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Spaun creates his magic moment to win first major at US Open / Photo: Patrick Smith - GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA/AFP
Spaun creates his magic moment to win first major at US Open
J.J. Spaun achieved his dream of winning his first major golf title by capturing the US Open. Doing it with a 65-foot birdie putt on the last hole was pure magic.
Spaun birdied four of the last seven holes to win at Oakmont on Sunday, firing a two-over 72 to defeat Scotland's Robert MacIntyre by two strokes, clinching matters with his stunning putt at the 72nd hole.
"Just to finish it off like that is just a dream," Spaun said. "You watch other people do it... 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.
Spaun drove the par-four 17th green to set up the tap-in birdie that put him ahead to stay, joining a list of birdie-birdie finishers to win the US Open that includes Jack Nicklaus, Ben Hogan, Tom Watson and Jon Rahm.
"It's definitely like a storybook, fairytale ending, kind of underdog fighting back, not giving up, never quitting," Spaun said. "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."
Spaun, whose only prior PGA Tour win was the 2022 Texas Open, was a runner-up at the Cognizant Classic and Players Championship this year, losing a playoff to second-ranked Rory McIlroy at the latter.
"I just felt like you keep putting yourself in these positions, like eventually you're going to tick one off," Spaun said.
Spaun made bogeys on five of the first six holes, including the first three, and birdied four of the last seven.
"As bad as things were going, I just still tried to just commit to every shot," Spaun said. "I tried to just continue to dig deep. I've been doing it my whole life."
Spaun has been resilient. In 2018 he was diagnosed with one type of diabetes but treatment was ineffective. In 2021, Spaun found he had been misdiagnosed and had another type of diabetes.
On Sunday morning, he made an early trip for medicine.
"My daughter had a stomach bug and was vomiting all night long," Spaun said. "Kind of a rough start to the morning. I'm not blaming that on my start, but it kind of fit the mold of what was going on, the chaos."
A 96-minute storm delay was crucial, allowing Spaun to reset after his miserable start.
"I just needed to reset everything, kind of like start the whole routine over," Spaun said. "I felt like I had a really good chance to win the US Open at the start of the day. It just unravelled very fast.
"But that break was actually the key for me to winning this tournament."
That and his monster 65-foot birdie putt at the final hole.
"I was just in shock, disbelief that it went in and it was over," Spaun said. "I couldn't even believe what I witnessed when that went in."
Neither could his playing partner, Norway's 14th-ranked Viktor Hovland, who settled for his best US Open finish at third on 282.
"That was unbelievable," Hovland said. "After his start, it just looked like he was out of it immediately. Everyone came back to the pack.
"And then the one on 18, it's just absolutely filthy there."
T.Barbieri--INP
