US Open winner JJ Spaun gave serious consideration to quitting golf less than a year before his incredible triumph at Oakmont Country Club. The man from Los Angeles birdied the last two holes of his final round to claim the spoils in dramatic fashion. It was a fitting end to a chaotic day, which also saw play suspended for around 90 minutes because of ‘dangerous weather’.
Spaun claimed his first major title by winning the US Open, just months after coming agonisingly close at the Players Championship where he was beaten by Rory McIlroy. He secured victory at Oakmont with a brilliant 64-foot birdie putt, sending the crowd into a frenzy. However, it could have all been so different if the 34-year-old had walked away from professional golf last year.
He seriously considered giving up after making a slow start in 2024, exacerbated by illness away from the course. It looked like Spaun was going to lose his tour card, which might have been the final nail in the coffin for his career.
Speaking at the Players Championship, he explained: “I think it was kind of in the middle of the season last year when I played really terrible to start the year. I had some health stuff, like, fighting off viruses and flus that put me physically unwell.
“I didn’t want to blame that on my poor play, but halfway through the season it was looking like I was going to be done, like not going to finish 125.
“I kind of was thinking about: ‘Hey, I played eight years out here, I’ve got a great family, I’ve accomplished, I’ve won, so it’s not the end of the world if this is how it ends for me’. With that, that’s kind of when my attitude changed.”
Last week, Spaun added that he chose to keep playing after watching a film that inspired him to carry on in the hope things would improve.
“It was this … not washed up, but like an older tennis player and he’s thinking of quitting and he wants to retire at Wimbledon and he ends up winning Wimbledon,” said the American.
“He meets a girl and goes through all this stuff and it kind of resonated with me you know you can’t give up yet. I was watching it and was like: ‘Maybe that can be me’.”
The decision to keep going has certainly paid off for Spaun, who now finds himself in elite company after winning the US Open.