JJ Spaun Claims His Second Pair of Boots at the Valero Texas Open in San Antonio

By Cash Arenas

KTSW Sports Reporter

SAN ANTONIO- The Valero Texas Open Boots have officially been claimed by the former champion JJ Spaun, now becoming a three-time winner on the PGA Tour and a two-time winner of the VTO. The final day, Sunday, April 5, started early morning with round three play due to inclement weather, causing play to be suspended on Saturday.

Leading at the start of the day was Robert MacIntyre at 15-under, with Ludvig Åberg sitting right behind him at 13-under, with Matt Wallace and Ryo Hisatune tied for third to round out our top three. Throughout the remainder of round three, things started to shift as Ryo Hisatune and Andrew Putnam entered the clubhouse with a score of 67, followed by Michael Kim joining them with a 66, to all join Ludvig Åberg at two tied at the end of the third round. Making waves silently was JJ Spaun, firing 6-under through his first two rounds and doubling down with a 6-under 66 in the third round to push himself right behind the top three tied with two players for fourth.

Going into the VTO, JJ Spaun had a game plan.

“My strategy was to not spiral, believe it or not,” said Spaun. “Like I’ve been kind of going crazy as far as my golf swing and how I’ve been playing.”

Round four started play shortly after round three finished, with the same groupings as before. At the start of round four, the favorite to win the tournament was Robert MacIntryre, as he had led the tournament for all three rounds prior.

Ludvig Åberg, who was paired with MacIntyre, played consistent golf throughout the final round to score a 70 to close out his week with a 15-under. After a birdie on 17, Andrew Putnam needed to make a 4 on 18 to extend his score to a 4-under 68. However, after catching a flyer into the green, Putnam went long into the bunker, which then led to him making a bogey to finish his round at 2-under with a total score of 15-under.

“It stings right now,” said Putnam. “Caught a little flyer lie on that last shot. It was the club I needed to hit to make a birdie. I played great golf. It was tough….  Kind of a bummer how the last few played out.”

Michael Kim also needed to birdie 16 to extend his lead to 17-under. He ended up getting up and down on 18 to make a final round 3-under 69 to stay at 16-under. While Kim fell short, he was overall happy with how the weekend went.

“Yeah, I kind of got on a run starting on Friday afternoon there and was able to keep it going for spurts,,, when it was going well, it was going great,” said Kim. “Lost my swing for a few holes there in the middle of the round today. I was kind of able to figure stuff out, and happy with the way I played.”

Meanwhile, JJ Spaun was trending upwards throughout the day after going from 3-under through 14, where it seemed that he was on a hot streak; however, on 15, he made a bogey, but Spaun would then bounce back and make a birdie on 16. Stepping up to 17 felt similar to Spaun as he made a birdie the year before on 17 at Oakmont, which helped propel him to win the US Open.

“I kind of had a flash of my tee shot at Oakmont at the U.S. Open last year on 17 on Sunday, where I drove the green and ended up making birdie,” said Spaun. “It was kind of a nice image that I had in my mind before I pegged it and hit the shot.”

However, while on the 17 tee at TPC San Antonio JJ had a decision to make as he was facing a driveable par 4 that would be huge for him to eagle.

“17, it was kind of like a tweener between 3-wood and driver. I think if there was more wind, I would have hit 3-wood, but I knew I was one back of the lead, I wanted to be aggressive and take driver, just kind of hit like a 90 percent driver,” said. Spaun.

JJ put a good swing on it to land the ball two feet short of the green and trickle to 10 feet, and he would then go on to bury the putt for eagle.

Spaun would go on to par hole 18 and head to the clubhouse with a 17-under lead. MacIntyre  was just behind him with a few holes to play. Robert MacIntyre would make an eagle on 17 to take him to just one behind Spaun. Spaun would then go to the range to warm up for the potential playoff.

Needing to make a birdie, MacIntyre had to hit an aggressive shot to get him in range for the opportunity. After trying to lay up, he pulled his shot right into the spectator area on 18, leaving him with a hard shot to make his birdie chance tougher. However, he landed his 3rd shot on the front of the green. His first putt was short, leading to a two putt hole for par.

Finishing the tournament at 17-under, JJ Spaun would be crowned the Valero Texas Open Champion with his wife and two girls on Easter Sunday in San Antonio, Texas, making it an Easter to remember.