When most golfers dream about winning the U.S. Open, they probably don’t imagine starting their championship morning at 3 a.m. running to CVS with a sick child in the backseat. But that’s exactly how J.J. Spaun’s day began.
“It was kind of a rough start to the morning,” Spaun shared in his championship press conference, recalling how his daughter began vomiting hours before his Father’s Day tee time. “I am not blaming that on my start, but it just kind of fit the mold of what was going on, the chaos.”
And it was chaotic. After bogeying five of his first six holes, it looked like Spaun’s title hopes might be slipping away. But in true dad-fashion, Spaun stayed steady, fought through the mayhem, and turned it all around.
By the end of the final round at Oakmont Country Club near Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Spaun had clawed his way to the top of the leaderboard. A birdie on hole 17, followed by a jaw-dropping 65-foot putt for another birdie on 18, sealed his victory.
Spaun finished at -1, the only player to finish the tournament under par, making this not only his second PGA win but one for the history books.
“It’s definitely like a storybook fairy-tale ending,” Spaun said in a video posted by ESPN. “Kind of the underdog, you know. Fighting back, not giving up, never quitting. 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.”
Even sweeter? His two daughters, healthy again, were there to watch their dad claim the 125th U.S. Open Championship.
He entered the week with odds of 150:1. He left with a trophy, a memory of a lifetime, and probably some CVS receipts he’ll never throw away.
Now that’s what we call a Father’s Day to remember.
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