OAKMONT, Pa. – From the fairways of Whitewater Golf Club to the 18th green at Oakmont Country Club, J.J. Spaun is the U.S. Open champion.
The 34-year-old Los Angeles native, who started the day one shot behind third-round leader Sam Burns, bogeyed five of his first six holes to open Day 4, battled back on the back nine on Sunday, birdying his final two holes of the tournament to capture his first major championship by two strokes over Scotland’s Robert MacIntyre.
Spaun, who won the 2015 Staal Foundation Open at Whitewater, his first professional triumph, rolled in an unbelievable 65-foot putt on the final hole to seal the win, finishing with a 1-under par 279 total, shooting a 2-over 72 in the fourth round.
He had an eagle putt on 17 and settled for birdie to break a tie with McIntyre, who held the clubhouse lead on a tricky course that saw just one golfer – Spaun – finish under par for the week.
“I never thought I would be here, holding this trophy. I’ve always had aspirations and dreams, but like I said a few months ago, I never knew what my ceiling was. I never knew how good I could be, but I’m just proud that I’ve been resilient in my career and pushed through a lot of things and just trying to be the best golfer I can be. I’m happy to display that today at Oakmont,” Spaun told the NBC television audience following his win.
The round was interrupted for more than 96 minutes, when heavy rains moved through the western Pennsylvania area.
Spaun said the delay helped him hit the reset button, paving the way for the biggest victory of his career.
“Honestly the delay we had kind of just changed the vibe for the day. A similar thing happened to me at the Players (Championship). This time I kind of leaned on that whole experience, where I came back after the delay at the Players and I just kept pushing. I did that today and bounced back and fought really hard on the back nine,” Spaun said.
Bad breaks included hitting the flag stick on the second green, his ball rolling backward off the green and into the fairway after a near perfect wedge shot from 93 yards out.
On the very next hole, he hit a rake.
Both shots led to bogeys.
“It was really unlucky, it was pretty much a two-shot swing,” Spaun said of his misfortune on the second hole.
“That was not a really good start to the day.”
Spaun settled down on the seventh hole, the first of five straight pars at a course where pars are golden. He birdied the 12th and 14th, before giving a shot back on the 15th.
Meanwhile Burns, who led Spaun and Adam Scott by a stroke entering play on Sunday, started to slide. The American was saddled with a trio of bogeys on the front nine, birdied the 10th, but then doubled the 11th and later the 15th to fall out of contention. He finished at 4-over for the tournament, tied for seventh with world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler and former No. 1 Jon Rahm.
Scott’s fall was even more dramatic, carding a 9-over 79 on Sunday, dropping him all the way to a tie for 12th.
McIntyre, one of just seven players to hit red figures in Round 4, had a 2-under 68, birdied No. 9, No. 14 and No. 17 to climb back into contention.
Spaun took home $4.3 million for the win, an automatic invitation to the other three majors for the next five years and a 10-year exemption into the U.S. Open.
