Oakmont, Pennsylvania – In one of the wildest Sundays in major championship history, an underdog became a cult hero on the soggy turf at Oakmont Country Club in Western Pennsylvania. JJ Spaun’s 64-foot bomb from across the green sent chills through the bodies and minds of the millions watching. His walkoff birdie putt capped off a back nine 32 to win the 125th U.S. Open in grand style by two over Scotland’s Bob MacIntyre. Spaun was only player in the field to finish under par (279 total, 1 under par)
Mother Nature added over a foot of rain to the area over the past month, which only complicated matters for Oakmont and the USGA . Spaun endured a series of bad luck on his outward nine of 40, but a lengthy weather delay allowed him to reset both mentally and physically. Another mid-afternoon storm on Sunday just added to an already saturated golf course, causing a 96-minute weather delay and putting the Sunday finish in doubt
“As bad as things were going, I just still tried to just commit to every shot,” said Spaun. “I tried to continue to dig deep. I’ve been doing it my whole life. I think that’s been the biggest difference this year. . . 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.” Ironically, inspiration for Sunday came not only from his performance earlier this year at The Players, but also from a semi-recent flight to London – where he watched “Wimbledon,” a ROMCOM about a tennis professional whose career was nearing the end. The main character Peter Colt (played by Paul Bettany) had dropped to 119th ranking and was going to take a club pro job after playing at Wimbledon as a wild-card entry. Then he falls for tennis pro, Lizzie Bradbury (played Kirsten Dunst) and somehow makes it to the final at Wimbledon. Colt trails by two sets and is down in the third to Jake Hammond (played by Austin Nichols), when a storm stops play. During the delay, Bradbury inspires him. Colt goes on in true Hollywood fashion to rally for a hard fought comeback 5-set victory. Oh, the irony . . .
Wayward tee shots and casual water rulings did in 54-hole leader Sam Burns, and crowd favorite Adam Scott who both faltered late on the back nine, eliminating any hopes for the title. Adam Scott carded a final-round 79 and tied for 12th at 6-over 286. “Look, it just wasn’t easy out there’, Scott said. “All things being equal, it’s Sunday of the U.S. Open, one of the hardest setups, and the conditions were the hardest of the week. Thank God it wasn’t like this all week.”
As the contenders Hovland, Hatton, Young and Carlos Ortiz wilted in the wet conditions, Spaun seemed to gain momentum playing the final three holes in 2 under par. His tee shot on the 314-yard 17th was his finest of the championship, leaving an easy two-putt birdie, and his putt at the last will go down in lore as one of the most dramatic and spectacular finishes to a U.S. Open Championship.
Hovland summed it best, “To watch him (Spaun) hole the putt on 12 down the hill there was unreal. And then he makes another one on 14 that was straight down the hill. And then the one on 18, it’s just absolutely filthy there.”
The Champion summed up his journey to the pinnacle, “I grew up watching golf. I was a young kid, wanted to play golf. I loved golf. It was a passion for me growing up. I always played with my parents growing up. [But] I wasn’t really groomed to be a professional golfer. I didn’t get put through academies. I didn’t play the AJGA (American Junior Golf Association). I played local stuff. I did qualify for my first big USGA event, which was the U.S. Junior. I did that two times when I was like 16 and 17. That’s kind of when I realized my potential. I just kept going, like one foot in front of the other. Junior golf, college golf, turning pro, and now here I am with the U.S. Open trophy.”
