J.J. Spaun showed he has grit required to win a U.S. Open at a golf course like Oakmont

USA Today

16-06-2025

J.J. Spaun showed he has grit required to win a U.S. Open at a golf course like Oakmont
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J.J. Spaun relives the dramatic 64-foot birdie on 18 to win U.S. Open
A 64-foot birdie to seal it. J.J. Spaun is your 2025 U.S. Open champion after a dramatic finish at Oakmont.
USGA
OAKMONT, Pa. – J.J. Spaun needed a Lou Holtz talk from Adam Schriber.
Spaun's swing instructor had once taught the famed football coach, who returned the favor by teaching Shriber how to deal with his pupils.
'He told me, 'You got to give them a hug or you put the boot right up their butt and nothing in between. Sometimes it calls for tough love and it's not always as obvious as you think.'"
So, when Spaun was warming up on Wednesday ahead of the 125th U.S. Open and was scared of what he might shoot at big, bad Oakmont Country Club. Schriber was prepared for the moment.
'Everyone wants to be coddled this week,' Schriber said. 'I was like, 'All right, here comes size 15.' '
Overcoming five bogeys in his first six holes with the sandpaper grit required to hang with such a beast of a course like Oakmont, Spaun sank a 64-foot birdie putt on the par-4 18th hole for one of the most improbable victories at the U.S. Open. Spaun closed in 2-over 72, coming home in 3-under 32 after a 96-minute suspension of play for dangerous weather
'I tried to just continue to dig deep,' he said. 'I've been doing it my whole life.'
Spaun finished the tournament at 1-under 279, the only golfer in red figures and two shots ahead of Scotland's Robert MacIntyre, who rallied with 68 after being nine shots back early in Sunday's final round.
Oakmont has lived up to its reputation. The clumsy, the spineless, the alibi artists all had stood aside. For the final day, Mother Nature drew up one final test – a rainstorm – that turned the famed layout into a cauldron of speed, impenetrable rough and the elements merging into one final stand in golf's battle of attrition. Four players began the final day under par but before long there were none.
Spaun is golf's version of a Yorkshire Terrier. In a game focused on the Dobermans and Malamutes, Spaun is fearless, punching above his weight and fit in well near the Alleghany Mountains with his coal miner's complexion. Days after hiring short-game guru Josh Gregory to smooth out a perceived weakness in his game, Spaun opened the U.S. Open by chipping in at his first hole and then made just about everything he looked at en route to shooting bogey-free 66. He followed up with rounds of 72-69, which led Schriber to provide something closer to a Holtz hug.
'You had a B game but your attitude was A+,' he told Spaun. 'That's what you need this week.'
WHAT A PUTT!!!!
J.J. SPAUN WINS THE U.S. OPEN!!!! pic.twitter.com/EWdYQeDAzF — U.S. Open (@usopengolf) June 16, 2025
That attitude would be put to the test when he flighted a sand wedge from 93 yards that hit the stick and ricocheted off the green. He made bogey and it felt like a two-stroke swing. Spaun compounded that bad break with bogeys on five of the first six holes and seemed to be fading into oblivion. But he got a reprieve as he reached the ninth tee when a horn blew suspending play. During the break, he changed his outfit and cleared his mind thanks to his coaches.
'It just unravelled very fast. But that break was actually the key for me to winning this tournament,' Spaun said.
Hug or the size 15 shoe? Schriber smiled and said, 'The course bent you over for the first six holes like no other. Now it's your turn. No regrets – that was the tagline.'
When play resumed, Spaun flushed his driver into the fairway giving him a confidence boost. Then he sank a 40-foot bomb at the par-5 12th and a 22-footer at 14 Meanwhile, Sam Burns, the 54-hole leader was imploding with a pair of double bogeys at Nos. 11 and 15. He ballooned to a 78 and finished T-7.
'I didn't have my best stuff today,' Burns said. 'But I can hold my head high.'
Spaun bogeyed 15 but he saved his best drive for the short, par-4 17th, driving the green to set up birdie and a one-stroke lead over MacIntyre, the clubhouse leader.
And that's when Spaun, after getting a free read from Viktor Hovland, drained his 64-foot birdie putt, the ultimate exclamation mark on his second career PGA Tour title and the highlight of his career.