J.J. Spaun’s Sunday at Oakmont to win the 2025 U.S. Open was one of the craziest final rounds from a major champion in recent memory. He began his day with five bogeys in his first six holes, going from tied at 2nd to five shots back of the lead before even making the turn. A 95-minute rain delay gave him a chance to regroup and climb the leaderboard again on the back nine. Three birdies helped Spaun retake the lead, and a 64-foot walk-off birdie putt on the 18th secured the miraculous come-from-behind victory.
It was an incredible scene, and a huge moment for Spaun as becoming a U.S. Open champion brings with it a variety of benefits — largely in the way of exemptions to majors and a guaranteed PGA Tour card.
Beyond that, Spaun jumped from 25th in the Official World Golf Rankings to eighth, marking his first time as a top-10 player in the world. He also won $4.3 million — the biggest check he’s ever taken home by a huge margin — a figure that impacts more than his bank account as it all but guaranteed him a spot on the United States Ryder Cup team.
Players receive 1.5 Ryder Cup points per $1,000 earned at majors (1 point per $1,000 in other PGA Tour events). Spaun therefore earned 6,450 Ryder Cup points on Sunday, enough to vault him not only into automatic qualifying status but past Bryson DeChambeau to third place in the Ryder Cup standings. Not only does Spaun sit 1,800 points ahead of DeChambeau, whose lone remaining scoring opportunity will come at The Open Championship, Spaun is only 500 points behind two-time major winner Xander Schauffele.
U.S. Ryder Cup standings (as of June 16)
|
1 |
Scottie Scheffler (Q) |
26,841.93 |
|
2 |
Xander Schauffele |
12,430.45 |
|
3 |
J.J. Spaun |
11,911.85 |
|
4 |
Bryson DeChambeau |
10,318.00 |
|
5 |
Justin Thomas |
9,457.69 |
|
6 |
Collin Morikawa |
9,410.01 |
|
7 |
Russell Henley |
9,406.85 |
|
8 |
Ben Griffin |
8,072.91 |
|
9 |
Maverick McNealy |
6,873.90 |
|
10 |
Harris English |
6,786.52 |
|
11 |
Andrew Novak |
6,220.90 |
|
12 |
Brian Harman |
5,901.26 |
With just one major and PGA Tour one signature event left on the schedule, the rest of the U.S. hopefuls are running out of opportunities to earn automatic qualifying spots. The top six men in the standings will be on American captain Keegan Bradley’s Ryder Cup team no matter what. Bradley will then have the opportunity to make six captain’s picks — not just among the remaining top 12 but any American he deems a fit for the team. (That includes himself as Bradley has been one of the most consistent players on the PGA Tour this season.)
Since Ryder Cup points for the U.S. team are tied to earnings, Spaun came through at two of the most opportune times this season. He won more than $2.2 million as the runner-up at The Players Championship, which boasts the biggest purse on the PGA Tour, and then won the major with the biggest purse at the U.S. Open. Now, he’s a near-lock to head to Bethpage Black this fall to wear the red, white and blue.