J.J. Spaun, an avid Dodgers fan, got a taste of that feeling on the 72nd hole of the U.S. Open.

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Golf Digest Middle East (@golfdigestme)

His “walk-off” birdie putt on the final green settled the week. No more tee shots, no more putts, no more drama. It was over.

But just how incredible was the 279th shot of Spaun’s week at Oakmont?

The answer, of course, is very, very incredible. So I dove into the numbers behind the moment to shine some light on the walk-off putt that won the 2025 U.S. Open.

The heroics for Spaun came after a 90-minute weather delay on Sunday. After changing clothes and coming back out, he made birdies on 12 and 14 and then hit, what then felt like, the shot of the week on the drivable, par-4 17th. A 310-yard drive that finished just 17 feet from the hole. He two-putted for birdie and regained the solo lead for the first time since the fourth hole on Saturday.

He had one hole to play. And he led by one shot.

With the tournament on the line, he hit this tee shot.

Straight. Down. The Middle. It finished 308 yards and left him just 190 yards to one of the hardest holes in the U.S. Open rota.

As Spaun played the 18th hole, only three of the 62 players who had played the hole had made birdie.

Just like Dustin Johnson in 2016, Spaun hit a 6-iron for his approach into the 72nd hole. However, unlike DJ, who hit his approach to four feet, Spaun’s ball finished 64 feet six inches from the hole.

His approach, albeit conservative, actually lost strokes to the field. The strokes gained approach value of his approach from 190 yards was -0.08.

Before Spaun got to his ball and began to study the putt, he got a fortuitous break. Viktor Hovland, playing alongside Spaun on Sunday, had missed the fairway and hit his approach to the left side of the green also. It came to rest 66 feet from the hole, on almost the identical line.

Spaun would get to see Hovland putt before attempting to win his first major championship. Worth noting, in eight previous major appearances, he had never finished in the top 20.

Hovland went first, narrowly missing the hole and coming to rest five feet beyond the hole. Now, it was Spaun’s turn.

The putt was 64 feet six inches. He had two putts to win. The probability of a PGA Tour two-putting from that distance is around 85 percent. Whilst those odds don’t factor in the pressure of the 72nd hole at a U.S. Open, the odds were certainly in his favour.

However, the probability that a pro would three-putt from that range is almost six times higher (12 percent) than the chances of them holing (two percent).

Consider this, Denny McCarthy, arguably the best putter on the PGA Tour for the last decade, ranking inside the top five in strokes gained putting five of the last six seasons, three-putted the 18th green on Sunday, from just 34 feet.

As Spaun looked over his putt, the graphic displayed on the broadcast told the story: “Two putts to win the U.S. Open”

Spaun hadn’t three-putted once over the weekend. His last three-putt came on the 15th green of Friday’s second round.

“He doesn’t need to make it. Two putts,” said Dan Hicks on NBC, as Spaun sent his putt rolling across the green.

“HOW. ABOUT. ONE?!”

That was Hick’s call as Spaun’s ball disappeared into the hole. He had won the U.S. Open. A walk-off, 64-foot birdie putt on the 72nd hole.

It was the longest putt holed on the 18th green all week. Tyrrell Hatton had holed a 52-foot par putt on 18 in round two, but even he could only watch on as Spaun sent the Oakmont crowd into pandemonium.

Amazingly, Spaun hadn’t holed a putt longer than 35 feet all season on the PGA Tour. Spaun has played nearly 1,000 holes on Tour in 2025 (972) and this was his first made putt over 35 feet. And it was nearly double that length.

To put it in context, Spaun’s birdie putt gained +1.24 shots on the field. Sam Burns leads the PGA Tour in strokes gained putting in 2025, gaining +1.03 shots per round. In fact, only one player since 2004, has gained on average more than one shot per round on the greens (Jason Day in 2016). Spaun did better than that, with one stroke.

Gaining over a stroke on the field in one shot is extremely rare. Consider how incredible Bryson’s bunker shot on the 72nd hole was at Pinehurst last year. It gained +0.94 shots.

It seems the U.S. Open is getting used to drama on the 72nd hole. This year, it was a walk-off.

RELATED: The clubs J.J. Spaun used to win the U.S. Open at Oakmont

Follow Golf Digest Middle East on social media

Instagram

X

Facebook

YouTube

Main Image: Andy Lyons

The post How improbable was J.J. Spaun’s birdie putt to win the U.S. Open? appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

For 90 minutes late Sunday, the U.S. Open turned into complete chaos. There is no other way to describe the pure carnage that ensued over the last nine holes during the final round at wet and wild Oakmont.

Ultimately, however, it was J.J. Spaun who captured the biggest crown of his life, making a dramatic birdie on the par-4 17th hole, then hoping to hold on for dear life down the treacherous 18th home hole only to drain a historic 64-foot putt for birdie when all he was trying to do was two-putt for par.

It was the longest putt made by anyone on the 18th hole all week. What a moment for the 25th ranked player in the world who shot 72 and ended the most gruelling of championships at one-under-par 279 total.

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Golf Digest Middle East (@golfdigestme)

All Spaun did on this wild and woolly day in Western Pennsylvania was start his round with five straight 5s on the scorecard, playing the first six holes in five over par. He was seemingly out of it at the time.

But there was a perfectly timed weather delay. At least for Spaun. There was a stoppage of play at 4:01 p.m. local time. They resumed at 5:37. By that time, Spaun was a new man.

“The weather delay we had just changed the whole vibe for the day,” Spaun said.

An hour after play started back, no one was under par for the week. Fifteen minutes later there were five tied for the lead at one over par and Spaun was one of them, along with Sam Burns, Adam Scott, Tyrrell Hatton and Carlos Ortiz.

But one-by-one, everyone sputtered, Spaun made birdies on Nos. 12, 14 and the aforementioned 17 and 18 to thrill the masses and top Scotland’s Robert MacIntyre by two shots. He shot 66-72-69-72.

“Fortunately, it was my time,” said Spaun, who claims the 2022 Valero Texas Open as his sole PGA Tour title.

J.J. Spaun, our 125th U.S. Open champion!!

Spaun receives the historic U.S. Open Trophy and Jack Nicklaus Gold Medal . pic.twitter.com/xNrazcVknv

— U.S. Open (@usopengolf) June 16, 2025

MacIntyre shot 68 and held the clubhouse lead for 45 minutes. He was standing nearby hoping for a Spaun three-putt to head to a Monday morning two-hole playoff, but Spaun ended things quickly and unleashed emotions we haven’t seen from him before. Remember, he stood tall all week at TPC Sawgrass back in March and went into a playoff with Rory McIlroy at the Players Championship, only to lose Monday morning to the World No. 2.

“I never thought it would be here holding this trophy,” Spaun said at the trophy presentation. “I’ve always had aspirations and dreams.

“I never knew how good I could be, but I’m glad I’ve been resilient in my career and pushed through some things. I’m happy to display that today at Oakmont.”

Here’s the record prize money payout for each golfer at the 2025 U.S. Open

Viktor Hovland (73) finished third. Burns (78), Cameron Young (70), Tyrrell Hatton (72) and Carlos Ortiz (67) tied for fourth place. Burns and Scott, playing in the final pairing of the day, shot 78 and 79 respectively. Scott tied for 12th place at six-over-par total.

Burns had a disastrous back-nine with a shot to win, but double bogeys at Nos. 11 and 15 essentially ended his chances for a first major championship. It’s now consecutive weeks when he’s had a chance to win but not convert. He lost in a playoff to Ryan Fox last week at the RBC Canadian Open.

Scott, 44, was the fan favourite heading into the final round, the masses at Oakmont hoping the Aussie would find a way to collect a second major championship to go with his 2013 Masters title. He held on for a bit too but played the last five holes in five over, including a double bogey on the par-3 16th hole.

“Look, it just wasn’t easy out there,” Scott said. “All things being equal, it’s Sunday of the U.S. Open, one of the hardest setups, and the conditions were the hardest of the week. Thank God it wasn’t like this all week.”

Said Burns: “I went out there and gave it the best I had. Golf’s a hard game, especially on this golf course. At the end of the day, I can hold my head high.”

Follow Golf Digest Middle East on social media

Instagram

X

Facebook

YouTube

Main Image: Andy Lyons

The post J.J. Spaun wins U.S. Open and slams door shut with birdie on 72nd hole appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

Let’s put things in context: This week’s purse is still nearly double what was given out just four years ago at Torrey Pines ($12.5 million), a month before Mike Whan became the USGA CEO.

“I feel comfortable that we’ve been a leader in moving fast and bigger,” Whan said earlier in the week regarding prize money. “We want to be relevant. We understand the competitive set. We know that this probably isn’t really about the money for the person who [wins on Sunday], but at the same time, we want the money to be commensurate with the achievement.”

Only the Players Championship, with a purse of $25 million, has a bigger overall payday than the U.S. Open. And as for the majors, the U.S. Open hands out slightly more than the Masters, which increased its purse to $21 million in April. The PGA Championship bumped its purse to $19 million for Quail Hollow last month. The Open Championship paid out $17 million at Royal Troon in 2024.

More context: Let’s consider how much the USGA has paid U.S. Open winners over time. As you can see, the reward has become exponentially greater in recent years.

1950: Ben Hogan at Merion, $4,000
1960: Arnold Palmer at Cherry Hills, $14,400
1973: Johnny Miller at Oakmont, $35,000
1980: Jack Nicklaus at Baltusrol, $55,000
1982: Tom Watson at Pebble Beach, $60,000
1992: Tom Kite at Pebble Beach, $275,000
2000: Tiger Woods at Pebble Beach, $800,000
2008: Tiger Woods at Torrey Pines, $1.35 million
2011: Rory McIlroy at Congressional, $1.44 million
2015: Jordan Spieth at Chambers Bay, $1.8 million
2017: Brooks Koepka at Erin Hills, $2.16 million
2021: Jon Rahm at Torrey Pines, $2.25 million
2022: Matt Fitzpatrick at The Country Club, $3.15 million
2023: Wyndham Clark at LACC, $3.6 million
2024: Bryson DeChambeau at Pinehurst, $4.3 million

The top 60 and ties make the 36-hole cut at the U.S. Open. For those that don’t advance past to the weekend. And for any professionals who don’t make the cut, you’re still walking away with a nice return: $10,000.

The full prize money payout breakdown for this year’s championship was released after the cut was made Saturday. Come back shortly after the end of the championship when we will update this list with individual names and official prize money payouts.

Win: J.J. Spaun, -1/279, $4,300,000

2: Robert MacIntyre, +1/281, $2,322,000

3: Viktor Hovland, +2/282, $1,459,284

T-4: Cameron Young, 3/283, $876,869

T-4: Tyrrell Hatton, +3/283, $876,869

T-4: Carlos Ortiz, +3/283, $876,869

T-7: Scottie Scheffler, +4/284, $614,422

T-7: Jon Rahm, +4/284, $614,422

T-7: Sam Burns, +4/284, $614,422

T-10: Russell Henley, +5/285, $484,955

T-10: Ben Griffin, +5/285, $484,955

T-12: Adam Scott, +6/286, $348,966

T-12: Xander Schauffele, +6/286, $348,966

T-12: Brooks Koepka, +6/286, $348,966

T-12: Chris Kirk, +6/286, $348,966

T-12: Christian Bezuidenhout, +6/286, $348,966

T-12: Rasmus Neergaard-Petersen, +6/286, $348,966

T-12: Thriston Lawrence, +6/286, $348,966

T-19: Rory McIlroy, +7/287, $242,532

T-19: Ryan Fox, +7/287, $242,532

T-19: Victor Perez, +7/287, $242,532

T-19: Emiliano Grillo, +7/287, $242,532

T-23: Collin Morikawa, +8/288, $161,132

T-23: Patrick Reed, +8/288, $161,132

T-23: Jordan Spieth, +8/288, $161,132

T-23: Thomas Detry, +8/288, $161,132

T-23: Jason Day, +8/288, $161,132

T-23: Sam Stevens, +8/288, $161,132

T-23: Matt Wallace, +8/288, $161,132

T-23: Max Greyserman, +8/288, $161,132

T-23: Nick Taylor, +8/288, $161,132

T-23: Chris Gotterup, +8/288, $161,132

T-33: Tom Kim, +9/289, $113,503

T-33: Aaron Rai, +9/289, $113,503

T-33: J.T. Poston, +9/289, $113,503

T-33: Keegan Bradley, +9/289, $113,503

37: Maverick McNealy, +10/290, $101,379

T-38: Taylor Pendrith, +11/291, $90,407

T-38: Tony Finau, +11/291, $90,407

T-38: Matt Fitzpatrick, +11/291, $90,407

T-38: Marc Leishman, +11/291, $90,407

T-42: Hideki Matsuyama, +12/292, $72,852

T-42: Andrew Novak, +12/292, $72,852

T-42: Si Woo Kim, +12/292, $72,852

T-42: Trevor Cone, +12/292, $72,852

T-46: Nicklas Norgaard, +13/293, $56,944

T-46: Daniel Berger, +13/293, $56,944

T-46: Rasmus Hojgaard, +13/293, $56,944

T-46: Jhonattan Vegas, +13/293, $56,944

T-50: Ryan McCormmick, +14/294, $48,100

T-50: Michael Kim, +14/294, $48,100

T-50: Adam Schenk, +14/294, $48,100

T-50: Mackenzie Hughes, +14/294, $48,100

T-50: Ryan Gerard, +14/294, $48,100

T-55: Laurie Canter, +15/295, $46,081

T-55: Justin Hastings, +15/295, Amateur

T-57: Sungjae Im, +16/296, $45,422.50

T-57: Denny McCarthy, +16/296, $45,422.50

T-59: Harris English, +18/298, $44,545.50

T-59: Brian Harman, +18/298, $44,545.50

T-61: Jordan Smith, +19/299, $43,448

T-61: Johnny Keefer, +19/299, $43,448

T-61: James Nicholas, +19/299, $43,448

T-64: Cam Davis, +22/302, $42,350.50

T-64: Matthieu Pavon, +22/302, $42,350.50

66: Philip Barbaree, Jr., +24/304, $41,692

MORE: Win each week and beat the heat at Five Iron Dubai

Follow Golf Digest Middle East on social media

Instagram

X

Facebook

YouTube

Main Image: Fred Vuich

The post Here’s the record prize money payout for each golfer at the 2025 U.S. Open appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.