The sweetest off-course moments at the U.S. Open

Hello friends and happy U.S. Open Sunday and Father’s Day to all who observe! Despite an extremely rainy, wet day at Oakmont, we officially have a U.S. Open champion. I didn’t know much about J.J. Spaun until his playoff against Rory McIlroy at the Players Championship in March, but I became a fan of his after hearing him talk about his career path at TPC Sawgrass.

I’m still not over Spaun’s winning putt and I’m not sure I ever will be. What a read!

Caitlin Clark’s relatable take

One of my favorite parts of major championship weeks is seeing what professional athletes and celebrities are tuning in to the action. It’s no surprise that Caitlin Clark was watching it all unfold at Oakmont because she attended the Masters in April and is a self-proclaimed golf fanatic. She asked a very good question about the course: “Is it even fun to play?”

I guess it depends who you ask, but I’d be willing to guess that for a majority of the players at Oakmont this week, the answer is “no.” Oakmont took a physical, mental and emotional toll on the world’s best this week. I’m also not confident Clark, myself or any other average golfer could shoot 130 out there. It could definitely be a lot higher.

The best people-watching spot at Oakmont

My favorite place to hang out toward the end of the day on major championship Sundays is the walkway between scoring, the interview area and the player entrance to the clubhouse. It’s a spot where every single pro, caddie and family member passes by at some point after their round, and on Sunday evenings, it’s a place where emotions run high. And because there are a lot of televisions around, players often stop to watch the broadcast on their way out.

As I stood on the walkway, I saw the Meredith, Scottie and Bennett Scheffler thank the police officer who was with them all week. Scottie opened up a leather bag, pulled out a bunch of hats and handed them to the officer as he and Meredith thanked him profusely and told him to “get out of here and enjoy your Father’s Day.”

The officer kept his cool while chatting with the World No. 1, but couldn’t help but smile when they walked away. As I turned away from that interaction, I saw Jon and Kelley Rahm hug as they watched the broadcast.

There’s a grandstand on 18 that blocks the view of the green from the walkway and the television was slightly delayed, so it wasn’t until I heard screams and a “JJ!” chant that my coworker, James Colgan and I learned that Spaun sunk his birdie putt to win the championship. As we made our way toward scoring, Spaun’s coaches, Adam Schriber and Josh Gregory had en epic embrace. It was the beginning of the theme I kept noticing for the rest of the night: pros, coaches and caddies cheering on their fellow competitor and friend.

Gregory is Spaun’s short-game coach, and he grabbed Schriber, Spaun’s swing coach, and said “F*** yeah, you did this! You. Did. This. Listen to me. Listen to me. There’s nobody who works harder than you.” It could have been easy for each coach to celebrate their own part in Spaun’s win, but these two did the opposite. They hyped up each other and each other’s work. And this was just the start of guys congratulating each other on Sunday evening.

Bob MacIntyre was in scoring when Spaun drained the putt on No. 18 and had no choice but to tip his cap. I always get nervous that a player will react angrily when the camera’s on them and they watch somebody else win the tournament, but that was definitely not an issue here. Game respects game and how could you not appreciate a 64-footer on the 72nd hole?

One of the coolest parts of this job (in my humble opinion) is getting to watch the pros watch the golf. Tyrrell Hatton’s reaction to Spaun’s victory was perfect.

“Oh he’s holed it. That’s incredible.”

As Spaun entered scoring, players began to exit of the clubhouse. A teary Sam Burns walked down the steps as he carried his son and walked out to the parking lot. Viktor Hovland hugged his parents, disappeared into the locker room to change into jeans and headed to the car. And then everybody waited for the champion to appear.

The walkway outside the clubhouse is always where I watch players transform from work mode back into dad-, husband- and friend-mode, and Sunday at the U.S. Open was no exception.

Celebrities and fellow pros congratulate J.J. Spaun

A handful of professional golfers and athletes took to social media to congratulate Spaun on his U.S. Open victory. Patrick Mahomes, Smylie Kaufman, Justin Thomas, Tom Watson, Colt Knost and Billy Horschel were among the first people to congratulate Spaun on Twitter, and Sahith Theegala reshared a video of his winning putt on his Instagram stories.

I have a feeling he’ll hear from a lot of other golfers, athletes and celebrities via text and phone call.

The coolest social videos of the week

I will leave you all with two of my very favorite pieces of content from the week. First is this video from GolfBet, where they asked PGA Tour players if they’d take even par for the week at Oakmont or take their chances.

Everybody but Collin Morikawa said they’d take even par, which was a smart decision. It would’ve earned you solo second this week.

And last but not least, here’s a video from Jeff Marsh, who captured the turnpike between the two sides of Oakmont Country Club from above. Very cool!

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