Man of Steel: Spaun Shows True Grit in Winning 125th U.S. Open

All week at Oakmont Country Club, J.J. Spaun wielded his trusty putter like a magic wand. It started on Thursday with the only bogey-free round (66) of the U.S. Open, and 72 hours later he closed one of the wildest Sundays in the 125 editions of this championship with an improbable, cross-country birdie putt on the 72nd green.

The 34-year-old Southern Californian, with just one PGA Tour victory to his name, punctuated the life-changing moment of his 14-year professional career by rolling in a 65-foot putt to edge Scotland’s Robert MacIntyre by two strokes. Spaun, a former San Diego State star, posted a final-round, 2-over 72 for a 72-hole total of 1-under 279. He was the lone competitor to finish in red figures.

MacIntyre, the owner of five professional titles, including the 2024 RBC Canadian Open and the 2024 Genesis Scottish Open, was the only player among the final 17 pairings to better par with a 2-under 68 and a 72-hole score of 271. He also became the third left-hander to finish as a runner-up – joining Phil Mickelson (6) and Brian Harman (2017) – in the only major championship to not have a southpaw winner.  

“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.”

Every Sunday at a U.S. Open brings an enormous amount of pressure, whether it’s physical or mental. Add Oakmont, one of the most challenging venues in all of golf, to the equation and that factor only intensifies.

Additionally, Mother Nature decided to add a wrinkle to the festivities. As if the venerable western Pennsylvania layout hosting its record 10th U.S. Open hadn’t received enough precipitation already – 13 inches over the last month – a late-afternoon storm dumped even more water on the course, causing a 96-minute weather delay and forcing the competitors to make additional adjustments.

It threw virtually everyone in contention for a loop. Sam Burns, the 36- and 54-hole leader, was seemingly in control when the 28-year-old Louisianan made his first birdie of the day, an 11-footer on the par-4 10th to go two clear of Australian Adam Scott, the 2013 Masters champion, who at 44 was vying to become the second-oldest champion in U.S. Open history. Oakmont sent both spiraling in the wrong direction as Burns played his final seven holes in 6 over par for a final-round 78 and a share of seventh with world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler and 2021 U.S. Open champion Jon Rahm at 4-over 284.

Scott couldn’t repeat his brilliance of the first three days, when he was the only player in the field to not record an over-par round. He carded a final-round 79 and tied for 12th at 6-over 286.

“The conditions were extremely difficult,” said Burns. “I didn't have my best stuff today.”

Added Scott: “Look, it just wasn't easy out there. 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.” 

Spaun also seemed destined for a similar fate, especially after starting the final round with five consecutive 5s that included a couple of bad breaks, most notably hitting the flagstick with his approach on the par-4 2nd hole, leading to a bogey. He posted a front-nine 40 and sat four strokes behind Burns.

Only MacIntyre, a 28-year-old who began the day seven strokes behind Burns, made a Sunday charge, bolstered by an eagle at the par-5 4th. But despite playing his final 10 holes in 3 under par, he came up two strokes short.

“Almost got there, but not quite,” said MacIntyre, who started the day with bogeys at 1 and 3. “I always thought I could really challenge, even going into today, but obviously the start wasn't a help.”

As so many chasers unraveled, a group that included Viktor Hovland (73—282, 3rd), Tyrrell Hatton (72—283, T-4), Cameron Young (70—283, T-4) and Carlos Ortiz (73—283, T-4), Spaun managed to steady the ship through all of the turbulence. His lone bogey during a highly intense back nine came after he hit a wayward drive at the 503-yard, par-4 15th, the statistically toughest hole on Sunday (4.58). But the man who was No. 2 in strokes gained-putting (plus-2.29) and 12th in putts per green (1.82) registered birdies on Nos. 12 (41 feet), 14 (22 feet), 17 (two putts from 22 feet) and the closer on 18.

His tee shot on the 314-yard 17th was one of his best of the week. After his eagle try went 3½ feet past the hole, he calmly rolled in the next one.

Spaun’s final putt of the championship was reminiscent of the one Larry Nelson converted to beat defending champion Tom Watson on Oakmont’s 16th hole in 1983 (a year when the championship also was affected by weather). Spaun finished the week converting a total of 401.5 feet of putts, the most by anyone in the championship.

“That was unbelievable,” said Hovland, who played alongside Spaun. “After his start, it just looked like he was out of it immediately. Everyone came back to the pack. I wasn't expecting that really. I thought I had to shoot maybe 3 under par today to have a good chance, but obviously the conditions got really, really tough, and this golf course is just a beast.

“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.”

Last year Spaun, who missed the cut in his only other U.S. Open start in 2021 at Torrey Pines not far from where he attended college, was contemplating quitting the game. His lone PGA Tour victory had come in the 2022 Valero Texas Open, but he wasn’t progressing the way he liked.

Then on a flight to England, he watched “Wimbledon,” a 2004 romantic comedy about a tennis pro whose career was fading into the sunset. Peter Colt (played by Paul Bettany) had fallen to 119th in the world and was going to take a club pro job after playing Wimbledon as a wild-card entry. Then he falls in love with a female tennis star, Lizzie Bradbury (Kirsten Dunst) and miraculously makes it to the final at the All-England Club. Colt then falls down two sets and is trailing in the third to Jake Hammond (Austin Nichols) when, ironically, a storm halts play. During the recess, Bradbury pays him a visit in the locker room and, re-energized, Colt rallies for a 5-set victory.

Sound familiar?

Spaun started 2025 with a tie for third at the Sony Open in Hawaii and then tied for second at the Cognizant Classic in The Palm Beaches before losing a Monday, three-hole aggregate playoff to world No. 2 Rory McIlroy at The Players Championship, a loss that nonetheless boosted his confidence. He later tied for sixth at last month’s Charles Schwab Challenge, vaulting him up to No. 25 in the Official World Golf Ranking.

Now, Spaun will forever be a U.S. Open champion at Oakmont, adding his name to an incredible legacy of achievement.

Notable

• The tees on the par-3 8th hole were moved back on Sunday, making the longest one-shotter in U.S. Open history measure 301 yards.
  
  
• J.J. Spaun is the third player to finish either first or second at The Players Championship and then win the U.S. Open that year, joining Tiger Woods (finished second at the 2000 Players and won U.S. Open by 15 strokes at Pebble Beach) and Martin Kaymer (won the 2014 Players and claimed the U.S. Open at Pinehurst in wire-to-wire fashion).
  
  
• In 2023, the USGA began to award the champion of the Latin America Amateur Championship with an exemption to the U.S. Open. The event, started in 2015 by the USGA, The R&A and the Masters Tournament, had grown in stature to add such a perk to the winner. Justin Hastings, of the Cayman Islands, gave credence to that spot by being the lone amateur from a group of 15 to make the cut and thus earn low-amateur honors. Hastings, who will also tee it up next month at Royal Portrush, just completed his eligibility at San Diego State.
  
  
• Rory McIlroy’s remarkable consecutive streak of finishing U.S. Opens under par ended at four. Despite a final-round 67, which matched John Rahm for the lowest on Sunday, the 2011 champion finished at 7-over 287. McIlroy, who completed the career Grand Slam with his Masters victory in April, has now finished under par in five of his last seven U.S. Open starts.
  
  
• Carlos Ortiz was the lone qualifier (non-exempt player) to finish in the top 10 of the U.S. Open, thus earning an exemption into the 2026 U.S. Open at Shinnecock Hills Golf Club, in Southampton, N.Y.
  
  
• Philip Barbaree Jr. completed his round on Sunday by donning a Pittsburgh Pirates jersey on the 18th hole. The 2015 U.S. Junior Amateur champion closed with an 82 after making the cut on the number (7-over 147).
  
  
• Penn State starting quarterback Drew Allar, projected to be a high pick in the 2026 NFL Draft, was in attendance on Sunday.
  
  
• Corey Conners withdrew from the championship on Sunday with a wrist injury. The Canadian had posted rounds of 72-74-72.

Quotable

“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.” – J.J. Spaun

“It was a very touching moment to see my [two] girls there [on 18]. My oldest daughter was at the Valero when I won [in 2022], and she was about the same age as my youngest daughter now. It was so cool to just have my whole family there on Father's Day. It's just incredible. I have no words to describe the moment and them being able to see me as the winner.” -- Spaun

“I came in and spoke to my girlfriend, my best pal, my manager, which held out for 10 minutes. Then I went up into the locker room, dried off my shirt… And I just kept stretching, stayed loose, went through my mobility stuff and then just got ready to go.” – Robert MacIntyre when asked how he spent the 96-minute weather delay

“I went out there and gave it the best I had. Golf's a hard game, especially on this golf course. At the end of the day, I can hold my head high.” – Sam Burns

“My main takeaway is I battled as hard as I did this week. I was really proud mentally of how I was over the course of four days. I did a lot of things out there that could really kind of break a week, and I never really got that one good break that kind of propels you. I'd hit it this far off, and seemingly every time I did, I was punished pretty severely for it.” – Scottie Scheffler

“It was such a treat just to be able to play in the U.S. Open and then let alone have the success to be able to call yourself low amateur, it's something I'll hold onto for the rest of my life.” – Justin Hastings

“I think the only other time I played as a single was in the U.S. Open at L.A. Country Club. I technically had a marker, and I think we got around in like three hours and five minutes in a two-ball. At LACC that's pretty good. I think we beat the next group behind us by like an hour. It's frustrating in the middle of the field to be a one-ball than it is at the start. But I had a great marker from here, Gavin [Lennox], who's one of the assistant pros. We chatted all the way around.” – Ryan Fox after playing as a single when Corey Conners withdrew prior to Sunday’s final round

David Shefter is a senior staff writer at the USGA. Email him at dshefter@usga.org.