I count eight piano keys and twelve church pews. Together, they total twenty. By my count, Oakmont had crowned two women’s open and nine men’s open champions, prior to this year’s 125th playing of the men’s open championship. Oak Hill in New York has its Hill of Fame, and other venues find their own ways of remembering champion golfers. With the addition of J.J. Spaun as the 10th USGA Open champion at Oakmont, it’s time for Oakmont to establish an honorary order of sorts for its open champions. We’ll get to that after we relive Spaun’s sloshy march to victory.

The 2025 U.S. Open at Oakmont was a tale of two tournaments. The first two days embraced the firm and fast conditions that the membership treasures. Then came the rains, and the course began to hold water. The 1.5-hour delay on Sunday only added to the softness and, perhaps, the uncertainty. At least one Sam Burns lie was deemed not casual water, despite being the precise definition of casual water. And so it went.

40

5 over par. More bogeys than pars. Zero birdies. One flagstick. One rake. That was J.J. Spaun’s outward nine on Sunday at Oakmont. In any other U.S. Open, in any other tournament, his day was ended. Not today, as Arya Stark famously challenged. Somehow, Spaun had the fortitude to put the struggle behind him and grind out an inward 32, thanks to four birdies and one bogey.

136 Yards

Never you mind how J.J. Spaun righted the ship’s balance after that 40. Never you mind how he went from the middle of the fairway on 12 to the native area wide right with his second. What mattered was that the ball was in the gallery pathway, so the grass was trodden and the lie was manageable. Spaun did enough to get the ball on the green. His tap from 40 feet found gravity and rolled out until it came face to face with an abyss, and down it fell, for birdie. Perhaps here, Spaun felt that not all was lost.

22 Feet

After a standard par at 13, Spaun reached the 14th green in regulation. He faced a 22-foot putt from beneath the hole. As the putt began to move to the left, Spaun’s eyes started to widen. With perfect speed, the ball tumbled downward yet again, for another birdie. It was at this juncture when an entire zip code of contenders was tied at 1 over par, but Spaun had eyes on more heroics.

309 yards

There are moments that define the essence of one’s performance, of one’s self. The inspired plays made by Spaun on recent holes were but an appetizer for the main course. As Spaun stepped to the 17th tee, there was never a consideration to hit anything but driver. Everything about the swing, from the path to the pace to the contact, was flawless. The ball never left the flagstick as it soared, waving hello as it eased past, settling a bit past twenty feet beyond the hole. The eagle putt appeared poised to fall, until it broke a bit in the final feet. The second putt, this one for birdie, was true, and Spaun had the lead for the first time in many a hole. Could he preserve it?

64 feet

Thus struck Spaun, and his strike was again true. J.J. Spaun nutted his power fade 295 yards into the 18th hole’s Elysian Field. Next, he feathered a 6-iron from just beyond 200 yards to the green’s front-left quadrant. With 21 yards between his ball and the hole, what was needed was a nice pair of putts, a nice par, and a nice, one-shot advantage over fast-charging Robert MacIntyre. One of those putts wasn’t needed. Spaun’s cross-country effort was precise in every way, and the ball tumbled home with authority. In total, 131 feet of birdie putts over the final seven holes, a two-shot win over MacIntyre, and a second open championship to his name. This one might count for a bit more than the Texas Open that he won in 2022.

John Michael Spaun has joined Patty Sheehan, Juli Inkster, Tommy Armour, Sam Parks, Jr., Ben Hogan, Jack Nicklaus, Johnny Miller, Larry Nelson, Ernie Els, Angel Cabrera, and Dustin Johnson in what I wish to christen the Keys and Pews Society. It celebrates those infamous church pews and piano keys bunker complexes, nearly eponymous with Oakmont. Membership currently consists of an even dozen.

With the upcoming 2028 and 2038 women’s open tournaments, and the 2033, 2042, and 2049 men’s playings, the storied Pittsburgh club will add five new members, and still have three spots left for the second half of the 21st century. By then, we’ll have a name for the pits of forlorn destiny, alongside holes five and fourteen, which will offer a bit more breathing room. On that note, congratulations once more to J.J. Spaun on his victory in the 2025 U.S. Open championship.