John Michael "J.J." Spaun Jr. (born August 21, 1990) is an American professional golfer who plays on the PGA Tour.
Early life
Spaun was born in Los Angeles, California. His father, John Michael Spaun Sr., is a white American, while his mother Dollie is half-Filipino, half-Mexican. His mother's paternal grandparents moved to California from Victoria, Tarlac in the Philippines and spoke Ilocano. His father was a hospital administrator, and his mother was an office manager as of 2022.[2] Spaun's mother was an avid golfer and received a doctor's permission to continue playing golf while carrying him until she was eight months pregnant.[3] Spaun received a plastic set of golf clubs when he was three years old, and practiced from a young age by hitting balls into a net his father had set up in their garage. He did not receive formal lessons while growing up.[4]
After graduating from San Dimas High School in 2008, Spaun played collegiate golf for the San Diego State Aztecs. He was lightly recruited out of high school, and chose to walk-on at San Diego State University.[4] He subsequently became a two-time All-Mountain West Conference selection in 2010, 2011 and Conference Player of the Year in 2012. He was named a Third-team All-American in 2011 and Second-team All-American in 2012 highlighted by three-straight individual wins his senior year. Spaun majored in social science while at San Diego State, and turned professional in 2012.
Professional career
Spaun played his first three professional seasons on PGA Tour Canada, finishing 35th in 2013. After missing six of seven cuts in 2014, he went to PGA Tour Canada Q School, where he finished T8. Spaun had his first professional win at the 2015 Staal Foundation Open. The win moved Spaun inside the top three on the PGA Tour Canada (renamed Mackenzie Tour in 2015) Order of Merit, earning entry into the 2015 RBC Canadian Open. The Canadian Open was Spaun's PGA Tour debut, where he finished T41.[5][6]
With two events remaining in the 2015 season, Spaun broke the record in PGA Tour Canada single-season earnings. He made the cut in the eleven events he played, which included a tour-record four consecutive top-five finishes and six consecutive top-10s. Spaun finished as the PGA Tour Canada Order of Merit winner, which made him fully exempt on the Web.com Tour for 2016. Spaun also played in the PGA Tour's Northern Trust Open in February 2016 at Riviera Country Club through a sponsor exemption reserved for golfers of a minority background,[7][8] where he missed the cut. Later that year, Spaun won his first event on the Web.com Tour, at the News Sentinel Open. He shot a tournament record 26-under 258 to beat Sam Ryder by one stroke. The win came on August 21, 2016, his 26th birthday, and ensured his promotion to the PGA Tour the following year.[9]
Spaun maintained his status on the PGA Tour until 2021, when he dropped outside the top 500 of the Official World Golf Ranking and lost his PGA Tour card. He regained his playing privileges through the Korn Ferry Tour Finals by placing 2nd at the Albertsons Boise Open in August 2021.[10] He earned his first PGA Tour win at the Valero Texas Open in April 2022, after 147 PGA Tour starts.[11]
At the 2025 Players Championship, Spaun held the solo-lead after 54 holes. He shot an even-par 72 in the final round to tie the score of 12-under set by 2019 champion Rory McIlroy and entered a three-hole aggregate playoff, which was held the following day. In the playoff, Spaun hit his tee shot at the par-3 island-green 17th hole into the water and made triple bogey. McIlroy won with an aggregate score of +1. Spaun's runner-up finish moved him to a career-high 25th in the Official World Golf Ranking.[12][13]
Personal life
Spaun was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes in 2018, after a prolonged period of feeling run down. Treatment he received was ineffective, and he found out in 2021 that he had been misdiagnosed, and instead had type 1 diabetes.[10]
In 2019, Spaun married Melody Means. Their first child was born in 2020, followed by a second in 2023.[14]
Professional wins (4)
PGA Tour wins (1)
| No. | Date | Tournament | Winning score | Margin of victory |
Runners-up |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Apr 3, 2022 | Valero Texas Open | −13 (67-70-69-69=275) | 2 strokes |  Matt Jones,  Matt Kuchar
|
PGA Tour playoff record (0–1)
| No. | Year | Tournament | Opponent | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2025 | The Players Championship |  Rory McIlroy
|
Lost three-hole aggregate playoff; McIlroy: +1 (4-4-5=13), Spaun: x (5-6-x=x) |
Web.com Tour wins (1)
| No. | Date | Tournament | Winning score | Margin of victory |
Runner-up |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Aug 21, 2016 | News Sentinel Open | −26 (66-62-64-66=258) | 1 stroke | Sam Ryder
|
Web.com Tour playoff record (0–1)
| No. | Year | Tournament | Opponents | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2016 | Air Capital Classic | Collin Morikawa (a), Ollie Schniederjans
|
Schniederjans won with birdie on second extra hole |
PGA Tour Canada wins (1)
| No. | Date | Tournament | Winning score | Margin of victory |
Runner-up |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jul 19, 2015 | Staal Foundation Open | −18 (67-67-69-67=270) | 1 stroke | Nicholas Reach
|
Gateway Tour wins (1)
- 2013 National Series 7
Results in major championships
Results not in chronological order before 2019 and in 2020.
| Tournament | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Masters Tournament | T23 | |||||||
| PGA Championship | T35 | T54 | CUT | CUT | ||||
| U.S. Open | CUT | |||||||
| The Open Championship | NT |
CUT = missed the halfway cut
"T" indicates a tie for a place
NT = No tournament due to COVID-19 pandemic
Results in The Players Championship
| Tournament | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Players Championship | CUT | WD | C | CUT | CUT | T64 | 2 |
CUT = missed the halfway cut
WD = withdrew
"T" indicates a tie for a place
C = canceled after the first-round due to the COVID-19 pandemic
Results in World Golf Championships
| Tournament | 2023 |
|---|---|
| Match Play | R16 |
QF, R16, R32, R64 = Round in which player lost in match play
See also
References
- ^ "Week 11 2025 Ending 16 Mar 2025" (pdf). OWGR. Retrieved March 30, 2025.
- ^ Bancod, Rey (April 6, 2022). "Spaun loves adobo, pinakbet". The Daily Tribune.
- ^ Jardy, Adam. "Memorial Tournament | J.J. Spaun was born to golf". The Columbus Dispatch. Retrieved March 16, 2025.
- ^ a b Romine, Brentley. "J.J. Spaun finds his bearings in second year on PGA Tour". Golfweek. Retrieved March 16, 2025.
- ^ "JJ Spaun". World Amateur Golf Ranking. Retrieved April 6, 2022.
- ^ Decker, Brian (July 19, 2015). "J.J. Spaun wins Staal Foundation Open pres. by Tbaytel". PGA Tour.
- ^ "J.J. Spaun earns 2016 Northern Trust Open Exemption". PGA Tour. January 18, 2016. Archived from the original on January 27, 2016.
- ^ "J.J. Spaun selected for this year's Northern Trust Open Exemption". Orange County Register. Southland Golf. January 27, 2016. Retrieved March 16, 2025.
- ^ "J.J. Spaun wins Web.com Tour's News Sentinel Open". Associated Press News. August 22, 2016. Retrieved March 16, 2025.
- ^ a b Berhow, Josh (May 4, 2022). "'Best thing for me': How losing his PGA Tour card fueled J.J. Spaun". Golf Magazine. Retrieved March 16, 2025.
- ^ "J.J. Spaun takes Texas Open for first PGA Tour win". ESPN. Associated Press. April 3, 2022.
- ^ Schreiber, Max (March 17, 2025). "Rory McIlroy Wins Players Championship Playoff As J.J. Spaun's Hopes Sink at 17". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved March 17, 2025.
- ^ Scrivener, Peter (March 17, 2025). "Rory McIlroy wins Players Championship with victory over JJ Spaun in play-off at Sawgrass". BBC Sport. Retrieved March 17, 2025.
- ^ Walters, Tim (March 16, 2025). "J.J. Spaun clings to a one-shot lead heading to the final day of the Players Championship". The Florida Times-Union. Retrieved March 16, 2025.
External links
- J. J. Spaun at the PGA Tour official site
- J. J. Spaun at the Official World Golf Ranking official site
- SDSU profile of Spaun