Defending U.S. Open champion J.J. Spaun is hoping to carry the same winning formula into this week’s tournament at Shinnecock Hills Golf Club — and in a strange twist, his home life is mirroring that journey in more ways than one.
Last Father’s Day, Spaun was up in the early morning hours hunting down a CVS pharmacy to find medicine for one of his daughters, who was battling a stomach bug. Just hours later, he carded a final-round 72 and drained a remarkable 64-foot birdie putt on the 18th hole to capture his first major championship title.
When reporters asked Spaun on Monday whether both of his kids were healthy heading into this week’s event, the golfer didn’t sugarcoat the situation. His older daughter Emerson, he said, had been having a rough stretch lately.
“She broke her collarbone at the Truist (Championship), so like a month ago at the daycare,” Spaun said. “Then she had a tooth pulled on Wednesday, poor thing.”
In an unintentional moment of irony, Spaun quickly pivoted to talking about “taking your medicine” — though this time he meant it in a figurative sense when describing what it takes to compete at a U.S. Open.
He said resilience is the quality he most wants to bring with him from Oakmont to Shinnecock Hills as he chases back-to-back titles.
“It was nice to get off to a really hot start in the first round, but I think that’s the biggest thing at U.S. Opens is being resilient, taking all the punches that are thrown at you, taking your medicine,” Spaun said.
“It’s not going to be easy golf. It’s not going to be ho-hum, very boring golf. But the way I persevered and was resilient last year, I’ve been trying to use that since then, as well.”
The 35-year-old has held his place among the world’s top-10 golfers this season, highlighted by a win at the Valero Texas Open in April. However, he has fallen short of the cut at both of the first two majors in 2026.
Spaun pointed to the greens at Aronimink Golf Club — the host venue for the PGA Championship — as a stumbling block for his game.
“I just think I got a little caught up in the putting portion of Aronimink,” he said. “My putting has been very hot and cold this year. That’s kind of been the only thing holding me back.”
“I got too caught up in, like, thinking I was the only one putting poorly at Aronimink, but apparently everyone was, like, three-putting. I think if I would have just accepted that, I would have done less of three-putting, and maybe it would have been a different week.”
It’s a recurring theme with Spaun — his mental approach often proving to be the deciding factor in how his rounds unfold, for better or worse.
He acknowledged that winning a major had changed his mindset in an unexpected way, shifting him from someone playing freely with nothing to lose, to someone feeling the weight of expectation to prove himself worthy of his new status.
The source of his renewed mental clarity? His daughter’s favorite Disney movie, “Frozen.”
“Yeah, the whole ‘Let It Go,’ that was definitely a mantra that I had kind of all year,” Spaun said.
“I felt like every week at the start of the year I had to be that guy that needed to show up and play well and kind of validate where I was in the world rankings and what I had achieved this season. So it was the complete opposite of letting it go. I put more pressure on myself, put way more emphasis on outcome instead of just focusing on my process.”
“It was a nice corner I turned at The Players (Championship) where I tried to just forget about trying to be this perfect golfer that I thought I was last year, when in reality I just was doing the same things. I just was mentally a little bit more nice to myself, I guess, and not so worried about being perfect. That’s what led to better golf.”
