PITTSBURGH (93.7 The Fan) – While the US Open ends for all of us in Pittsburgh, it’s on to the next stop for the professional golfers. What were the reactions of some of the best after being done with Oakmont Country Club?
19th hole
“I had a few beers Sunday,” said two-time US Open champion Jordan Spieth Wednesday at the Travelers Championship in Connecticut. “We were waiting on the Schefflers to come over here, and he was after the delay. So I went to Buffalo Wild Wings. I didn't exactly eat or drink the way I normally do there.”
“Sometimes post-U.S. Open I just needed to throw a few back. Then by yesterday I was good. Still young enough that that doesn't really bother me the next day.”
Carnage
Scottie Scheffler finished tied for seventh, four over at the US Open at Oakmont Country Club. He said different courses are different tests and one setup is no better than another. What perplexes him is the way fans react to pro golfers struggling. He says it is different than other sports.
“Golf's funny in that sense,” Scheffler said Wednesday. “People, when they watch golf, it's not like other sports where you want us to look like y'all when we play golf. It's one of those funny things. You watch the NBA, and you're like, I wish they couldn't dunk. I wish they were scoring less. I wish their shooting percentage was lower on 3-pointers.”
“If you watch tennis, you're like, man, I wish the ball was going slower so they look like me out there playing tennis. It's not like that.”
“As much as some people want us to feel like them, professional golf is different than amateur golf. We get a lot of time to prepare to go out and play. The guys out here are really good at golf. If you stand here on the driving range and watch a range session, that ball doesn't go offline very often. I think sometimes, especially in this day and age, people get way too caught up in the winning score being what is a proper test. I think a proper test is good shots being rewarded and bad shots being punished.”
“The winning score, I think people get way too caught up in. I'm not saying necessarily that even par is a bad winning score. Some weeks, like the U.S.
Open, you hit two great shots and you're going to get rewarded with a par. That's fine. That's good too.”
Spaun season
Several reacted this week to JJ Spaun coming back to win his first major championship, including Ryder Cup captain Keegan Bradley, who will have Spaun on Team USA.
“I am so thrilled for him to have won that tournament,” Bradley said. “He's played so great this year. I think going to a course like Bethpage Black (site fo the Ryder Cup this year), the people are really going to be behind a guy like J.J. Spaun. His story is incredible. He's a hard-working guy that's just building and building and building his whole career.”
“To win the U.S. Open at Oakmont, in my eyes, is the pinnacle of major golf. It's as tough as you can get. I think he's a guy that people at Bethpage will really resonate with and a guy that on our team is the heartbeat. He's now the U.S. Open champion.”
“J.J.'s had a very, very solid year,” Scheffler said. “He almost won THE PLAYERS Championship. He's had a lot of good starts. He's played some pretty consistent golf. He almost holed it on 17 off the tee, and he stepped up when he needed to and finished off the golf tournament.”
“It's not easy to win. You've got to hit the right shots at the right time. For J.J. to step up and birdie 17 and 18 in those conditions to win the tournament is pretty special.”
“Yeah, that was amazing,” said two-time 2025 PGA Tour winner Ben Griffin. “He's the American Nick Taylor right now, winning the national open with a bomb on 18. So cool. Such an amazing moment.
“His story is very similar to mine. He played on the Mackenzie TOUR, the Canadian Tour, now it's the PGA Americas Tour. He won the same event that I won, the Thunder Bay Staal Open (yes, former Penguin Jordan Staal’s family); he won it three, four, five years prior to me maybe.”
“I thought it was a very fair test, and I thought it was awesome that he was able to execute some really high-quality shots down the stretch and make birdies. Yeah, I don't know what he was feeling on that 70-footer, but I know if I was in that position, it's one of those putts where you're just like, just somehow get it up there on the right tier and have three, four, five feet and you're doing an incredible job, and to make it, that's one of the coolest moments in sports in my opinion.”
“I still haven't really been able to enjoy it and not have any responsibilities,” Spaun said. “It would be nice to just sit on my couch at home and have the trophy sitting right next to me and watch some SportsCenter or something, but that's kind of how I like to enjoy things, just kind of vegging out, especially after long weeks on the road and big tournaments.”
It's been a whirlwind for Spaun since finishing the tournament Sunday night. He’s made several national appearances including The Today Show since the win. Among those who have reached out to him-actor/comedian George Lopez, Dodgers Mookie Betts and two-time US Open champion Hale Irwin.