By Frank Pingue
OAKMONT, Pennsylvania (Reuters) -J.J. Spaun could not escape the talk about how punishing a setup Oakmont Country Club is, and while that left him plenty nervous, the unheralded American felt the threat of danger at every turn helped power him to the first-round U.S. Open lead on Thursday.
Spaun, three years removed from his lone win on the PGA Tour, did not just outplay the game’s biggest stars in the opening round of the year’s third major but carded only the eighth bogey-free round in a U.S. Open at Oakmont.
After signing off for a four-under-par 68 that left him with a one-shot lead over South African Thriston Lawrence, Spaun admitted to feeling uneasy going into only his second U.S. Open.
“I was actually pretty nervous. But I actually tried to harness that, the nerves, the anxiety, because it kind of heightens my focus, makes me swing better,” said Spaun.
“I kind of get more in the zone, whereas if I don’t have any worry or if I’m not in it mentally, it’s kind of just a lazy round or whatever out there.”
Despite being nervous, Spaun was a picture of calm as he made his way around a course that has a reputation for being kick-your-teeth-in tough given the dense rough that lines the skinny fairways which lead to super-slick greens.
Spaun, who began his day on the back nine, left his approach at the par-four 10th in thick rough beside the green but calmly chipped in from 20 feet away and never looked back.
“It was a nice little wake-up call at 7:10 in the morning or whatever it was,” said Spaun, who added three more birdies before the turn and then parred each hole on his inward nine. “It was a nice way to start the day, and I obviously kind of rode that momentum throughout the day.”
Spaun, who missed the cut at the 2021 U.S. Open and earned a career-best major finish at the 2022 Masters where he earned a share of 23rd place, is hoping his near-misses on the PGA Tour this year have made him a more confident player.
The 34-year-old American finished runner-up to world number two Rory McIlroy at The Players Championship in March two weeks after earning a share of second place at PGA National Resort.
“To go head-to-head with Rory on Sunday, and then the playoff was great for my confidence,” said Spaun.
“Unfortunately, I didn’t win, but it was great for me to kind of lean back on that experience and know that I can perform on the biggest of stages and handle it with the pressure.
“There’s going to be a lot of pressure this week, too, and hopefully I can rely on those experiences.”
(Reporting by Frank Pingue; Editing by Christopher Cushing)
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