Spaun lets the US Open come to him

Live sport is still the ultimate in reality TV. You simply don't know what's going to happen, and watching the final 9 holes at Oakmont on Sunday confirmed this once again. With five holes remaining five players were tied for the lead at one over par. Sam Burns, Adam Scott, JJ Spaun, Tyrell Hatton, and Carlos Ortiz. Spaun hit the front momentarily with a birdie on 14, then immediately gave it back on 15. Scott dropped a shot, then another, Ortiz dropped two, then Burns followed suit. Suddenly it was between Hatton and Spaun, but wait, here comes Bob MacIntyre. My head was spinning right about here.

Macintyre was first in the clubhouse at +1. Hatton looked like joining him but made a mess of the gettable 17th, and after a poor drive up 18 he was done. It was now left to Spaun. Cometh the moment, cometh the man. He hit, what I'm sure he'll call at some stage, "the greatest drive of his life" on the 17th to 15 feet for a two-putt birdie. All he had to do now was par 18, the 3rd hardest hole on the course. That's all, not much really. Another piped drive and a slightly pulled 6-iron left him 64 feet and two putts away from golfing folklore. Then karma kicked in.

Earlier, he'd had one of the worst breaks imaginable on the 2nd hole when his approach hit the flag and ricocheted 50 yards off the front of the green, turning a certain birdie into a bogey. Through six holes he was five over par and in a daze. 'Fortunately,' torrential rain hit the course and play was suspended. During the break his coach said, "Stop trying so hard, just let it come to you." Easy to say but, given the golf course, incredibly hard to do.

Oakmont, known as 'The Beast', was actually playing at its easiest given all the rain had softened the greens. Yet pars were still like gold. Those words from Spaun's coach proved just the tonic. Armed with a new attitude and change of clothes, he played near flawless golf after the restart, eventually leaving himself 64 feet from a fairytale ending, a tough two-putt at the best of times. Then the golfing gods remembered the 2nd hole and balanced the ledger. His playing partner Viktor Hovland hit his approach two feet outside Spaun's ball on the same line. He now had the perfect read from his playing partner. After looking on intently how hard Hovland hit his putt, Spaun sent his on its way, watching it take the slopes, track toward the hole, track some more... and disappear.

It was a fitting end to the toughest test in golf. A once-in-a-season putt to seal the deal. Turns out it was the longest putt he'd made on tour this year. You can't dream up this stuff. Some might say it was a fluke, the crowning moment for a career perhaps. But given his journey to this point and stellar play already this season, I think for the Californian, it's just the beginning.

Cheers,

Nick