Golf can be a cruel game, especially when the conditions are made to be especially challenging at the U.S. Open.
J.J. Spaun found that out on Sunday in the final round at Oakmont, when his approach shot on the second hole hit the flagstick and kept rolling and rolling all the way back out onto the fairway roughly 50 yards from the pin.
Spaun, who had been at or near the top of the leaderboard throughout the first three rounds, entered the day at 3-under, tied with Adam Scott and one shot back of leader Sam Burns. But he bogeyed the first and ended up bogeying the second after the unlucky bounce on his second shot, later missing an 8-foot par putt.
“That is one of the worst breaks we’ve seen all week,” NBC’s Dan Hicks said on the broadcast.
Things have only gotten worse for Spaun from there, as he recorded bogeys on hole Nos. 3, 5 and 6 to drop him to 2-over and a tie for fifth.
As of this writing, Burns led at 2-under through seven holes and was 2-over for the day. Scott was also 2-over through seven and was one shot back.
Spaun, 34, has never finished better than tied for 23rd in a major, which he did at the 2022 Masters.
He missed the cut in his only previous U.S. Open appearance in 2021.
Earlier this year, he finished 50th at the Masters and tied for 37th at the PGA Championship.
In March, he lost the Players Championship to Rory McIlroy in a playoff.