American shows remarkable resurgence, hits a 65-foot birdie on 72nd to win the US Open

Oakmont Country Club, that merciless crucible of golf, has long been the stage where dreams are forged and reputations shattered. In the 125th US Open, J.J. Spaun, a 34-year-old journeyman with a single PGA Tour win, etched his name into the storied silverware. After sliding into a dark recess on the front nine, Spaun’s remarkable resurgence was equal parts improbable and poetic. Facing a rain-soaked course and a leaderboard teeming with talent, Spaun’s final-round heroics—culminating in a 65-foot birdie putt on the 72nd hole—delivered a maiden Major title that resonated like a thunderclap across the Pennsylvania hills. His triumph was a testament to resilience, a narrative of a man who turned a nightmare start into a fairytale finish, outlasting a field that crumbled under Oakmont’s unrelenting pressure.

Spaun’s week began with a historic flourish: a bogey-free 66 in the first round, matching the lowest opening score in Oakmont’s US Open history, a feat only previously achieved by Dustin Johnson in 2016. Spaun’s flawless round was one of just two bogey-free performances in the last three Oakmont US Opens. By the third round, he sat one stroke behind Sam Burns at 3-under, staying in the hunt with a relentless putter. Spaun gained more than two and a half strokes on the field with his putter. Over the week, he sank more than 400 feet of putts, including some monster putts under pressure over the final stretch. It is hard to believe Spaun was outside the top 100 at the start of the season. But three top three finishes, including a heartbreaking playoff loss to Rory McIlroy at the Players, must have served as a warning. Even if we weren’t paying him attention then, the US Open catapults Spaun into rarefied territory as a Major winner.

Halfway through Sunday, Spaun was licking his wounds. His card was a bleeding mess as the players retreated inside for the weather interruption. The Angeleno stumbled out of the gates, carding five bogeys in his first six holes for a front-nine 40, falling to 5-over. A 90-minute rain delay at 4:02 p.m. offered a reset, and Spaun seized it, posting a 3-under 32 on the back nine, including birdies on 12 (40 feet), 14 (20 feet), 17 (two-putt), and the astounding missile on the 18th. His final score of 1-under-par made him the only player under par for 72 holes. That was a testament to Oakmont’s brutality, as it is to the resilience of the Los Angeles resident.

The final round was a chaotic ballet of shifting fortunes. Sam Burns, the 54-hole leader at 4-under, held a one-shot edge over Spaun and Adam Scott, with Viktor Hovland at 1-under. By the 11th, Burns doubled, Scott bogeyed, and no player was under par, with a five-way tie at 1-over among Burns, Scott, Spaun, Tyrrell Hatton, and Carlos Ortiz. Robert MacIntyre, starting at 3-over, clawed back with a 60-foot eagle on the fourth and three birdies, setting the clubhouse lead at 1-over with a 68. Spaun, reinvigorated post-delay, surged with a 40-foot birdie on 12, taking the solo lead with a sensational drive to pin on 17. Burns faltered, carding a 78, his back nine marred by a double on 11 and a bogey on 12. Scott, playing stellar golf at 44, shot a 79, undone by a bogey-bogey finish. MacIntyre’s resolve shone, but Spaun’s closing birdie-birdie finish—only the fifth such ending in US Open history, alongside Ben Hogan’s 1953 Oakmont win—sealed a two-shot victory.

LIV Golf’s contingent made a strong showing, defying sceptics. Tyrrell Hatton, with an eagle on 12 and a birdie on 13, reached 1-over, tying for the lead late but stumbled with a bogey-bogey finish for a 72, ending the week in T4 at 3-over. Carlos Ortiz, a dark horse, shot a third-round 67 and birdied 11 for a defiant 73, briefly co-leading at 1-over before finishing T4 at 3-over. Jon Rahm, starting at 7-over, fired a joint-best 67, with three straight birdies to close, securing T7 at 4-over. Their performances underscored LIV’s depth, with Ortiz and Hatton in the thick of contention and Rahm’s late charge hinting at his enduring class. After struggling most week, including a dalliance with the missed cut, McIlroy regained his dignity with a stoic 67 in the final round, good enough for T19.

Scottie Scheffler, the world No 1, battled Oakmont’s ferocity to a T7 finish at 4-over, despite a first-round 73 that marked his worst Major opening. His 70-70 weekend rounds showed resilience, with birdies on 17 in both the third and final rounds, though a three-putt bogey on 11 and a double on the third hole cost him. The putter deserted Scheffler – several misses inside five feet, and many three putt misadventures left the world No 1 struggling on Oakmont’s undulating green complexes. His ability to salvage a top-10 finish despite his struggles were another testimony to his impeccable quality.

The rain-soaked fairways of Oakmont, ever the stern judge of golf’s mettle, bore witness to J.J. Spaun’s ascent from journeyman to legend. His back-nine 32, a defiant riposte to a front-nine collapse, was less a round than a revelation. Each birdie was a brushstroke on a canvas of adversity. As Robert MacIntyre watched, agape, from the clubhouse, Spaun’s 65-foot putt on the 18th—a putt that danced with destiny—found the cup, sealing a victory that echoed through the Allegheny Valley. In a championship where necessity met nerve, Spaun’s triumph was a singular act of will, proving that even Oakmont’s cruelest tests can yield to an unwavering, steely heart.