JJ Spaun wins US Open: PGA Tour journeyman’s rise to ‘fairytale’ main glory and Ryder Cup competition

JJ Spaun thought of calling time on his journeyman golf profession simply months earlier than his “fairytale ending” and life-changing main success on the US Open.

Spaun turned golf’s latest main champion with a two-shot victory at Oakmont Nation Membership, the place he recovered from a nightmare begin to salvage a two-over 72 and finish the week as the one participant beneath par, persevering with his outstanding rise within the males’s recreation.

The 34-year-old spent years grinding away on mini excursions earlier than breaking onto the PGA Tour and had beforehand did not construct on his breakthrough victory on the 2022 Valero Texas Open, narrowly managing to maintain maintain of his full-time standing final yr.

“Last year in June I was looking like I was going to lose my job, and that was when I had that moment where, if this is how I go out, I might as well go down swinging,” Spaun stated. “That’s kind of the mantra I’ve been having all year.”

The American retained his PGA Tour card for 2025 and had contended on a number of events this season with out reaching the winner’s circle, with one other alternative wanting set to move at Oakmont after 5 bogeys within the first six holes of his remaining spherical left him 5 strokes off the lead.

Because the chasing pack frittered pictures away on a soggy golf course, following a prolonged climate delay, Spaun got here by the hardest take a look at by holing two long-range birdies on his again 9 to abruptly discover himself prime of the leaderboard.

After Bob MacIntyre produced his personal Sunday cost to set the clubhouse goal, Spaun adopted a two-putt birdie on the driveable seventeenth by capping off a outstanding victory with a 65-foot putt – the longest of the week – on the ultimate inexperienced to shut out his win in type.

“It’s definitely like a storybook, fairytale ending, kind of underdog fighting back, not giving up, never quitting,” Spaun added. “With the rain and everything and then the putt, you couldn’t write a better story. I’m just so fortunate to be on the receiving end of that.

“Simply to complete it off like that’s only a dream. You watch different individuals do it. You see the Tiger [Woods] chip, you see Nick Taylor’s putt, you see loopy moments. To have my very own second like that at this championship, I am going to always remember this second for the remainder of my life.”

‘I have been constantly there’ – Spaun’s season forward of main glory

Spaun’s main success lifts him to a career-high of world No 8 – having began the yr exterior of the world’s prime 100 – and as much as sixth within the FedExCup standings, leaving him more likely to characteristic on the PGA Tour’s season-ending Tour Championship for the primary time after a memorable marketing campaign.

He took a one-shot lead into the ultimate spherical of the Sony Open in January, the place a penultimate-hole bogey and shutting par on a par-five left him in tied-third and one shot exterior of the play-off.

Spaun completed tied-second a couple of weeks later on the Cognizant Traditional, having carded a bogey-free 66 on the ultimate day, earlier than an excellent efficiency at The Gamers noticed him drag Rory McIlroy right into a Monday play-off.

He held a 54-hole lead at TPC Sawgrass and recovered from a mid-round wobble to birdie two of his final 4 holes, taking him into the play-off when McIlroy blew his late lead, however a triple-bogey on the second further gap ended his hopes.

Spaun additionally made robust begins with opening rounds of 66 and 67 respectively on the RBC Heritage and Truist Championship, each Signature Occasions on the PGA Tour, whereas he made a 66-68 begin on his method to a tied-sixth end on the Charles Schwab Problem.

“I’ve been consistently right there,” Spaun stated. “Everyone knows that the more you put yourself there, the better you’re going to have results and the better you’re going to play, then eventually turn one of those close calls into a win.

“The Players was a kind of spring into the self-belief because it wasn’t like I faked it. You can maybe fake it at the Sony and Cognizant or whatever, but to do that at The Players, a course where I’d never done well historically…

“To go face to face with Rory on Sunday, after which the play-off was nice for my confidence. Sadly, I did not win, nevertheless it was nice for me to type of lean again on that have and know that I can carry out on the most important of levels and deal with it with the stress.”

Spaun prevails in historic Sunday

Spaun recorded six bogeys during his final round, the most by a US Open winner since Hale Irwin in 1979, while he became the first player to card 40 in any nine of a major and win since Ernie Els’ 2002 success at The Open.

He had already made headlines earlier within the week by being the one participant to card a bogey-free spherical on his method to the first-round lead, with Spaun utilizing the climate delay on the ultimate day to reset after what had already been an eventful Sunday.

“I was running to CVS (pharmacy) in downtown because my daughter had a stomach bug and was vomiting all night long,” Spaun admitted about his final-round prep. “My spouse was up at 3am and he or she’s like ‘Violet (daughter) is vomiting throughout, she will’t maintain something down’.

“It was kind of a rough start to the morning. I’m not blaming that on my start, but it kind of fit the mould of what was going on, the chaos.

“As dangerous as issues had been going, I simply nonetheless tried to only commit to each shot. I attempted to only proceed to dig deep. I have been doing it my entire life.

“I think that’s been the biggest difference this year has been being able to do that. Fortunately, I dug very deep on the back nine, and things went my way, and here we are with the trophy.”

Extra to return? ‘He’ll be on that Ryder Cup group’

The victory additionally jumps him to 3rd within the Ryder Cup qualification standings forward of this yr’s contest at Bethpage Black, placing him within the projected automated qualification spots for a Workforce USA debut.

Keegan Bradley’s facet can be trying to regain the trophy towards Workforce Europe after dropping in Rome in 2023, with former Ryder Cup captain Paul McGinley backing Spaun to be a powerful addition to the American ranks.

“I said I hope in some ways he doesn’t win, because he’ll be on that Ryder Cup team,” McGinley stated on the Golf Channel. “That’s how impressed I am with him and I’ve watched him closely.

“The reactions of the opposite gamers tells you the way fashionable any individual is and for Tyrrell (Hatton) and Bob McIntyre, guys like that, who’re European keep in mind, to be genuinely completely satisfied for a man like that in his second tells you that he is a well-liked man.

“Secondly, his golf swing, for me I would nearly argue that it could be the best in the game. It’s that good. I absolutely love how he swings it.”

Spaun might have taken time to show to the world – and himself – his true potential, however he has now delivered on the most important stage. Along with his {golfing} standing secured for years to return, he can proceed to push ahead.

Watch JJ Spaun in PGA Tour motion all through the 2025 season stay on Sky Sports activities. Get Sky Sports activities or stream no contract on NOW.