Defending U.S. Open champion J.J. Spaun revealed a family medical issue ahead of his return to the Open, this time at Shinnecock Hills, adding a personal challenge to his bid for a second consecutive major championship.
Spaun’s announcement comes as the 2025 U.S. Open winner prepares to defend his title at one of golf’s most demanding venues, where expectations will be high both on and off the course.
The defending champion delivered the update Sunday at Shinnecock Hills, four days before his title defense begins Thursday. His older daughter, 5-year-old Emerson, broke her collarbone last month at PGA Tour daycare during the Truist Championship, then had a tooth pulled the following Wednesday.
Spaun, who described the 5-year-old as having gone through the ringer, hoped the run of bad luck had finally exhausted itself.
“Hopefully, that’s all out of the way for at least this week,” he said, as quoted by Golf Channel reporter Brentley Romine.
J.J. Spaun’s Family Challenge Echoes 2025 U.S. Open
A year ago, the disruption landed even closer to the tee. The night before the final round at Oakmont, Spaun’s younger daughter, Violet, then 2 years old, came down with a stomach bug and began vomiting uncontrollably. His wife, Melody, was up at 3 a.m. He made an early-morning run to a CVS in downtown Pittsburgh for medicine, then teed off on Father’s Day on almost no sleep, according to the Golf Channel account.
Resilience has become the defining theme of his career. After his stunning U.S. Open triumph, Spaun pressed too hard in subsequent outings, opening 2026 with four missed cuts in his first seven starts. He entered the championship as a three-time PGA Tour winner.
Spaun’s U.S. Open Defense at Shinnecock Hills
Spaun’s 2025 title turned on a back-nine rally at Oakmont. He bogeyed five of his first six holes for a front-nine 40, then came out of a 96-minute rain delay and played the back nine in 32. He birdied the 12th and 14th, two-putted the drivable par-4 17th for another, then holed a 64-foot, 5-inch putt on the 72nd hole to finish at 1 under, the only player under par for the week and two clear of Robert MacIntyre, according to PGA Tour writer Paul Hodowanic.
The victory capped a turnaround few saw coming, least of all Spaun. The Los Angeles native walked on at San Diego State, turned pro in 2012 and spent years as a journeyman, winning the 2022 Valero Texas Open before nearly quitting the game.
“I never knew how good I could be,” Spaun said after Oakmont, as quoted by Hodowanic.
Validation kept arriving. Spaun lost a three-hole playoff to Rory McIlroy at the 2025 Players Championship, made the U.S. Ryder Cup team and climbed as high as No. 5 in the world. The status is unfamiliar ground.
“It’s a territory I’ve never been in,” Spaun said, as quoted by New York Post writer Mark Cannizzaro.
Those expectations cut both ways. Spaun missed the cut at the Masters and the PGA Championship this spring and has pointed to his hot-and-cold putting as the main element of his game holding him back. Whether or not his family’s bad luck has run out, the plan at Shinnecock matches the one that worked at Oakmont, minus the 3 a.m. pharmacy run.
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