'One of the Most Unlikely Major Winners' in Years

To say JJ Spaun won the US Open on Sunday with a birdie putt is one thing. To see the 64-footer roll dead center into the hole is another. Watch it here. As NBC Sports notes, the 31-year-old Californian would have won the tournament even if he needed two putts. But he stunned spectators by doing it one. ESPN calls Spaun "one of the most unlikely major winners in recent memory," given that he had largely been a "journeyman" player his entire career before rising this year to a ranking of 15th.

Another factor in the surprise victory is that Spaun bogeyed five of his first six holes on Sunday at Oakmont Country Club in Pennsylvania. But heavy rain then forced a delay in play—and made the notoriously difficult course even harder—and Spaun's coach credits the "reset" with giving him time to regroup. "I tried to just continue to dig deep," Spaun said. "I've been doing it my whole life." (More US Open Golf stories.)