Oakmont has a new lingering piece of history after Spaun writes its next chapter

OAKMONT, Pa. — Oakmont has ghosts.

Spirits of the past, lingering memories of the golf played during the 10 U.S Opens held on this stage. They conjure bad fortune for many, the ones who miss fairways and send balls plummeting in the rough, and the ones who let frustration take over, losing the battle between their ears. But there also can be triumph, the ghosts can be conquered. Only a true champion, with steady hands and feet in the present, can survive the torment.

Oakmont demands patience.

Experience helps, but seven first-time major winners also have been crowned here. The spirits of those victories dance around the church pews, watching as the current title chasers string shots around the course. The ghosts have seen the course evolve over the years, similar Sunday battles under different backdrops, depending on the year. Trees went up, then were later removed, and the course was recently restored to draw on its rich and challenging history.

But not even the ghosts could have dreamt up the rain that halted the final round of the 125th U.S. Open for 96 minutes.

Or what happened after play resumed.

J.J. Spaun knew the final round would be a challenge, sitting one back from Sam Burns’ third-round lead, but trouble started long before he got to the course. His youngest daughter, Violet, had a stomach bug in the middle of the night, which sent him to CVS. Spaun didn’t have a moment of self-reflection and anticipation in the mirror that the Scottie Schefflers of the world have in the morning of a championship Sunday. It was a different kind of memorable instead.

“It kind of fit the mold of what was going on, the chaos,” Spaun said.

Playing with Viktor Hovland in the second to last pairing of Sunday afternoon, the spotlight was on Spaun as much as anyone else. After an opening round — and bogey-free — 66, Spaun never flew under the radar with his name at the top of the leaderboard. But with a treacherous start to the final round, bogeying five of his first six holes, his name started dropping.

Then the skies opened up, and everything changed for the 34-year-old from Los Angeles.

Rain poured down fast and fiercely, puddles forced the maintenance team, squeegees in hand, to wipe it away as if it never fell. Fans huddled under umbrellas, determined not to let Mother Nature ruin their time at the final day of a major championship while patiently waiting for play to resume.

Spaun restarted on the ninth hole after a brief range session. He was five shots behind Burns and one hole ahead. It would’ve been easy to count him out, say he put up a good fight in only his second U.S. Open appearance, but Spaun wasn’t ready to close the book.

“I just flushed one (off the ninth tee), like a nice little cut off the left side, and I was like ‘All right, we’re back,’” Spaun reflected. “I didn’t hit too many bad shots after that.”

After a par, Spaun posted a front nine 40. Many had their doubts but the leaders started to falter in similar fashion, just on different holes.

Within four holes of the restart, Spaun nosed back toward the top of the scoreboards as players grappled with how Oakmont was biting back. Rain was supposed to ruin the course’s ferocity and ease its test, but it only created new challenges that Spaun navigated better than the rest.

“All the close calls on the PGA Tour this year have just been a really good experience to just never, never give up,” Spaun said, looking back at the four top-10 finishes he had leading up to the third major of the year. On Sunday, he only had one more bogey coming home and dropped birdies on 12, 14 and 17 to move ahead of Robert MacIntyre.

“You just have to stay there,” Spaun said on the back nine.

His wife and two kids waited next to the green as he walked up 18. MacIntyre was waiting in Oakmont’s scorer’s room sitting in a folding chair watching the TV. He was hoping for a playoff, or if the ghosts of Oakmont did some magic, a title at one-over-par. Tyrell Hatton was frustrated with his tied-for-fourth finish and was talking to reporters in the flash zone. There was a TV to his right and while he answered questions, he couldn’t help but watch.

Spaun was at even par, and as long as he didn’t three putt the title would be his, but nearly 65 feet separated his ball from the bottom of the cup. Putts weren’t dropping easily all week. Players struggled with hitting it close and finding the right speed to avoid round-altering mistakes. Hovland was even farther away than Spaun and gave him a good look at what to expect.

Hatton became hard to hear even though he stood just a couple feet away from reporters. The roars from the grandstand grew exponentially louder as Spaun’s ball rolled closer and closer to the hole.

“He’s holed it. Unbelievable. What a putt to win,” Hatton said struggling to find more to say as he stood grinning wide in disbelief.

Everyone packed into the grandstand was on their feet, screaming and yelling as they tried to process the historic moment. It was the longest putt made of the tournament and for birdie no less. J.J. Spaun was the winner.

“It’s definitely like a storybook fairytale ending, kind of an underdog fighting back, not giving up, never quitting,” Spaun said, still grappling with the accomplishment during his press conference. “You couldn’t write a better story. I’m just so fortunate to be on the receiving end of that.”

It’s the latest chapter of Oakmont’s history. A new moment that’ll linger on the grounds and in the minds of those who watched greenside or on television like Hatton, MacIntyre and so many others. It’ll become a new ghost that’ll embody the guts and patience of an Oakmont U.S. Open Champion. Spaun is the eighth to win his first major title on this course and most importantly, his family was right there to witness it.

“My daughter always asks me, every time dad goes golfing, ‘Were you the winner today?’” Spaun said. After the loss in the playoff to Rory McIlroy at the Players Championship and the close calls at the Sony Open and the Cognizant Classic, the answer would’ve been no. But she didn’t have to ask after watching her dad drain the putt, instead she said “You’re the winner today.”

“It’s just incredible,” Spaun said. “I have no words to describe the moment.”

The ghosts made Oakmont special and they played their mischief on the field sending the world’s top players spiraling for answers. But there’s always a winner, someone who survives, and Spaun turned the tables with some supernatural shots of his own.