From Almost Quitting Golf to U.S. Open Champion: J.J. Spaun’s Stunning Comeback

Only when he loosened his grip did J.J. Spaun gain a tighter hold on his place in golf.

This June’s U.S. Open winner radiates everyman vibes, and only by digging deeper into his backstory does his tale of perseverance become clear.

That Spaun considered walking away from the game as recently as last summer makes his breakout 2025 season even more remarkable.

“Halfway through the season it was looking like I was going to be done — like not going to finish 125th — and I kind of was thinking, ‘Hey, I played eight years out here, I've got a great family, I've accomplished, I've won,’” Spaun said at The Players Championship in March, recalling his 2024 season. “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. Not that I had a poor attitude, but my perspective, I guess.”

His PGA Tour career wasn’t ending — it was about to get even better.

It might not have felt that way when he finished second to Rory McIlroy at The Players. But then came the U.S. Open at Oakmont, when Spaun appeared to fall out of contention after going 5-over par through six holes in the final round.

Maybe he needed to feel that underdog energy again. He mounted a determined back-nine charge as his opponents faded in the soggy conditions, then drained a 64-foot putt for the ages to win his first major.

While Scottie Scheffler and McIlroy represent golf royalty as the top two players in the FedEx Cup standings, Spaun sits at No. 3 — the common man’s contender.

He has already earned more this year than he could have imagined in 2024. His first major victory came on Father’s Day, which began for him with a 3 a.m. trip to a 24-hour pharmacy for medicine to help his young daughter fight off a stomach bug.

He nearly won last week’s St. Jude Championship and enters this week’s BMW Championship as a favorite. When the season ends, he is scheduled to throw out the ceremonial first pitch at a Los Angeles Dodgers game — his favorite team.

Spaun’s leather yardage book, which holds the magic distance numbers behind his best season at age 34, has a Dodgers logo stitched into its blue leather cover.

Born in Los Angeles, Spaun grew up in the suburbs and attended San Dimas High School, better known as the alma mater of the slacker-hero duo in the 1989 comedy “Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure.”

He was good at golf in high school but not great enough to earn a scholarship, so he walked on at San Diego State. He climbed through three development tours, even losing his PGA Tour Canada card at one point.

A win on the Web.com Tour gave Spaun his PGA Tour card on his 26th birthday. Two seasons of struggles forced him to regain his card again, but in April 2022 he finally earned his first PGA Tour victory at the Valero Texas Open.

It took another three years to win again, but when he did, he claimed U.S. golf’s most revered trophy, a $4.3 million paycheck and a five-year tour exemption.

So while the featured group during the first two rounds of this week’s BMW Championship will include Scheffler and McIlroy, Spaun will be making his move elsewhere — the way he always has.

The outside perception of his game, however, has changed. Anonymity is fleeting. His new status gives him a view from a greater height.

“I don’t know what’s gotten into me, honestly,” Spaun said Sunday after losing in a three-hole playoff to England’s Justin Rose at Memphis. “I think I’m just content with what I’ve done in this game and now it’s just kind of free rolling. Just trying to win, and I think that’s a freeing mentality to have.”

Far from bogus, things surely are excellent for Spaun now.