'I tried to just continue to dig deep': How J.J. Spaun battled Oakmont, rain and bad breaks for a U.S. Open title

OAKMONT, Pa. -- Oakmont did not request this. It did not request a tempest of biblical proportions to humble the champion golfers successful the satellite and marque the toughest trial successful play adjacent tougher. So erstwhile it came connected Sunday, the sheets of rainfall that turned fields of writer into bodies of water, it felt similar a twist of the weapon to those trying to triumph a large championship.

At 4:01 p.m., play stopped. The 18th greenish was unrecognizable arsenic a stream of h2o ran done it. Players were taken disconnected the play course. During the delay, immoderate ate, immoderate called their families. Robert MacIntyre took disconnected his garment and tried his champion to adust it with an aerial conditioning unit. Fans huddled nether umbrellas oregon tried to instrumentality structure connected 191 acres that diagnostic conscionable 1 tree.

Soon after, Oakmont's service of groundscrew emerged, squeegees successful hand, trying their champion to divert the h2o disconnected the playing surfaces. The rainfall yet subsided and astatine 5:40 p.m., arsenic play resumed, the leaders rapidly realized that the people they had near down was nary longer the aforesaid 1 they had returned to.

"Once the fairways were soaked, it was precise hard controlling the play ball," Adam Scott said. "It was borderline unplayable. But everyone had to woody with it."

Despite the squeegees, fairways were acold from dry. Balls landed disconnected the tee and ne'er rolled -- oregon if they did, they went backwards. Upon interaction with a club, beryllium it an iron, wedge oregon fairway wood, a splash would ensue. Even Scottie Scheffler hardly had an thought of wherever the shot would spell erstwhile helium deed it. The play course, already hard successful its setup, became an adjacent harsher trial of patience and intelligence endurance.

"It's not amusive waiting for squeegeeing, and there's truly not overmuch bushed to beryllium had retired there," Cam Young, who finished fourth, said. "There's bedewed spots. You conscionable person to guess. There's not a ton you tin do. You're waiting for them to squeegee them, but portion it's inactive raining retired there, the h2o is collecting truthful accelerated you're benignant of trying to smack it done puddles and spot what you get."

"It's Sunday of the U.S. Open, 1 of the hardest setups, and the conditions were the hardest of the week," Scott said. "Thank God it wasn't similar this each week."

For a fewer holes aft the delay, the prima emerged, teasing the competitors done clouds. But by the clip the last radical teed disconnected connected the 10th hole, the rainfall had returned. The tourney was nary longer astir who would surge but alternatively who could survive. Even Justin Thomas, who missed the chopped this week, posted connected societal media from location that the people was "a small questionable to play."

"It was a small adjacent [to unplayable], but it was doable," Viktor Hovland said. "The conditions got really, truly tough, and this play people is conscionable a beast. It was a grind."

While different players struggled to instrumentality to the bushed they had earlier the delay, the grind was precisely what J.J. Spaun needed to go 1 of the astir improbable large winners successful caller memory.

"I tried to conscionable proceed to excavation deep," Spaun said. "I've been doing it my full life."

He had started the time conscionable a changeable down Burns, but imaginable rapidly gave mode to disappointment. He didn't conscionable bogey 5 of the archetypal six holes. On the second, his shot deed the emblem and spun each the mode backmost disconnected the green. On the third, his tee changeable bounced into a atrocious prevarication successful the rough. When helium made the turn, his scorecard work 40. The shortage was 3 shots and it felt similar the play gods supra had decided that it would not beryllium his day. Then, the rainfall came.

"The champion happening that happened was the reset," Spaun's manager Josh Gregory said.

"I felt similar I had a chance, a truly bully accidental to triumph the U.S. Open astatine the commencement of the day. It conscionable unravelled precise fast," Spaun said. "But that interruption was really the cardinal for maine to winning this tournament."

Spaun's vocation has been defined by his quality to transcend expectations. He was ne'er a highly touted imaginable oregon a prima successful the making. As helium said Sunday, helium was ne'er "groomed" to beryllium a nonrecreational golfer, nor was helium ever expected to triumph a major. He won his archetypal PGA Tour lawsuit astatine property 31 and, until this year, helium was 1 of galore journeymen whose superior extremity is to support their PGA Tour card.

This year, however, Spaun has made a leap. Heading into this week, helium was ranked 15th successful the satellite play rankings and his sanction had entered the spotlight erstwhile helium mislaid to Rory McIlroy astatine the Players Championship successful a playoff.

"He was close there," Gregory said. "I deliberation that proved to him that, 'Hey, I tin bash this. I tin beryllium 1 of the champion successful the world. I tin beryllium a rival. I tin triumph a large championship."

Having travel look to look with disappointment not truthful agelong ago, Spaun appeared unfazed by some atrocious breaks and atrocious upwind Sunday. On a time that required thing beyond sheer talent, Spaun knew wherever to find it.

"I deliberation it's conscionable perseverance," Spaun said. "I've ever benignant of battled done immoderate it whitethorn beryllium to benignant of get to wherever I needed to beryllium and get to what I wanted"

As the last groups deed the location stretch, the rainfall began picking up again. The breeze whipped the precipitation from westbound to east, giving Spaun 1 last challenge: Oakmont's 18th successful different downpour.

Nine years ago, Dustin Johnson stood connected that precise aforesaid tee attempting to adjacent retired his archetypal large triumph and played the spread successful a mode that could lone beryllium described arsenic immaculate. A fairway, a greenish and abbreviated birdie putt later, helium had conquered Oakmont.

On Sunday, Spaun divided the fairway. He recovered the greenish and then, nether an umbrella held by his caddie that could lone springiness him truthful overmuch cover, helium took his clip speechmaking the 64-foot putt. All helium needed to triumph his archetypal large was a par.

All week long, players surmised that if anyone changeable adjacent par for the tourney they mightiness look with the trophy. Spaun was connected the brink of doing that. But arsenic Oakmont showered its competitors with 1 much exhausting challenge, it was Spaun who struck back.

"I didn't privation to play defensive," Spaun said.

The putt began to rotation crossed the undulating greenish that has fixed countless players fits successful its 124-year past and near to close toward the iconic Sunday pin. Dead center. Birdie.

"Are you serious?" his caddie Mark Carens said arsenic helium walked up the stairs to the clubhouse. "What the f--- conscionable happened?"

Spaun was not conscionable the past antheral standing. He was the lone 1 who finished nether par. The lone reddish fig by his sanction volition beryllium remembered forever. For Spaun, it volition beryllium impervious of galore things: his ability, resiliency and of however helium battled everything the play course, the upwind and his ain psyche threw astatine him implicit 72 holes.

"He's an overachiever, a grinder," Gregory said. "That should validate to him that he's 1 of the champion players successful the world."

For Oakmont, the 1-under whitethorn beryllium a bittersweet figure. The people whitethorn not person produced a winning people over-par arsenic its rank craved, but implicit 72 holes and 18 arduous ones connected Sunday, it erstwhile again delivered the play satellite a rightful winner.