American golf star JJ Spaun captured his first ever major championship on Sunday after coming from behind to win the US Open in dramatic fashion.
Spaun clawed his way back to the top of the leaderboard on an exhilarating final day at Oakmont, where he drained a sensational 64-foot birdie on the 18th to seal the title.
And shortly after doing so, the 34-year-old was congratulated by wife Melody and their two young children while fighting back the tears in a heartwarming moment.
After he embraced them out on the course, Spaun’s daughters could be seen running up to their champion dad back in the clubhouse as they celebrated his astonishing victory.
He somehow emerged triumphant after a disastrous start to his final round to claim a two-shot victory over Scotland’s Robert McIntyre in Pennsylvania and get his hands on a first major.
After dropping five strokes in the first six holes to fall five behind, Spaun regrouped following a 96-minute weather delay to run down the leaders despite closing with a final-round 73 as the fearsome Oakmost Country Club reduced the world’s best players to week-day hackers.
American golf star JJ Spaun captured his first ever major championship on Sunday night
Spaun was congratulated by wife Melody and their two young kids while fighting back tears
And the Los Angeles golfer sealed victory in the most stylish and spectacular fashion with a monster 64-foot birdie putt – the longest-holed putt of the week – at the last hole.
Spaun finished with a one-under-par 279 total to capture his maiden championship, having never previously posted a top-20 finish at any of golf’s four biggest events.
That made him the only player to finish under par at 1-under 279, and it also saw him take home the trophy in only his second U.S. Open.
The rain that put Oakmont on the edge of being unplayable might have saved Spaun. One shot behind at the start of the day, he opened with five bogeys in six holes. And then came a rain delay of 1 hour, 37 minutes.
Spaun recovered as so many others fell apart, including countryman Sam Burns – who started the day out in front before finishing tied for seventh on four over after an ugly 78.
Tyrrell Hatton, meanwhile, called the brutal Oakmont course ‘unfair’ after his US Open hopes went up in smoke at the 17th hole.
The Englishman was in a five-way tie for the lead at the penultimate hole, which, as a short par four, represented a good chance to make birdie
The 34-year-old had to produce a dramatic fight back after a disastrous start to his round
But he prevailed following a lengthy rain delay to become a major winner for the first time
But he put his tee shot into the thick rough to the right, and then hit his second shot 25 feet into some more rough on a steep incline, eventually making a bogey five.
He took his frustration out on a reporter, who asked why he thought his tee shot at 17 was unlucky.
‘Why do you think it was bad luck? What kind of question is that?’ he snapped back.
‘Like, that’s ridiculous. If you’re going to miss that green, you have to miss it right in the bunker. I did my bit. I feel like I was extremely unlucky to finish where it did.
‘I feel I’ve missed it in the right spot and got punished, which ultimately I don’t think ends up being fair.’
