J.J. Spaun won his first major championship on Sunday at the U.S. Open in one of the most epic walk-offs that golf has seen in recent memory, with an incredible 64-foot putt on the 72nd hole to clinch victory.
It was a wild Sunday of drama at the U.S. Open as heavy rain made one of the toughest tests in golf circumstances even more challenging at Oakmont. At one point,t after a delay halted proceedings, five golfers shared the lead at 1-over-par.
One of those golfers was J.J. Spaun, who had about one of the unluckiest starts that you could have on a major championship Sunday in contention for the win. He bogeyed five of his first six holes going out in 40, including hitting the pin and spinning 50 yards away on one hole and hitting a bunker rake that buried the ball in deep rough on another.
But somehow, Spaun responded with a great clutch putting performance on the back nine to climb back up the leaderboard. He hit the green on the drivable Par 4 17th and held his nerve for a two-putt birdie to get to even par and a one-shot lead over Robert McIntyre.
Facing a lengthy and very difficult two-putt for the win on the 18th hole, Spaun did the unthinkable and holed out for birdie, sinking the longest made putt by any golfer all tournament. And while the camera shot from NBC was good, you can’t truly appreciate the putt until you see this angle captured by longtime golf writer and New York Times best-selling author Alan Shipnuck.
Shipnuck was behind the flag opposite Spaun, and his view shows the insane amount of break, distance, and elevation change that stood between the journeyman pro and a historic victory.
All-timer. pic.twitter.com/4AsWTnZkku
— Alan Shipnuck (@AlanShipnuck) June 16, 2025
The fact that he only needed one putt to do it was a 1-in-100 chance. When you then consider the weight of winning the U.S. Open and your first major championship, Spaun truly made the impossible possible on Sunday.
NBC showed vintage Tiger Woods highlights during the Sunday rain delay from his 2008 U.S. Open victory at Torrey Pines. And while it had many golf fans reminiscing about the good old days and what once was in the sport, not even Tiger himself had ever won a major on the 72nd hole quite like J.J. Spaun did at Oakmont on Sunday.