready for the big moment. And guess what, he was, because this man made 126 feet of putts on three holes in the last six holes of the US Open.”
J.J. Spaun reignites surprising trend at the US Open since 2019
Spaun has continued an incredible run in recent years in which the US Open has provided the stage for a raft of players to win their first major titles.
Bryson DeChambeau is the only player since 2019 who won a second major at the US Open – having won his first major at Winged Foot in 2020.
Gary Woodland, Jon Rahm, Matthew Fitzpatrick and Wyndham Clark all joined DeChambeau in winning a first major title at the US Open. And now Spaun can be added to that list.
It is an interesting trend to keep an eye on at Shinnecock next year.
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