OAKMONT, PA (93.7 The Fan) – Adversity has seemed to be a part of JJ Spaun’s life. From growing up with Type 1 diabetes, to battling on every developmental golf tour to even hitting a pin and a rake that negatively impacted his day Sunday, Spaun was able to overcome to win his first major championship, the 2025 US Open at Oakmont Country Club.
“I tried to just continue to dig deep,” Spaun said. “I've been doing it my whole 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.”
Spaun, who had never been in contention for a major, but lost a playoff at THE PLAYERS Championship, said if you just keep putting yourself in position, eventually you are going to tick one off. He said on the course he was recalling a conversation with fellow PGA Tour member Max Homa about how Tiger Woods wouldn’t change his game. Just keep playing your game and don’t do anything crazy. He said all of those thoughts came true and he found a way to win despite a 40 on the front nine.
It also came true for his family. They were there all week in fact his one daughter was sick hours before his final round tee time. A shot out of the lead to win his first major championship, the 34-year-old had to go get medicine at 3a on Sunday morning because she couldn’t hold anything down. Feeling better later in the day, she was able to witness the question she always asks.
“My daughter always asks me, every time dad goes golfing, she's like, ‘Were you the winner today?” Spaun said. “Sometimes I'm like, ‘Yeah, I wa’s. She's like, ‘Where's my surprise?’ So today she's like, ‘You're the winner today’. Like she got to see it. She didn't have to ask me. So that was a really fun moment.”
That moment came true because of driving the par 4 17th and the two-putt birdie that gave him a one-shot lead. But what won it was a 65-foot birdie on 18. He was able to get a read from Viktor Hovland’s putt on a similar line, which reminded him of his only tour win when he was able to get a read off a bunker shot on 18 that helped him win.
“I kind of knew the line already, but it looked like he gave it a pretty good whack because it started raining there for the last 10, 15 minutes,” Spaun said. “I just tried to pick my line and put a good stroke on it. I knew it was going to be a little slow. About eight feet out, I kind of went up to the high side to see if it had a chance of going in, and it was like going right in.”
“I was just in shock, disbelief that it went in and it was over. Yeah, here we are.”
Part of the reason he is in this position was because, in danger of losing his job (tour card) last summer, he decided to just go for it. Or as he put it ‘I might as well go down swinging’. He started to trust himself. Trust his shots and that mantra has led him to a first career major championship. The eighth first-time major winner at a US Open at Oakmont Country Club.
“Just to finish it off like that is just a dream,” Spaun said. “You watch other people do it. You see the Tiger chip, you see Nick Taylor's putt, you see crazy moments. To have my own moment like that at this championship, I'll never forget this moment for the rest of my life.”