J.J. Spaun

John Michael “JJ” Spaun Jr. completed one of the most inspiring journeys in modern golf when he captured his first career major title at the US Open at Oakmont in June 2025. 

Born August 21, 1990, in Los Angeles, JJ Spaun is of Filipino and European descent. 

Golf ran in the family—his mother, Dollie, played avidly and continued to do so while pregnant, earning doctor’s permission to swing until eight months in. 

Spaun's first set of clubs came at age three, and his father built a makeshift hitting net in their garage. 

Without formal lessons, Spaun developed his game instinctively, relying on feel, repetition, and determination.

Despite limited recruitment out of San Dimas High School, Spaun walked on at San Diego State University and quickly proved himself. 

He became a two-time All-Mountain West selection and won five individual collegiate titles, tying the school record. 

In 2012, his senior season, he was named conference Player of the Year and a Second-Team All-American. A social science graduate, Spaun turned professional that same year.

The early years of Spaun’s career were anything but smooth. 

He spent several seasons on PGA Tour Canada, where he struggled with consistency and even lost his playing status in 2014. 

But a breakthrough came in 2015 with a win at the Staal Foundation Open. He went on to set the single-season earnings record on the tour, securing his Web.com Tour card for 2016. 

That year, Spaun won the News Sentinel Open in record fashion on his 26th birthday, earning promotion to the PGA Tour.

Spaun’s debut PGA Tour seasons showed promise. He posted multiple top-10s and finished inside the FedEx Cup top 100 in both 2017 and 2018. 

But momentum slowed, and by 2021, Spaun had lost his PGA Tour card and dropped outside the top 500 in the world rankings. 

The decline coincided with a misdiagnosis of type 2 diabetes in 2018. 

He later learned in 2021 that he had type 1 diabetes, a revelation that dramatically improved his health and performance once correctly treated.

That same year, Spaun clawed his way back to the Tour through the Korn Ferry Finals. 

Then, in April 2022, after 147 PGA Tour starts, he claimed his first win at the Valero Texas Open. The victory earned him a spot in the Masters, where he finished a respectable tied-23rd in his debut.

In 2025, Spaun continued to show elite form. 

At The Players Championship in March, he held the 54-hole lead and battled Rory McIlroy to a playoff, eventually finishing runner-up after a misstep at the island-green 17th. 

Though disappointed, the performance lifted him to a career-high 25th in the Official World Golf Ranking and fueled his belief that a breakthrough at a major was possible.

That moment arrived at Oakmont. 

Facing brutal conditions on Sunday, Spaun bogeyed five of his first six holes to fall five shots behind leader Sam Burns. 

After a weather delay, he composed himself and mounted a furious comeback with birdies at 12, 14, and 17. 

On the 18th green, holding a slim lead, Spaun rolled in a stunning 64-foot birdie putt to finish at one-under par—making him the only player in the field to break par for the week. 

The two-shot win over Scotland’s Robert MacIntyre marked the biggest triumph of his career.

Emotion poured from Spaun as he raised the trophy, aware of the long and winding road that brought him there. 

From nearly giving up the game to misdiagnosed illness, and from developmental tours to Oakmont’s championship stage, his story resonated deeply.

Now a major champion, Spaun continues to inspire. 

He and his wife Melody are raising two daughters, born in 2020 and 2023.