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After horrid start, J.J. Spaun rallies to win the 125th US Open at Oakmont Country Club

Gerry Dulac, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette on

Published in Golf

PITTSBURGH — J.J. Spaun bounced back from a horrid start and watched while others fell apart in the rain to win the 125th U.S. Open at Oakmont Country Club for his first major title.

A one-time winner on the PGA Tour, Spaun emerged from a five-way tie on the back nine with birdies on the final two holes to finish at 1-under 279, good for a two-shot victory over Scotland’s Robert MacIntyre.

Spaun, 34, jumped out from a congested leaderboard when he drove the green at No. 17 and two-putted for birdie from 15 feet to take a one-shot lead. He sealed the victory when he holed a 64-foot putt for birdie at the 72nd hole — maybe the most dramatic ending in any of the 10 U.S. Open championships at Oakmont.

He becomes the fourth consecutive player to win his first major in the U.S. Open at Oakmont, joining Ernie Els (1994), Angel Cabrera (2007) and Dustin Johnson (2016).

MacIntyre, appearing in just his fourth U.S. Open, shot 68 and finished at 1-over 281 — his best finish in a major championship.

Sam Burns, the 54-hole leader, was never the same following a 1-hour, 36-minute weather suspension, playing his final 11 holes in 6-over and shooting 78. He finished at 284.

 

Adam Scott, the 2013 Masters champion who was trying to set a PGA Tour record for longest time between a first and second major title, shot 79 and finished at 286.

Spaun began the day a shot from the lead and quickly bogeyed five of his first six holes — three more bogeys than he had in rounds 1 and 3 combined.

When he bogeyed the par-4 fifth from the right fairway bunker to drop to 1-over, it marked the first time Spaun was over par in the tournament. But after the weather delay and with players backing up around him, Spaun birdied the par-5 12th from long range and found himself just a shot from the lead.

When he made a 15-foot birdie at No. 14, Spaun emerged from a five-way tie to take a one-shot lead with four holes remaining.

The victory is the highlight of a season in which Spaun was runner-up in the Cognizant Classic in March and, two weeks later, lost to Rory McIlroy in a playoff at The Players Championship.


©2025 PG Publishing Co. Visit at post-gazette.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

 

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