JJ Spaun explains how Tiger Woods inadvertantly inspired his US Open win
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His race was all but over at Oakmont. Then the rain came and JJ Spaun was able to gather his thoughts. Among them, some second-hand advice from Tiger Woods that gave him the hope he needed.
It’s been some road back for JJ Spaun.
The newly-crowned US Open champion was as low as 584th in the world as recently as 2021 and he was ready to hang up his spikes for good.
But a couple of decent finishes on the Korn Ferry Tour gave him hope. Then, in April 2022, and his 147th start, he won his first PGA Tour title at the Valero Texas Open. It was just enough to relight the spark inside him.
Three years later, the 34-year-old has a gold medal round his neck and a major championship on his CV.
His week at Oakmont somewhat resembled the past few years of his career on a more micro level. He led by one after the first round, and trailed by one after the second and third. Still, he was very much in the golf tournament.
But suddenly he wasn’t. Five bogeys in his opening six holes on Sunday saw Spaun tumble down the leaderboard and seemingly out of contention.
The golf gods were simply not on his side. His approach shot to the 2nd looked perfect until it cannoned off the flagstick and rolled 50 yards back down the fairway. Two holes later, his drive at the 4th looked destined to nestle in the first cut before it hit a hidden bunker rake and popped up and into the thick stuff.
But then the weather gods decided they had seen enough. Torrential rain kicked in over Oakmont and the course was evacuated.
Spaun used the delay – which ended up being an hour and 40 minutes – to regroup.
“My whole team – my coach, my caddie – they were like, ‘Oh, dude, this is exactly what we need!’ And it was,” he said later. “I changed my outfit. I just needed to reset everything. Start the whole routine over.”
Spaun then did the unthinkable. As the rain continued to pour, he came home in 3-under-par thanks to four birdies, including a dramatic 64-footer at the last to win by two over Robert MacIntyre and end the week as the only player under par.
And, he revealed in his press conference, he has Tiger Woods to thank.
“I was having lunch with Max Homa at home,” he explained. “We live in the same area. We belong at the same club.
“He was telling a Tiger story where he was like, ‘As long as you are still there, you don’t have to do anything crazy, especially at a US Open.
“He’s like, ‘Tiger said this would happen, and the wind will switch, but you’ve got to just stay there. Even if you’re four back, you’ve just got to stay there. You don’t have to do anything crazy.’ I was thinking about that out there this afternoon, where I was four back, going back out after the delay, and then I made some good pars, nothing crazy.
“I got a really good birdie [at 12] then, next thing I know, I’m tied for the lead within four holes of the restart.
“That goes back to that, you just try to stay there. You don’t have to do anything crazy, especially at a US Open. All those things came true.”
The stats behind JJ Spaun’s US Open win
Of course, it wasn’t all down to bare luck.
Spaun…
- …led the field in total feet of putts made (401.5 feet), while his 64-foot, 5 inch make on the final hole was the longest by any player on any hole this week.
- …won a US Open at Oakmont with a bogey-free round, becoming just the second player to do so after Dustin Johnson in 2016.
- …shot 32 (-3) on the outward nine on Sunday, the second-best final nine holes by a US Open champion at Oakmont, bettered only by Johnny Miller’s historic 31 in 1973.
- …became the fifth player to win the US Open and birdie each of the final two holes of the championship, joining Ben Hogan (1953, Oakmont), Jack Nicklaus (1980, Baltusrol), Tom Watson (1982, Pebble Beach) and Jon Rahm (2021, Torrey Pines).
- …became the first player to card a 40 or higher on any nine holes the week of a major victory since Ernie Els (2002 Open) and first on US soil since Tiger Woods (1997 Masters).
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JJ Spaun says Tiger Woods inspired his US Open win.
