To win the US Open is one thing. For JJ Spaun, it was quite another to pull off the biggest win of his career on the back of a 3am trip to a pharmacy to get medication for his young daughter.
The American revealed that detail in the aftermath of his remarkable two-shot victory at Oakmont.
In describing the chaos of his preparation for the final day, he said: ‘I ended up running to CVS in downtown because my daughter (Violet, aged two) had a stomach bug and was vomiting all night long.
‘I was just like, “Okay, my wife was up at 3am, and Violet is vomiting all over. She can’t keep anything down”. It was kind of a rough start to the morning.’
The world No 25, who recovered from five bogeys in his first six holes to take the title, added: ‘I’m not blaming that on my start, but it kind of fit the mould of what was going on, the chaos.’
The chaotic element could be applied to a final round in which Spaun, Tyrrell Hatton, Adam Scott, Carlos Ortiz and Viktor Hovland were locked in a five-way tie midway through the back nine. Bob MacIntyre eventually finished second behind Spaun, who contemplated giving up the game last season before his revival in 2025.
US Open champion JJ Spaun made a 3am trip to a pharmacy on the last day of the tournament
Spaun says he dashed to a local CVS to get medication for his sick daughter Violet (center)
The 34-year-old overcome a nightmare start at Oakmont to win the US Open hours later
Spaun, with only one prior win on the PGA Tour ahead of this tournament, said: ‘I think it’s just perseverance. I’ve always kind of battled through whatever it may be to kind of get to where I needed to be and get to what I wanted.
‘I’ve had slumps kind of at every level. I’ve been down before. You got out of it. There’s kind of like a little pattern, so hopefully I don’t do that pattern again. This is a pretty all-time high for me.
‘It’s definitely like a storybook, fairytale ending, a kind of underdog fighting back, not giving up, never quitting. You couldn’t write a better story. I’m just so fortunate to be on the receiving end of that.’
Hatton, who finished fourth after sharing the lead until two closing bogeys, was left irate by ‘bad luck’ that led to a dropped shot on the 17th. Having missed on the right of the green at the driveable par four, his ball ended on a dire lie on the grassy downslope feeding into a bunker.
He said: ‘The finish at the end hurts a lot. If you’re going to miss the 17th with that pin, you have to miss it right. I did. I feel like I was extremely unlucky to finish where it did. What happened on 17 is going to hurt a lot for a long time.
‘It was the first time I’ve been in contention in a major, and that was exciting, and unfortunately, I feel like through a bit of bad luck I had momentum taken away from me and ultimately ended up not being my day.’
Asked why it was ‘bad luck’, Hatton became exasperated. He said: ‘Why do you think it was bad luck? What kind of question is that.
‘Stopping on the downslope in the rough? Like, that’s ridiculous. As I said, if you’re going to miss that green, you have to miss it right in the bunker. I’ve missed it in the right spot and got punished, which ultimately I don’t think ends up being fair.’
