JJ Spaun, a Pirate of the Caribbean US Open champion

You didn't need a fortune-teller's degree to sense that JJ Spaun's (Los Angeles, 1990) life would end up linked to golf. His mother, Dollie, of Filipino origin and an avid golfer, received doctor's permission to continue playing until she was eight months pregnant, a permission she enjoyed and stretched out as long as she could. Thirty-four years later, her son has entered Olympus by winning the US Open at the hell of Oakmont, just his second PGA Tour title and his first major .

But the road to success hasn't been easy for Spaun, who just four years ago seriously considered abandoning his golfing career, even going so far as to put his clubs up for sale. After slogging through the years away from the spotlight, like just another golfing journeyman, the Californian earned a PGA Tour card in 2017. But in 2018, he received terrible news when a doctor diagnosed him with type 2 diabetes, which poses more health risks than type 1. The medication he was given didn't work. He lost a lot of weight, but dizziness and fatigue began to become part of his life, until three years later they discovered the diagnosis had been wrong, that he suffered from type 1 diabetes and was taking the wrong medication. But the poor results of that 2021 were already irremediable, and he lost his card, at which point he considered retiring and changing the course of his life. But with the resilience that characterizes him, he decided to give himself another chance and a few months later he regained his rights via the Korn Ferry Tour (the second division of North American golf) and then won the Valero Texas Open (2022), his first title.

Accustomed to fighting to stay afloat rather than sailing with the wind at full sail, Spaun has taken a step forward this year, already boasting two second-place finishes heading into Oakmont, including at The Players, where he fell in a playoff to McIllroy. At the US Open, he took another step, the most complicated, and emerged victorious from a colossal battle against a hellish course, adorned with a storm that forced a 96-minute stoppage of play in the middle of the final day. He began Sunday by rushing to a pharmacy at 3 a.m. due to his daughter Violet's vomiting and finished it a few hours later by sinking a 20-meter birdie putt on the 18th hole to secure victory, becoming the only player to finish under par in the tournament. Quite a feat.

It wouldn't be surprising if Spaun and his family showed up at Disneyland one of these days to celebrate. The US Open champion is a huge fan of the park and still has the annual pass his parents gave him as a child, living in Los Angeles, a half-hour drive from the park. His first stop? Always the same: the Pirates of the Caribbean ride.