'The Journey Has Been Tough, But I've Stuck At It And Given It My Best. Finally, That Stubbornness And Refusal To Lie Down Has Been Rewarded' – Inside JJ Spaun's Long Road To A Ryder Cup Debut

When he makes his Ryder Cup debut at Bethpage Black, JJ Spaun will be hoping he did not use up his allocation of long putts with the 64-footer that clinched his US Open triumph.

In this truly insightful article, JJ Spaun shares his earliest Ryder Cup memories, the importance of persistence and his journey to becoming a Major Champion...

JJ Spaun's Long Road To A Ryder Cup Debut

Spaun’s first memories of the Ryder Cup are celebrating the putt Justin Leonard holed to complete the USA’s greatest comeback against Europe in 1999, and emulating David Duval’s double fist pump after he thumped Jesper Parnevik in the singles.

“I had just turned nine when that Ryder Cup was played, and I remember jumping out of my seat when Justin Leonard holed that putt on 17,” Spaun explains.

“Boy, I’d love to do something like that at Bethpage. And I was copying Duval for days afterwards. Everybody at school was. That was such a great Ryder Cup, especially with the American team wearing those cool shirts and coming back from miles behind to win.”

Spaun seems genuinely surprised to learn the 1999 match is referred to in Europe as the Battle of Brookline, an ill-tempered affair that saw the home players whip their fans into a frenzy as they overturned a 10-6 deficit by dominating the singles.

And that Leonard’s putt – a ‘mere’ 45-footer – is remembered for the raucous scenes it sparked, with his teammates and their wives charging onto the green, and trampling all over the line of Jose Maria Olazabal’s putt to try to halve the hole.

And he looks even more shocked to learn that those “cool” shirts, covered in scenes from previous US triumphs, and designed by captain Ben Crenshaw, were considered garish, and an unforgivable affront to fashion.

“Really?” he adds. “I guess it depends what side of the ocean you’re from. We loved the shirts, the big final-day comeback, the passion the team showed.

"I guess it was unfortunate if Olazabal was put off, but it sure wasn’t intentional. My mum was the keen golfer in our family, the one who gave me a set of plastic clubs as a three-year-old, and encouraged me to take golf seriously. We watched that Ryder Cup as a family. It was a great shared experience.”

You get the feeling Spaun may get a few more eye-openers when he becomes a Ryder Cup rookie a month after turning 35.

But he shares Keegan Bradley’s belief that his back story as a golfer who has overcome huge obstacles throughout his life will resonate with New Yorkers, and guarantee the home fans take him to their hearts.

Persistence Pays Off

“I think the crowds from that part of New York state will be mostly blue-collar guys who love a scrapper,” Spaun says.

“Like Keegan said, they will hopefully root for someone who has refused to buckle, and overcome the odds. And I think that pretty much sums me up.”

John Michael Spaun Junior didn’t have things easy before becoming an unlikely Major Champion at Oakmont in June.

He says he was “nothing special” as a junior golfer, despite once qualifying for the US Junior Amateur Championship, and was offered a scholarship to San Diego State University, not far from his birthplace in a Los Angeles suburb, almost as an afterthought.

Despite a highly successful college career, and a very impressive golf swing, it took him more than four years to fight his way up from the mini tours and earn a PGA Tour card in 2017.

But after finishing 97th, 62nd, and 99th in his first three years, he lost his card in 2021, after being granted a reprieve for his 174th place 12 months earlier (all PGA Tour players were given an extra year because of Covid).

Being wrongly diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes in 2018 (he was actually Type 1) and given the wrong medication for three years before the mistake came to light didn’t help.

After clawing his way back via a Korn Ferry Tour event at the end of 2021, Spaun earned some breathing space by winning the 2022 Valero Texas Open.

But the struggles resumed with a poor start to 2024 and almost exactly a year before he won the US Open, he gathered his team together to say they may all have to prepare themselves for a life outside professional golf, as he was considering a change of career if he lost his card again.

From The Skate Park To The Golf Course

Three top tens in the second half of 2024 meant the doomsday scenario was avoided. Spaun admits he’s not sure what the alternative would have been, but it wouldn’t have been either career he considered as a youngster, his original choice being a pro skateboarder!

“That was my first passion, my childhood dream growing up in Southern California,” he reflects.

“All the cool kids were doing it. Skateboarding was everywhere. I wasn’t as good as I thought I was, although it took me a while to accept that. After a few minor injuries – and getting run over by a car – I figured it was too dangerous a sport unless you were really good at it.

“Actually, the bit about being run over is a bit of an exaggeration. I got knocked down by a neighbour, who was backing out of his drive, and ended up with a few scrapes. If I’d been any good, I could probably have avoided the car, which was moving pretty slow. But I knew then it wasn’t going to work out as a career.

“I realised you needed to have a level of control that allowed you to pull off a few fancy tricks, rather than just attempt them and end up on your butt – or worse still on your face! Wasn’t worth risking my life for.”

His other childhood passion was playing the guitar, a skill passed on by his father.

“My dad was a professional musician and we played guitar together at home,” Spaun adds. “We both loved Led Zeppelin, and I still pick up the guitar now again and run through Stairway to Heaven, Ten Years Gone, Black Dog, Heartbreaker, all the classics.

“He played in a few rock bands on Hollywood Boulevard. They even got a couple of record deals but he never really made it. I thought about trying it, but only briefly. I enjoyed it recreationally, but I was never really good enough to seriously think about it professionally.”

There is one other guilty pleasure Spaun is happy to own up to – a lifelong love of the Disney experience. Visiting Disneyland was a recurring habit long before his daughters, Emerson and Violet, were born in the past five years.

A Fairytale Ending

“I grew up about 45 minutes from Disneyland,” Spaun grins.

“As SoCal residents we got big discounts, and passes that meant we could go any time we wanted to. Right up to my mid-20s I’d go two or three times a week. It was a great place for a date night, and that was where I took my wife, Melody, when we first started seeing each other.

“We ended up making it a weekly occurrence. It was a lot of fun to head to Disney, hop on a few rides, eat popcorn and ice cream. We live in Arizona now, but the girls love Disney and we still go as often as we can. Favourite character? Mickey. He’s the original icon, isn’t he?”

Our conversation drifts back to the Ryder Cup.

“Although I’ve always loved the Ryder Cup, I never really thought of myself as someone who could play in one,” Spaun admits. “Or someone who might win a Major. I wasn’t exactly trending before this year, was I?

“But then I managed three top-threes early this year, including the play-off loss to Rory at The Players, and follow up with the week of my life at Oakmont. Suddenly, I’m a Major winner, and the Ryder Cup is a reality.

"The journey has been tough at times, but I stuck at it and gave my very best. Finally, that stubbornness, that refusal to lie down, has been rewarded.”

Words Of Wisdom

JJ Spaun says the combined wisdom of Confucius and Rory McIlroy (less well known for proffering sage advice) helped him win the US Open.

Spaun got plenty of laughs after his victory at Oakmont when he admitted he was likely to “mangle” a Confucius saying about adversity.

And it took him a few attempts to get the famous quote spot on – “our greatest glory is not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall.” He said McIlroy’s words of consolation after the play-off at The Players resonated too.

“I read that quote from Rory after The Players about how you’re going to get your heart broken a few times along the way, but that it makes you stronger, as long as you learn from it,” Spaun recalls.

“He had to deal with his share of heartache, especially at The Masters, before he finally won this year. I thought it was really nice of him to relate it to me. That really helped when I was going through the mincer again in the final round at Oakmont.

"It would have been easy to think I’d blown it after playing the first six holes in five over and I admit I was beginning to think my chance had gone.

“But then we had the rain delay before starting the back nine, and that was the best thing that could have happened to me. One of the things I thought about then was what Rory had said. I knew I had to keep fighting every inch of the way.

“When you think about it, a four-shot lead is nothing at a US Open. That can easily disappear in just one or two holes.

“My team were also saying if I’d been offered the chance at the start of the week to start the back nine on Sunday just four shots back, I’d have jumped at it.

“It was a bit similar to Sawgrass, where we had a rain delay and I came back out and played my way into a play-off.

“Before Oakmont I was always hearing, ‘You lost to Rory in a play-off – unlucky.’

“But I don’t hear that any more. Now it’s, ‘Hey, you won the US Open.’ That has a much better ring to it.”