I've Had My Eye on J.J. Spaun For a While And He's Got Oakmont's Number

When you first tuned in to the U.S. Open on Thursday, you immediately saw J.J. Spaun’s name on top of the leaderboard. The former San Diego State standout teed off early and birdied two of his first three holes, leapfrogging to 2-under in the blink of an eye.

But hot early starts are often flukey at majors. Heck, Tiger Woods held the solo lead for a quick second at last year’s U.S. Open early on Thursday.

Yet Spaun’s quick ascendance to the top of the leaderboard was anything but.

If you have watched golf at all in 2025, you have seen Spaun’s name appear on plenty of leaderboards. He has played very well, posting three runner-up finishes so far this season, although a win has evaded him on multiple occasions. Spaun is now 25th in the Official World Golf Rankings — this time last year, he was 162nd and watching the U.S. Open from home.

Spaun is now 25th in the Official World Golf Rankings — this time last year, he was 162nd and watching the U.S. Open from home.

He’s a family man too, an underdog and a grinder who everyone can relate to, which is a motif that I wrote about during The Players Championship. But Spaun interested me well before he duked it out with Rory McIlroy at TPC Sawgrass in March.

Back in January, at the first full field event of 2025, Spaun began the final round of the Sony Open holding a one shot lead. He then played his first nine holes in three-under par, cruising with three birdies and zero bogies. His strong start allowed him to maintain his one stroke advantage going into Waialae’s back nine.

But stress levels began to arise, as did the number of misses. Spaun managed to make seven straight pars, some of them wobbly, but more birdies seemed unlikely. Yet, he still held a share of the lead when he stood on the tee at the par-3 17th.

J.J. Spaun walks from the 17th tee during the final round of the Sony Open in Hawaii 2025 at Waialae Country Club. (Photo by Sarah Stier/Getty Images)

Then, his nerves took over. He dunked it into the front left bunker, a spot where he should have gotten up-and-down with ease. But he didn’t. Spaun left his nervy sand shot 15 feet short of the hole, missed the par putt, and ultimately finished one shot out of the playoff between Nick Taylor and Nico Echavarria.

“Unfortunately it didn't go my way there at the end,” Spaun said then. “It is what it is.”

Fast forward two months, and Spaun was back on top of a 54-hole leaderboard again, proof that his close call in Honolulu was not an accident.

This instance was much different though. He was at TPC Sawgrass, with the entire golf world fixated on him. But he was in Northeast Florida all alone.

Spaun’s PLAYERS Championship appearance marked his ninth straight week on the road—all while his wife Melody and two kids, who are both under the age of five, watched from home.

“It’s tough. I don’t know how to deal with it,” Spaun said after Friday’s second round at THE PLAYERS.

“I try to talk to them as much as I can, FaceTime, but when you have a little one that’s just always asking where you’re at and how much they miss you and to come home, it’s tough. My family fortunately knows that Daddy has a job, and this is what I have to do. Hopefully it will pay off dividends in the end when things are all said and done, and we can have a good time together.”

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Spaun barely finished among the top 100 in the FedEx Cup Fall last year, meaning he had no choice but to make as many starts as he could in 2025. He needed to earn FedEx Cup points, and the dollars that come with it, to support his family in the long run.

But as difficult as it is to spend countless nights in empty hotel rooms, Spaun still saw the fruits of his labor—and travel—pay off at TPC Sawgrass. He battled his way to a 72 on Sunday, overcame a three-shot deficit to McIlroy on the back nine, and showed no signs of fear down the stretch. He forced a playoff with the now five-time major winner.

J.J. Spaun plays his shot from the 17th tee during the playoff in the final round of THE PLAYERS Championship on the Stadium Course at TPC Sawgrass. (Photo by Richard Heathcote/Getty Images)

Monday’s three-hole playoff did not go his way, however. McIlroy defeated Spaun with ease as the underdog found the water on the famous par-3 17th. His watery demise was much different than his sandy shortcoming in Hawaii, though. Spaun hit the shot he wanted – a flushed 8-iron – but the gale force winds that blew across TPC Sawgrass that morning somehow dissipated, leaving Spaun’s ball to carry too far and into the water.

“This is probably the best golf I've played, maybe in my career consistently,” Spaun said in defeat.

“I had a chance to win at Sony, had a chance to win this week. But to go from where I was a year ago today or to start the week, yeah, I'm pretty proud of where I've been able to dig deep and kind of get some self-belief and get some confidence to play some good golf.”

After THE PLAYERS, Spaun made the cut at both The Masters and the PGA Championship, but did not contend in either. Still, his confidence remained high heading into this week’s U.S. Open, especially since he has made 13 of 16 cuts so far this season. He is currently 16th in the FedEx Cup standings too.

“THE PLAYERS was sort of a spring into the self-belief because it wasn't like I faked it,” Spaun said after his round at Oakmont on Thursday.

“You can maybe fake it at the Sony or whatever, but to do that at THE PLAYERS, a course where I'd never done well historically, and to go head-to-head with Rory on Sunday, and then the playoff, that was great for my confidence.”

That confidence radiated on Thursday, as Spaun posted a bogey-free 66 to begin the U.S. Open at Oakmont, a course where he had no prior history before this week. Mind you, the last time Oakmont hosted the U.S. Open, only one player posted a bogey-free round all week: that was Dustin Johnson, who went on to win.

J.J. Spaun plays a tee shot on the eighth hole during the first round of 125th U.S. Open Championship at Oakmont Country Club. (Photo by Ben Jared/PGA TOUR via Getty Images)

Spaun scrambled beautifully and missed in the right spots, a key to success on perhaps the most challenging golf course in America. He also drained seven putts of seven feet or longer on a day where Oakmont’s wild greens made McIlroy, Scottie Scheffler, Bryson DeChambeau, and other top players look silly.

Yet, after the opening round, with the eyes of the golfing world on him again, Spaun admitted to feeling nervous. But instead of shying away from it, the now 34-year-old father of two has learned to embrace it.

“I actually tried to harness the nerves, the anxiety, because it heightens my focus [and] makes me swing better,” Spaun said. “I get more in the zone…I like feeling uncomfortable. I ended up feeling pretty comfortable towards the end of the day, but there's a long way to go still.”

The hardest thing to do in golf is to follow up a superb round with another one. That was the truth at the Sony Open in Hawaii but even more so in the U.S. Open, the sternest test in the sport.

Spaun, who began his first round at 7:07 a.m. local time in Pittsburgh, finished around Noon on Thursday. He then had to wait more than 24 hours, while holding a one shot lead, to tee it up again for Friday’s second round. Anxiety can only increase during that lengthy period of time. But

“I used to be kind of scared to want the ball...have the lead or be the one that everyone is chasing,” Spaun said Thursday. “But [now] I am like... ‘Yes, I want to be that guy.’ That's what all the great players want. So if you want to be a great player, that's the route you've got to go.

Spaun felt anxious to get back out on the course on Friday and rightfully so. He was eager to see how his game would fare. After all, Oakmont ate everyone alive during the morning wave. Countless players – and numerous major champions – descended down the leaderboard in the blink of an eye. Double bogies lurked everywhere.

Although he did not have the round that he did on Thursday, Spaun still managed to shoot a 2-over 72—almost three strokes less than Friday’s scoring average of 74.76.

On three separate occasions, Spaun followed up a bogey with a birdie. He remained in the present, letting the course present opportunities instead of forcing the issue. He never got too frustrated with himself on a brutal day in Western PA too.

“I knew it would be hard to back up a bogey-free 4-under at Oakmont in the U.S. Open. So I'm just glad that I kept it together,” Spaun said.

“I was just trying to let the course come to me and stick to hitting fairways and greens and just taking what the course gives you because that's all U.S. Opens are. You kind of get what you get. You can get a huge bounce like I did on 18 and go 30 yards over the green. But it is what it is. But happy to still have a shot going into the weekend.”

After holing a 20-footer for birdie on the par-4 17th, Spaun jumped back to 3-under, which is where Sam Burns sits through 36 holes. Burns leapt up to 3-under par on Friday morning after shooting a remarkable 5-under 65, the lowest round of the championship.

But Spaun, as he alluded to, got an unlucky bounce on his final hole of the day as his good-looking approach hit off a downslope and caroomed over the 18th green. He had to then settle for a bogey. And yet, he and Burns will go off last on Saturday afternoon in the final pairing.

“Things aren't going to go my way. It's the U.S. Open. It's more about how you respond than react,” Spaun said. “I did a really good job of that the last two days, and it was kind of a nice little mantra to go by to keep things in front of me and not let things unravel when things didn't go my way.”

J.J. Spaun walks to the first green during the second round of the 125th U.S. OPEN at Oakmont Country Club. (Photo by Warren Little/Getty Images)

Still, plenty of things have gone Spaun’s way this week. And one thing that is working in his favor is the most important of all: his wife and children are with him in Oakmont. They traveled all the way from Southern California, leaving Spaun busy and occupied as opposed to dwelling and worrying in some hotel all alone.

“Anyone knows dad duty is a pretty crazy time, especially with two kids ages four and a half and two,” Spaun said with a smile on Friday. “It’s a good distraction.”

After a long and lonesome six months on the traveling circus that is the PGA Tour, Spaun feels as comfortable as ever at a place that makes any top player feel anything but. Sure, his shortcomings in Honolulu and Ponte Vedra help mold his mental state, but his loved ones being there make him feel complete.

He’s now ready for the big stage.

So now, the question is, can Spaun win the U.S. Open with his family by his side? And take his daughters to his beloved Disneyland with the trophy in tow?

You would be foolish to think otherwise. He has the game, the psyche, and the support.

It’s all real. None of it is fake.