How 'journeyman' Spaun went from nearly quitting golf to major glory

JJ Spaun considered calling time on his journeyman golf career just months before his "fairytale ending" and life-changing major success at the US Open.

Spaun became golf's newest major champion with a two-shot victory at Oakmont Country Club, where he recovered from a nightmare start to salvage a two-over 72 and end the week as the only player under par, continuing his remarkable rise in the men's game.

The 34-year-old spent years grinding away on mini tours before breaking onto the PGA Tour and had previously failed to build on his breakthrough victory at the 2022 Valero Texas Open, narrowly managing to keep hold of his full-time status last year.

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"Last year in June I was looking like I was going to lose my job, and that was when I had that moment where, if this is how I go out, I might as well go down swinging," Spaun said. "That's kind of the mantra I've been having all year."

The American retained his PGA Tour card for 2025 and had contended on multiple occasions this season without reaching the winner's circle, with another opportunity looking set to pass at Oakmont after five bogeys in the first six holes of his final round left him five strokes off the lead.

As the chasing pack frittered shots away on a soggy golf course, following a lengthy weather delay, Spaun came through the toughest test by holing two long-range birdies on his back nine to suddenly find himself top of the leaderboard.

After Bob MacIntyre produced his own Sunday charge to set the clubhouse target, Spaun followed a two-putt birdie at the driveable 17th by capping off a remarkable victory with a 65-foot putt - the longest of the week - on the final green to close out his win in style.

"It's definitely like a storybook, fairytale ending, kind of underdog fighting back, not giving up, never quitting," Spaun added. "With the rain and everything and then the putt, you couldn't write a better story. I'm just so fortunate to be on the receiving end of that.

"Just to finish it off like that is just a dream. You watch other people do it. You see the Tiger [Woods] chip, you see Nick Taylor's putt, you see crazy moments. To have my own moment like that at this championship, I'll never forget this moment for the rest of my life."

'I've been consistently there' - Spaun's season ahead of major glory

Spaun's major success lifts him to a career-high of world No 8 - having started the year outside of the world's top 100 - and up to sixth in the FedExCup standings, leaving him likely to feature at the PGA Tour's season-ending Tour Championship for the first time after a memorable campaign.

He took a one-shot lead into the final round of the Sony Open in January, where a penultimate-hole bogey and closing par on a par-five left him in tied-third and one shot outside of the play-off.

Spaun finished tied-second a few weeks later at the Cognizant Classic, having carded a bogey-free 66 on the final day, before a brilliant performance at The Players saw him drag Rory McIlroy into a Monday play-off.

He held a 54-hole lead at TPC Sawgrass and recovered from a mid-round wobble to birdie two of his last four holes, taking him into the play-off when McIlroy blew his late lead, but a triple-bogey on the second extra hole ended his hopes.

Spaun also made strong starts with opening rounds of 66 and 67 respectively at the RBC Heritage and Truist Championship, both Signature Events on the PGA Tour, while he made a 66-68 start on his way to a tied-sixth finish at the Charles Schwab Challenge.

"I've been consistently right there," Spaun said. "Everyone knows that the more you put yourself there, the better you're going to have results and the better you're going to play, then eventually turn one of those close calls into a win.

"The Players was a kind of spring into the self-belief because it wasn't like I faked it. You can maybe fake it at the Sony and Cognizant or whatever, but to do that at The Players, a course where I'd never done well historically...

"To go head to head with Rory on Sunday, and then the play-off was great for my confidence. Unfortunately, I didn't win, but it was great for me to kind of lean back on that experience and know that I can perform on the biggest of stages and handle it with the pressure."

Spaun prevails in historic Sunday

Spaun recorded six bogeys during his final round, the most by a US Open winner since Hale Irwin in 1979, while he became the first player to card 40 in any nine of a major and win since Ernie Els' 2002 success at The Open.

He had already made headlines earlier in the week by being the only player to card a bogey-free round on his way to the first-round lead, with Spaun using the weather delay on the final day to reset after what had already been an eventful Sunday.

"I was running to CVS (pharmacy) in downtown because my daughter had a stomach bug and was vomiting all night long," Spaun admitted about his final-round prep. "My wife was up at 3am and she's like 'Violet (daughter) is vomiting all over, she can't keep anything down'.

"It was kind of a rough start to the morning. I'm not blaming that on my start, but it kind of fit the mould of what was going on, the chaos.

"As bad as things were going, I just still tried to just commit to every shot. I tried to just continue to dig deep. I've been doing it my whole life.

"I think that's been the biggest difference this year has been 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."

More to come? 'He'll be on that Ryder Cup team'

The victory also jumps him to third in the Ryder Cup qualification standings ahead of this year's contest at Bethpage Black, putting him in the projected automatic qualification spots for a Team USA debut.

Keegan Bradley's side will be looking to regain the trophy against Team Europe after losing in Rome in 2023, with former Ryder Cup captain Paul McGinley backing Spaun to be a strong addition to the American ranks.

"I said I hope in some ways he doesn't win, because he'll be on that Ryder Cup team," McGinley said on the Golf Channel. "That's how impressed I am with him and I've watched him closely.

"The reactions of the other players tells you how popular somebody is and for Tyrrell (Hatton) and Bob McIntyre, guys like that, who are European remember, to be genuinely happy for a guy like that in his moment tells you that he's a popular guy.

"Secondly, his golf swing, for me I would nearly argue that it could be the best in the game. It's that good. I absolutely love how he swings it."

Spaun may have taken time to prove to the world - and himself - his true potential, but he has now delivered on the biggest stage. With his golfing status secured for years to come, he can continue to push forward.

Watch JJ Spaun in PGA Tour action throughout the 2025 season live on Sky Sports. Get Sky Sports or stream no contract on NOW.