The final day of the US Open 2025 was filled with high drama. Oakmont showed its teeth, causing the leaders to stumble and bringing unexpected contenders back into play, like JJ Spaun. Although he started the final round in second place, he was five over par after just six holes, and most had already written him off. But then came a rain delay that changed everything.
JJ Spaun Wins US Open 2025 with Incredible Back Nine
After the weather delay, Spaun returned with a monster putt on hole 12, sinking a 12-meter birdie and turning his round around. He had another birdie chance on 13, missed it, but capitalized with a great approach on 14. While his competitors were struggling to create birdie opportunities, Spaun bounced back from a bogey and reached the 17th with an eagle chance – he had birdied the hole in every previous round. He didn’t make the five-meter eagle putt, but a birdie was enough to take sole possession of the lead ahead of Robert MacIntyre, who was already in the clubhouse. On 18, all Spaun needed to do was play it safe – get on the green and two-putt to avoid a Monday playoff. But Spaun didn’t want to win his first major title by playing it safe. He drained a 20-meter putt for birdie to claim his first major in spectacular fashion. JJ Spaun wins the US Open 2025 at one under par in just his second appearance at the tournament.
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“I thought it was a good thing having the delay,” the newly crowned champion said after the round. “It happened to me at the Players earlier this year where I was kind of struggling on the front nine. I had the lead going into Sunday, and we had a four-hour delay, I think. I ended up turning that round into a nice fight where I got myself into the playoff.”
He continued. “All I was thinking was – and even my whole team, my coach, my caddie, they were like, Oh, dude, this is exactly what we need. And it was. We went back out and capitalized on kind of — I changed my outfit. I’m like, I’m done wearing those clothes. I just needed to reset everything, kind of like start the whole routine over.”
Robert MacIntyre Finishes Second Despite Poor Start
Robert MacIntyre began the day seven shots off the lead, so the idea that he could win seemed far-fetched. “Obviously it didn’t get off to the best of starts,” he said.
“I was 2-over through 3 and then holed a lovely putt on 4, par-5 for eagle. That kind of settled me down. That got me into somewhat of a groove and back in the golf tournament.”
Then the back nine was just all about fighting. Obviously the rain delay. My previous rain delay comebacks haven’t been strong. Today was a day that I said to myself, Why not? Why not it be me today? When I was going round, and I just trusted myself, trusted my caddie Mike, trusted all the work that I’ve done, and we’re sitting here in the clubhouse nicely and just wait and see.”
He followed that up with a flawless back nine, carding two birdies to secure solo second place. And although you’d think the Scottish player would be used to this kind of weather, he says of himself that he’s “a fair-weather golfer now that I moved to the PGA Tour.”
While those two soared, Sam Burns and Adam Scott crashed. Between them, they shot a combined 17 over par on the final day, despite holding the lead early on.
Sam Burns in particular was a hot favorite at the start of the round, sitting at four under par. He lost three strokes on the front nine but still held the lead, even extending it to two shots with a birdie on 10. But then the momentum shifted, hard. A double bogey on 11 meant no player was under par anymore, and after a bogey on 12, Burns was tied with Adam Scott, opening the door for a dramatic showdown over the final nine holes. At that point, six players were within two shots, including Tyrrell Hatton and Viktor Hovland. Burns’ next double bogey on the 15th, after finding the bunker, effectively took him out of the title race.
Adam Scott fared no better after the rain delay. Following a bogey on 8, he played the back nine in six over par, including a double bogey on 16, where he struggled with the thick rough. Scott dropped to a tie for 12th, while Burns finished tied for 7th.