J.J. Spaun Wins the U.S. Open in Style

After four grueling days of golf at Oakmont Country Club outside of Pittsburgh, the U.S. Open named a new champion on Sunday evening, and his name is J.J. Spaun. That’s the same guy who had his heart broken at THE PLAYERS Championship earlier this year when he lost to Rory McIlroy in a Monday playoff. It’s also the same guy who had just one PGA TOUR win to his name before Sunday and the same guy who appeared doomed when he made bogey on five of the first six holes to star the final round.

Oakmont demands grit, though, and Spaun proved that he had it after shooting 40 on the front nine. A birdie on the par-five 12th hole sparked a life-changing rally from Spaun that brought him from two strokes over par to one stroke under and made him a major champion. While Spaun rose to the occasion, Sam Burns and Adam Scott melted down on the back nine with Burns making double bogey on the 11th and 15th to go eight strokes over par for the day and four over for the tournament. Scott was a miserable six strokes over on the back nine with just one birdie on the day, tumbling from second place after three rounds to a 12th place finish.

The struggles of his peers makes Spaun’s finish all the more impressive, and he clinched the title in style with a 65-foot birdie putt on the 18th hole when he only needed par to win. That brilliant shot made him the only man in the U.S. Open field to shoot under par for the tournament. Even the great Scottie Scheffler finished the U.S. Open four strokes over par after shooting an even-par 70 on Sunday.

There weren’t any NBA Finals or Stanley Cup Final games on Sunday night because Adam Silver is incompetent, but there was still plenty of sports action during the day. Arizona was eliminated from the College World Series despite leading Louisville 3-2 after seven innings. The Cardinals blasted their way past Arizona after trailing all day by scoring six runs in the 8th inning.

Zion Rose had the critical hit with an opposite-field single with the bases loaded that gave Louisville the lead. It’s safe to say we don’t need to worry about any anti-Zionist sentiment on the Louisville campus these days. In the nightcap, Coastal Carolina jumped out to any early lead like Arizona did, but the Chanticleers held onto it and won 6-2 thanks to a dominant outing from Jacob Morrison. He set down 16 Oregon State batters in a row after he allowed a solo shot to Easton Talt in the third inning. Morrison ended up allowing just five hits and the one run in seven and two-thirds innings.

Coastal is now in the driver’s seat of one double elimination bracket with a 2-0 record. Action will heat up in the other bracket on Monday with Arkansas trying to eliminate super Cinderella Murray State in the day game before LSU clashes with UCLA at night. In the pro game, both the Mets and Yankees were shut out on Sunday. The Mets were unable to take advantage of seven walks offered by Tampa Bay pitching while the Rays pounded Griffin Canning for six runs in just four and a third frames. The Yankees’ 2-0 loss in Boston featured a great start by Brayan Bello and a third straight three-strikeout game from Aaron Judge. It’s time to start asking if Judge is happy in the Yankees organization. Just like the Mets, the Yankees were coming off a sweep before getting swept this weekend.

It was another boring day for the Club World Cup with Palmeiras and FC Porto playing to a scoreless draw at MetLife Stadium. The other three matches all appeared to be blowouts with Paris Saint-Germain beating Atletico Madrid 4-0 and Bayern Munich clobbering Auckland City 10-0. However, Seattle Sounders just got on the board against Brazilian side Botafogo to make that score 2-1.

Sounders will hope to represent American better than the USMNT, but even that sorry group couldn’t mess up a game against Trinidad and Tobago in the Gold Cup. The Yanks won their opening match 5-0 after four straight losses split between friendlies and Concacaf Nations League. Maybe the easy win will propel the USMNT to a tournament win and it can start building momentum for next year’s World Cup.

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