SOUTHAMPTON, NY – The Spauns at least got the virus out of the way.
Early the morning before his US Open victory last year at Oakmont, JJ Spaun found himself at a CVS in downtown Pittsburgh, picking up medicine for his daughter Violet, 2, who had woken up with a stomach bug.
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Now, it’s her older daughter, 5-year-old Emerson, who has been hit recently. He broke his PGA Tour collarbone during the Truist Championship last month, then had a tooth pulled last Wednesday.
“Hopefully that’s all in order at least this week,” said Spaun, who is defending the national championship that begins Thursday at Shinnecock Hills.
Aside from the 3 a.m. pharmacy trip, Spaun plans to follow the same blueprint that led to his big success last year – hit fairways and greens, and hope the putter is hot; oh, and show that same toughness.
Spaun famously relied last season on a mantra borrowed from the Disney movie Frozen. Of course, after almost losing his card the year before, it was easy to let it play out like he had nothing to lose.
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But after joining the ranks of the great masters, Spaun had to adapt to new expectations. He closed last year with a top 25 finish in all but one of his nine starts after the US Open, including three showings of sixth or better. He started the season, however, with one top-25 cut and four misses in his first seven tournaments before winning the Valero Texas Open.
“All of a sudden, I’m a top 10 player in the world, I’m the US Open champion, Ryder Cupper; I felt like every week at the beginning of the year I had to be that guy who needed to show up and play well and confirm where I was in the world rankings and what I had achieved this season,” said Spaun. “So, it was the complete opposite of giving up. I put a lot of pressure on myself, I put a lot of emphasis on the result instead of focusing on my process. … I tried to just forget about trying to be the perfect golfer that I thought I was last year, when in fact, I was doing the same things. I just got better mentally for myself, I guess, and I wasn’t too worried about that.
Although Spaun has missed both major cuts so far this year, he enters this week with four finishes of T-14 or better in his last five appearances. He made some adjustments following two rounds at Aronimink, where he lost two strokes a day on the greens.
“My putting has been really hot and cold this year,” Spaun said. “That’s the only thing that’s been holding me back. I’m so caught up, like, I think I’m the only one who doesn’t put Aronimink right, but apparently everyone else was three-putting. I think if I’d just accepted that, I’d have done less three-putting, and maybe it would have been a different week.”
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Shinnecock’s undulating greens will be equally challenging, but unlike the PGA, high winds will have a major impact on Long Island, with highs of 20 mph predicted for most days. Preparation in Scottsdale, Arizona, isn’t ideal — there’s little wind and slow, well-watered greens — but Spaun is focused on his shots.
“I just tried to imitate what kind of shots I’ll be seeing myself hitting throughout the tournament,” said Spaun.
For Spaun, I hope one of those is the winning shot.
You already know what that is like.
