Oakmont, Pennsylvania – JJ Spaun once dreamed of being a professional skateboarder.
No wonder he kissed this open version American.
The Oakmont Country Club already annihilating some of the best players in the world at lunchtime on Thursday, Spaun kept its first round on rails better than anyone. His 4 sous 66 do not only correspond to the opening hollow in nine previous championships in Oakmont, but he recorded only the eighth professional round without Bogey to the beautiful giant of Henry C. Fownes and became the first player to tame Oakmont at the melody of 31 or better on his first nine holes of the week.
“You mean, like, thank you to everyone who tells you, good game,” said Spaun, “but you end up saying 50 times in a hole.”
How to explain the execution of Spaun?
Its 26 putts are a start, with Spaun considering Thursday’s performance on the Greens one of its best of the year. “It was like one of those days when you couldn’t really miss anything a reasonable putt to do,” added Spaun.
He also won on a shot from both the tee and the approach.
And although he missed six greens, he was a perfect 6 for 6 blurring, including in the fourth hole by 5, his 13th hole of the day, where he led him to the side of one of the 13 church banks and then converted an 8 feet after splashing sand. His latest peer from top to bottom was also the clutch, circulating a putt by 17 feet after finding the good Greenside bunker, about 30 meters from the flag, in the sixth by 3.
“You will obviously have to cringe when you are out of position, and I did it very well today,” said Spaun. “… It is sort of the key to this tournament and this place simply does not lose your vapor, does not lose your concentration and does not convert these putts which save from the moment.”
It may not be a coincidence that Spaun started working with a new short-off instructor this week at Josh Gregory. While SPAUN entered the week 12 of the PGA Tour in feature gained in green, it was n ° 120 around the green, its only negative of the four statistics.
With a rough juicy of Oakmont, 5 inch producing a wide variance of lies, Gregory worked with Spaun not only on lies, but how to set up and release the club for each lie.
“He has big hands,” said Gregory. “He just needed a little advice.”
Only three shots in Thursday’s opening lathe, Spaun participated in Birdie, and Spaun’s shopping cart, Mark Carens, told his player: “Nice Chip, Josh”.
Also contribute to the best of Spaun of what is now 27 major career rounds that he has not corrected. After his second missed cut of the season at the Memorial, Spaun dropped what he called a “rabbit hole” with his golf swing.
In terms of the secular, the position of the Spaun club at the top was “a little too much on the whole line” when it prefers the club pointing slightly to the left of the target to help it reach a cup. Spaun stressed for two days when he was trying to make a more dismissed position at the top, but that was simply not natural.
“I said to myself, I feel uncomfortable to play at home with that; How will I do this outdoors? ” Explained Spaun. “I have somehow forgotten it and I tried to use more, we call it, the sensation through, which means through the ball.
The advance with a spa after the morning wave is much better than its best major career position after 18 holes – a T -16 in 2022 Masters. He was one of the five players to break on Thursday morning, and he beat the average of the field with more than nine strokes.
Xander Schauffele and Ludvig Aberg, who have each displayed 72 years old, cannot say that.
Bryson Dechambeau (73) ni Rory McILroy (74).
It was after the defeat of the Spaun elimination series against McILroy to players earlier this year that the 34 -year -old veteran, who is between this week during a 25th best in career in the world ranking, explained how he finally feels comfortable with the ball proverbially in his hand at the end of the tournaments. He pierced for his first PGA Tour victory a few years ago and posted three top-3 this year only.
As a skater, Spaun admits that he has never had the courage to do anything big.
My, how times have changed.
