[mysterious music playing]
[commentator] Carolina blue skies.
Tens of thousands are on hand
welcoming the world to the Queen City of Charlotte.
The 107th PGA Championship.
Morning! How are you?
That's good.
Good luck, mate.
They're back.
Netflix are back.
Woo-hoo!
[Rapaport] It feels like Ryder Cup season is starting to really begin.
The Masters is kind of its own thing, but, uh, you know, it moves quickly
and we're already at the second of four majors, so…
This is one of those tournaments, this Ryder Cup coming up,
that you're gonna be an old man
and you won't wanna tell your kids you missed it.
This is one you wanna be at.
[tense music playing]
[Dethier] The Ryder Cup is on everybody's mind right now.
For European Captain Luke Donald, there's great news.
His team is coming into focus. His guys are stacking up wins.
They're firing on all cylinders.
[man] With your captain's hat on, how do you feel about another strong showing
from the Europeans following the Masters?
Yeah, it's, uh… it's great.
It's always nice when guys on your team are up there each and every week
playing against the strongest fields in golf and doing extremely well.
When you have two or three guys up there, like at the Masters,
there's always got to be one loser, which is the tough part,
'cause I'm texting the guys, saying, "Hard luck,"
but inside I'm thinking, you know, this is great
because I've got a few guys all playing really well.
[Keegan] Hello, guys!
-[man] Oh, hey. -[Keegan] Yeah!
[Dethier] But for US Captain Keegan Bradley,
it's open season.
There's a longer list than ever of potential US Ryder Cuppers.
-Can we go listen to you? -[Keegan] Let's go do it.
[Keegan] We're trying to put the best team together.
These guys are playing in all four of the majors.
You know, you… you see a guy, maybe a younger guy,
that, you know, stands up to the pressure and can feel…
This is as close as we're gonna get to Bethpage in that, you know,
the pressure on Sunday is a lot in a major.
I think, when you get down to it, it's… they're always really tough decisions.
Any given week could tee it up with these guys in a PGA Tour event.
[Rapaport] I think the Europeans seem to lean into the team environment,
and that's what Keegan Bradley has to do.
Pick me!
[Rapaport] A lot of guys who are playing their way onto this team
will feel like, "I don't know if I'll play another Ryder Cup,
'cause I haven't played one before, so I gotta put everything into this week."
That sort of embodies the spirit that Keegan brings to this team.
We might not be the normal guys, we might not be who you expected,
but we're representing the red, white, and blue in the Ryder Cup.
[dramatic music playing]
-[woman] Bags are special. -[man] Yeah, they really are.
[man 2] This is blowing some people's minds right now. It's really nice.
[Keegan] Yep, let's go.
[man 2] Nice.
And then down here we have a celebration of our spectator championships.
[Keegan] Oh, look at that, boys!
[man 2 laughs]
-[Keegan] Nice. -I think this is one of your wedges. Um…
-Yeah. -Yeah?
-Yeah. -Oh, that's good.
[Keegan] We want to see the guys coming down the stretch of tournaments
in the biggest events.
The U.S. Open is a big barometer.
The majors are so stressful.
We sort of know how Justin Thomas is in these situations
or Scottie Scheffler or Xander.
So when we're looking at guys that sort of burst onto the scene,
we took in all those factors, and we're really paying attention to that.
[man] Now we're just gonna do a quick photo.
-[Jillian] Hey. -[Keegan] Are you ready?
-Three, two, one. Penny, look over here. -[Keegan laughs]
[man] Oh, good girl.
[Keegan] Good girl!
[woman] Her little legs just perched over too.
Yeah.
[Balionis] Winning a major in a Ryder Cup year
is one of the very few foolproof ways to make the team.
-You did it! -Yeah!
[Balionis] And we've seen in recent years players come basically out of nowhere
and use, in particular, the U.S. Open as their statement,
"I'm here, and I belong."
I think, when you're Keegan Bradley,
you're thinking, "Man, who's gonna come out of the woodwork
and shock the world this year?"
-[man] What up, G? -[man 2] What up?
-How you doing? -Good to see you, dog.
-I'm good. How about yourself? -Great. Awesome.
-You like this? A little throwback, huh? -Damn! Throwback.
-What year is that? -I have no idea.
[J.J.] So I'll do a couple of, yeah, front boards, and…
[Sean] Yeah. You got front boards?
-No, dude! -Come on!
-Maybe back in the day. -Come on! Come on!
Mike would kill me if I did this.
Yeah, no. We gotta keep the wrist protected.
-[J.J.] Yeah. -Yeah.
-We got to go back to back. -I'm just gonna roll.
-[Sean] I'll do a front board though. -I'm gonna roll.
Growing up in Southern California, it was all skateboarding, surfing, beach.
Even, you know, snowboarding during the season.
-Let's go. -I'm about to lose money.
[J.J.] Let's go!
I was probably eight or nine years old. My dad bought me a skateboard,
and we'd go to this park and spend all day there, honestly.
And we just felt so, like, spirited and free.
[Sean] It's kind of steep.
[J.J.] Roaming the city, roaming your town,
and trying to find places and hanging with your friends.
-God, he makes it look so easy. -[Sean] I know.
-I'll see if I can front crook it first. -Come on, Sean.
[J.J.] The difference between golf and skateboarding then,
there was, like, a huge divide, right?
There you go.
Skateboarders were kind of the crazy ones.
You're trespassing. You're causing a ruckus.
Golf, on the other hand, was, you know, very proper.
Lots of etiquette. Classy.
I feel like, when I grew up,
like, I was actually trying to hide that I was a golfer.
[Sean] Me too! Me too!
I'd have, like, golf clothes in my backpack
and then have my skateboard.
I'd be like, "See you later," and I'd skate off,
go change quick, and go to the golf course.
Oh, the amount of times I would get made fun of and then try to hide it.
I feel like golf, like, you're using your brain in a certain way,
kind of like skating, but there's not as much pain involved.
-Very fair. Very fair. -Yeah.
[laughing]
Then… yeah!
All right. Let's get him out of here. Let's get him out of here.
-Dawg, I enjoyed it. Thank you. -My man.
[J.J.] I'm a late bloomer in golf.
My whole career, whether it was junior golf or collegiately,
it kind of took me a while at each stage to really come through.
[gentle music playing]
[commentator] Championship Sunday at the Players.
J.J. Spaun, not going away.
[commentator 2] Grew up playing public courses just outside of LA,
and now on the grand stage of the Players.
[Rapaport] The Players is definitely a breakout week for J.J. Spaun.
[commentator] Oh man, J.J. Spaun's got a kick-in birdie at the toughest hole.
We see a lot of guys who come out right from college, and they're stars.
Not the case for J.J. Spaun.
[commentator] Oh yeah, J.J. Spaun!
And he is going to tie McIlroy.
The guy's just been money.
This for the Players Championship.
[J.J.] Going toe to toe with Rory McIlroy, the biggest star in our sport.
[crowd] Oh!
[Rapaport ] I mean, he was one revolution short of winning that tournament.
So I think that was a big signal to the rest of the golf world,
like, J.J. Spaun is for real.
[suspenseful music playing]
[commentator] But McIlroy's got another Players title.
[J.J.] It doesn't matter where you came from.
It's kind of like where you're at at the moment and what you can do.
And, you know, I've used that as fuel to prove, you know, people wrong.
[gentle music playing]
[man] Oh yeah. Little cake tasting.
[woman] Okay. Your favorite wedding planning event yet.
The cake tasting.
-I'm gonna go for a bit of chocolate. -Ben, we're gonna cut them. [laughs]
All right, I'll cut one here.
No, at our wedding, when we cut the cake, you can't shove it in my face.
Wait, I've seen so many good videos of that though.
[laughs] Don't even think about it.
[Dana] When you wanna marry a golfer and you want to pick a wedding date,
you know that you probably have to get married in the off season,
which is either September or December.
And so before this year even started,
if Ben would've had a bad year and would've finished outside the top 100,
he would've had to go to Q School finals.
If we picked Saturday of Q School, it would've just added pressure of,
"All right, I have to play well or else we're gonna have some wedding issues."
Honestly, I just didn't even think
golf was gonna ever happen again when I was working, so…
Um…
Pretty crazy. Here we are eating cake on Netflix.
[both chuckle]
My professional golf journey has been, um, a roller coaster.
Congrats, big guy! Way to go, man.
[Ben] I came out of college having some success.
[Balionis] Everything was kind of going swimmingly.
He clearly showed a lot of passion, a lot of talent.
And then Ben Griffin finds himself, as he turns professional,
things aren't as easy as he thought they were going to be.
[crowd] Oh!
Unfortunately, in 2019, I just didn't play well.
[Balionis] The way the PGA Tour is structured, all of these players
are independent contractors.
So when Ben Griffin turns professional,
he's responsible now for paying for his hotel room,
paying for his flights, paying for his caddie.
On a mediocre to bad season,
players can lose $40,000 to $60,000.
[Ben] I had $17,000 in credit card debt.
For me, the system made it so difficult to make it
that I didn't wanna gamble on myself anymore.
I needed to step away and do something that I could afford rent.
I knew I needed to try something new.
All right, get after that salad bar, Mike.
Fat guy can't be first in the buffet line.
[Ben] I started working as a loan officer for a corporate investors mortgage group.
It was nice to finally have paychecks coming in,
and I felt like I could finally pay my own rent.
It's been a thrill of a lifetime watching the last few years.
[Ben] Mike's seen… Mike's seen the most of it.
-[Mike chuckles] We take the credit. -[man] Direct quote.
-Exactly, for sure. -[man] Direct quote.
[Ben] That's about the time when I got a phone call from Doug Sieg,
the CEO of Lord Abbett.
-Hey, good seeing you. Doug! Let's go. -What's up, my man? How are you?
-Doing good. -Look how strong you look.
-I know. Look how strong you look. -Yeah, well.
He called me and was like, "Dude, you're too good."
"You're too good to be a loan officer. Too good to not be playing golf."
"We gotta get you back."
"I wanna help you get back to golf."
"I wanna sponsor someone who's gonna work from the ground up."
So I decided to make a comeback to golf in 2021.
-Well, at least it was straight. -[Ben chuckles] Yeah.
-[man] All right. See you out there. -See you in a bit.
[Ben] Doug sponsored me, paid for all my expenses.
I credit him with literally all of my success.
I think Ben stepping away from golf gives him a ton of perspective.
He has the perspective to say
a bad day on the golf course is better than any day in the office.
And so I think it makes him a lot more positive.
That'll play.
Think how limber he'd be if he had a full-time guy.
Yeah, give me a tour caddie, give me a tour stretch.
You know, give me the grandstand free drop.
[Ben] Look at those tree trunks. They've never been pulled in those directions.
[Doug chuckles]
[Ben] My mind completely shifted
from those first years of playing professional golf
to now this new revived me.
Flash forward to the Zurich Classic.
[commentator] It's the final round of the Zurich Classic of New Orleans.
The only team event on the schedule.
And it's worth the wait for Ben Griffin and Andrew Novak.
They team up for their first win on the PGA Tour.
-We did it. -PGA Tour winner Ben Griffin!
[Rapaport] Ben Griffin was completely off everyone's Ryder Cup radar
to begin this year.
[man] Good job.
[Rapaport] He showed up on early leaderboards,
but I think getting that victory in the team format
sent a message to Keegan Bradley.
[Ben] It was an incredible moment,
but also it kind of felt like a monkey off the back.
I didn't have to worry about, you know, would I be a PGA Tour winner one day?
That unlocked a new level of confidence.
[Balionis] This year, Keegan Bradley, he's in this unique position
to find new talent, to find new personalities
who might be a great fit that we've never thought of before.
[man] Henderson Executive Airport.
Automated weather observation.
-1-3-3-4 Zulu. -Looking good.
Wind 2-0-0 at 1-3.
I've been flying for just about three years now.
If you do it right, it's not really that dangerous.
I've got the pre-flight checklist on my phone here.
I just make sure I don't miss anything as I go.
You could do it for the lifestyle. You could do it for the money.
You could do it for the fame and the notoriety,
but I play golf because I love to compete.
See where we are…
It really is the ultimate meritocracy.
When you're standing on that first tee, the golf ball's staring right back at you,
and you have to take 100% ownership of everything that happens after that.
Great. Looks good.
[Rappaport] Mav's a cerebral guy.
A lot of these tour pros, I think, are "see ball, hit ball."
Mav is not like that at all.
He's got an incredible career at Stanford,
where he is, like, one of the best college players ever,
number one amateur in the world.
He finally wins his first PGA TOUR event in the fall.
[commentator] From St. Simons Island, Georgia, it's the RSM Classic.
Maverick McNealy is still leading the way by one.
And he's an incredible putter. It's a strength of his game,
which is very enticing to a Ryder Cup captain.
[cheering and applause
[commentator] Maverick McNealy is now a winner on the PGA Tour.
[Rapaport] Maverick's finally starting to play the type of golf
to cut it with the big boys.
[commentator 2] That's gonna be his 3rd top three of the season.
[Rapaport] Now Keegan is looking at him.
And Mav said to me early in the year…
he said, "My goal is not to make the team at Bethpage."
"My goal is to annoy the crap out of the Europeans with my putter."
[commentator 3] Here's a round of 64.
[Maverick] Keegan's message is to be yourself.
And I think he's holding our feet to the fire a bit
to see who's gonna perform down the stretch.
I would give anything to put up a point for the United States.
Clear!
[plane engine starts]
[Maverick] In big moments, either in the airplane or in golf…
[man] It's good flying, man! It's good.
[Maverick] …I just execute my process.
I can't think of anything else except what I'm doing.
And that's a beautiful thing.
Looking for 73.
[Dethier] For someone that wants to be in the conversation for the Ryder Cup,
performing in the majors is everything.
[Maverick] All right, looks good.
You need to be able to play your best when the stakes are the highest.
[Maverick] Altitude, flaps up.
[Dethier] And for whatever reason, that's eluded him.
[Maverick] Almost there.
On the road, we, uh, have a lot of meals out.
So when you get… get to be home for a little bit
and have a home-cooked meal, it's… it's kind of a luxury.
All right, dinner's ready.
[Maverick] I'm the oldest of four brothers.
Family dinners were a bit of a normalizing influence for all of us.
-[man] Good job on the food, gentlemen. -[woman] Mm-hmm.
-Yeah, good job. -[Maverick] Thank you.
I'm not a professional golfer when I'm around my family. I'm Mav.
I'm Maya's husband, soon to be our daughter's dad,
and, uh, hopefully a chef that didn't burn the steaks.
I will say Tori was a great, like, starting point for babyproofing.
[man] Tori's not gonna throw up on your shoulder.
Well, Tori will go poop wherever she wants.
-And she has no diaper on, so… -[man] So will the baby. So will the baby.
Diapers don't work.
When the blowout's coming, there's just… there's no…
-Honey. -We're cutting… we're cutting that out.
That's not making it. That is not happening.
We've got a baby girl on the way.
And I think that's to offer a little bit of balance ot the McNealys
'cause they've got a lot of guys, a lot of testosterone over there.
Cut.
[laughing]
[commentator] Good morning.
The opening round of the U.S. Open at Oakmont.
There's nothing quite like it.
[Rapaport] The United States Open is the hardest golf tournament every year.
It's a huge stage.
Carrying my laundry.
Oakmont, which is a cathedral of the American game
and widely considered maybe the hardest golf course in the world.
[suspenseful music playing]
Yeah, I know. Yeah. Things are changing.
-Way to go. -Appreciate it.
-All's well? -All's great.
Great playing. Really happy for you. See you out there, Ben.
[Andrew] We getting married?
[Ben] Are we, uh…
are we together?
-You're on Full Swing now. -Oh really?
-If this makes it. -Let's see.
-I can't see myself on that. -U.S. Open tee times. Who else?
-Mav. -Ooh.
-A little Ryder Cup pairing. -Early off 10.
See you there. That's my Zurich partner.
Number one. First win with him.
[Ben] It's my first U.S. Open.
It's gonna be one of the most challenging tests I've ever experienced.
-Gary, what's up? -[Gary] Congrats, bro.
-It's awesome. -Appreciate it.
-[Gary] Good luck. -[Ben] Thanks. Appreciate it.
Hey, check this out.
Time to send a statement to those Europeans.
We're not messing around.
[tense music playing]
[Dethier] There's no question that winning a major,
specifically the U.S. Open,
is career and really life changing.
At the start of the year, you wouldn't necessarily say,
"Oh, we're thinking about Ben Griffin."
"We're thinking about Maverick McNealy."
But after the top few names, it's a bit of a free-for-all.
Ladies and gentlemen, from Las Vegas, Nevada,
please welcome Maverick McNealy.
[applause]
[Maverick] One of my goals this year
is to gain experience playing the weekends at major championships.
Something that I have not done much in my career.
[J.J.] This is my second U.S. Open.
I don't have a lot of experience in major championships.
Oakmont is a brutal test.
I know you gotta be on your game,
and it's gonna expose every flaw if you're off.
[commentator] J.J. Spaun, his third.
[suspenseful music playing]
[commentator] How about this?
[commentator 2] What a shot from J.J. That is fantastic.
[applause]
-[commentator 2] Wow! -[commentator] He's got a chance!
-[man] Whoo-ee! -[man 2] Oh!
[Dana] Is he on the green?
-Holy crap! Oh my God! -[Maya] Yes, that was a really good shot.
-[commentator 2] Griffin for the two. -[cheering]
[commentator 2] And Ben Griffin continues building on the success
that we've seen this spring.
[man] Whoo!
Go, Ben!
Oh my gosh, man. Come on.
[suspenseful music playing]
[commentator 2] And at 16, J.J. Spaun.
[crowd] Oh!
[applause]
[commentator 2] Oh-ho!
[commentator] He's gonna have a perfect putt straight up the hill.
[commentator 2] For the outright lead.
[applause]
[commentator 2] Just putting on a clinic right now, Mike.
[dramatic music playing]
[cheering and applause]
There we go.
[commentator] He has been spectacular with this club all day long.
-[crowd] Oh! -[commentator] That's well-judged.
[commentator 2] J.J. Spaun, just magnificent.
A 66 on day one here at Oakmont.
-[Dana] Great round! That was amazing. -What's up? Thanks.
-[Dana] That birdie was insane. -Yeah, it was nice.
[Maverick] Walking off the 18th green very, very upset and frustrated.
I… I hate playing bad golf. I really do.
And I'm a very competitive person,
and I did not get the best out of myself today.
And we practice until,
uh, I feel like I have something that I can take into tomorrow.
[whirring]
[Ben] Yeah, so fun fact about Dana, she does not like her smoothies, um…
-[Dana] I like it thick. -She likes them thick.
And because of that, this blender process takes about ten minutes, so…
[Dana] That is not true!
[blender whirring]
That's my coach, James.
Morning.
-Back when you used to have a lot of hair. -Jesus Christ!
[laughing]
What was the last thing you bought for yourself?
You bought the sprinkles.
Everyone knows a good sundae needs some high-quality sprinkles.
And did I spend $19 at Sprouts on sprinkles?
-[Dana] Yes. -Yes.
[James laughs]
[Ben] Even though it's my first U.S. Open,
I'm coming in hotter than just about any other golfer in the world.
[dramatic music playing]
[commentator] Ben Griffin said, when he walked away from the game for a while,
"I had lost my dreams."
And now those dreams can be realized.
[Dana] In the hole!
-[cheering] -[commentator] His dream comes true!
His second career win,
both of 'em in a month's span.
Ben Griffin, you've made it all the way back.
[Ben] I'm so grateful to even be, like, just playing golf.
Sometimes I… I question whether or not people understand how good we have it.
[choking up] It… it wasn't that long ago where,
you know, going out to eat was like…
You're thinking about the financial side of it.
And I don't have to think about that again. [chuckles] It's crazy.
[weeping]
Sorry for the emotions. [chuckles]
[Dana] If you win the U.S. Open, are you gonna buy yourself anything?
[Ben sighs]
Maybe a two-way ticket to the Ryder Cup.
[all chuckle]
[Ben] Which they probably pay for.
[chuckles]
-[James] You'll be okay. -They probably reimburse that. [chuckles]
[tense music playing]
[commentator] Welcome to another United States Open Championship
at Oakmont.
Maybe a chance of rain a little bit later on.
That could change the whole dynamic here at Oakmont.
Friday afternoons are a very fateful afternoon at major championships.
[commentator] Good look for birdie.
And another one drops in for Spaun.
Yes. Ben Griffin.
McNealy looking for birdie.
Buoyed by some confidence.
[Rapaport] Certainly, if you show up without your A-game,
you're gonna be sent packing.
[crowd] Oh!
[Rapaport] You know, Bryson DeChambeau missed the cut,
defending champion this year.
Justin Rose, past champion of the U.S. Open, misses the cut.
Ludvig Åberg, who looks like a golfing cyborg machine,
he misses the cut.
[commentator] Dustin Johnson dive bombs into the rough.
[commentator 2] Oh my goodness. This might send it over the edge.
[commentator] Must-make for Cantlay.
[commentator 2] Uh, it's surprising to see Patrick Cantlay heading home.
It's no guarantee. It's no guarantee.
I think it's probably the hardest cut to make
just because of how difficult the golf course is.
[commentator] What a putt. Bouncing back again.
Maverick McNealy continues to move his way up.
[cheering]
[commentator] Gets one to go.
Back-to-back birdies, and more importantly, bogey free.
[Balionis] When you see the top players, who have found success consistently
on the toughest tracks in major championships
failing to make the cut,
you can say, "Okay, well, those guys are no longer a threat to me,
and now this might be my opportunity to grind it out,
prove I'm mentally tough enough to win."
[tense music continues]
[J.J.] It stopped.
[cheering]
[commentator] Good putt.
Ben Griffin.
And he is in excellent position to take a run at his first major.
Maverick McNealy has got the best round on the course right now at three under.
But he drops one here.
Still a very good day for McNealy.
[music fades]
[Maverick] I'm really, really proud of the way I handled
the most difficult major championship of the year.
My first made cut at the U.S. Open,
and I've worked harder than I ever have this year
to have a great season on the PGA Tour, but more than that,
to be ready when I put the tee in the ground at the Ryder Cup
if my name's called.
And, uh, I hope that I can play well enough to earn that spot.
[Keegan] Mav is a super talented guy.
Incredible amateur career.
He's playing better and better every year he's out there,
and to make the cut at the U.S. Open was a big step for him,
and he's certainly high on our… our list of people that we're watching.
[suspenseful music playing]
[commentator] Maybe not a player in the field with more confidence
than Ben Griffin.
[commentator 2] It's a bad bogey there.
[commentator 3] Pretty decent look. I think this man can do it.
-[cheering] -[commentator 2] Got it there!
Nice balance on that swing for Ben.
[crowd] Oh!
-[applause] -[commentator] Griffin can do the same.
[commentator 2] Yeah, 15 feet, a little right to left, or straightish.
[commentator] Walked it in confidently.
[commentator 2] He's playing well.
[commentator] Spaun for birdie at the 14th.
[crowd] Oh!
[commentator] Ten straight pars for J.J.
Go hard to the right here at the end.
Nope, he played too much break there.
[commentator 2] Birdie, 16.
Tough one to get up to the hole. He's been struggling with his speed.
Trying to stay within a half dozen.
[commentator] Tough run for Ben Griffin. Three straight bogeys.
Oh! Did he need that big time!
[cheering]
[commentator] Twelve straight pars, and then that big birdie
to tie the lead again.
[commentator 2] J.J. Spaun looks like he feels at home here.
[man yells]
[commentator] So a bogey it'll be for Spaun. Just his second of the day.
Still an under-par round for J.J. Spaun,
who has been in the heat of this major championship since day one
and will be right there in the championship Sunday tomorrow.
[reporter Is this the best three days of golf you've ever played in your life?
[J.J.] Um…
Yeah, I would…
If you want to sum it up, yeah,
this is the best I've played, you know, in my career for sure.
[Dana] How's your body feel? Are you sore?
[Ben] Body feels good.
Normally, um, my legs get a little bit tired after most rounds, so…
Derek, uh, when we get back, I'll do PT for…
[Dana] An hour?
[Ben] Forty-five minutes or so, yeah.
And then put the feet up.
It's just such a mental grind playing in…
playing in almost every tournament,
but obviously especially the majors just 'cause every hole is so challenging.
[Dana] Do you feel like there was a lot of fans out there today?
[Ben] Yes, but…
[Dana] 'Cause there were a lot of fans out there today.
[Ben] They were calling me Bethpage Benny.
-I've got-- -[Dana] That's my favorite one.
[Ben] Playing very good golf.
I have a good chance to make a charge here and still win this golf tournament.
How can I now break through and… and win a major?
[J.J.] Last night, my daughter, she caught a stomach bug
and was vomiting all night long.
She couldn't keep down water.
And my wife and I were trying to get her to feel better.
So I had to rush to a pharmacy
to get her some… some medication to ease her stomach.
It was three or four in the morning.
At the time, I'm thinking,
"Well, I think I have a golf tournament to play,"
but that was kind of the last thing in my mind.
It was more to, you know, help my daughter out.
You know, I had a good first couple days.
I gotta keep pressing.
There's no letup.
I'm excited. I'm ready to go. Hopefully, I can put something together.
You know, it's Sunday. You don't have any more rounds to make up ground,
and it's… it's all or nothing right now.
[suspenseful music playing]
[commentator] A gloomy Sunday morning at Oakmont.
Cloud cover. A little foggy.
Hopefully, the forecast storms for later today stay away.
Somebody's taking that walk off the 18th green
with their life changed forever.
It's championship Sunday at Oakmont at the U.S. Open.
[Ben] Here I am, this kid coming out of nowhere.
Wasn't even in the signature events.
Put myself in an incredible position to be in the mix.
[announcer] Please welcome, from Chapel Hill, North Carolina,
Ben Griffin.
[applause]
[mouths] Thank you.
[Ben] I told my caddie I need to make a run,
and I had no doubt I was gonna win the tournament.
[man] Let's go, Ben!
[commentator] Ben Griffin has been as hot as anybody not named Scottie Scheffler
the last month on tour.
[cheering]
[commentator] Griffin!
Maverick McNealy, seven over.
We just saw Keegan Bradley.
Maverick McNealy's eighth on the Ryder Cup points list.
Could very well play his way into a guaranteed spot
on Captain Keegan's team.
From Los Angeles, California, please welcome J.J. Spaun!
[cheering]
[J.J.] It's the U.S. Open. It's the toughest test, and it's Sunday,
so trying to do my best to get things going,
keep things together in a sense.
-[man 2] J.J.'s going all the way, baby! -[man 3] Get in the hole!
[commentator] J.J. Spaun has a good look here, Smylie.
[Smylie] On a good line.
[commentator] Bangs it off the stick. Maybe a bad break.
[Smylie] That is a terrible break.
[commentator] One of the worst breaks we've seen all week.
[commentator 2] Bogey, bogey start for the guy that's been
so consistent for three days.
[Smylie] You have to imagine J.J.'s mind has to be spinning right now.
He's got to find a way to reset.
Crazy bounce. It might have even hit in a rake.
[commentator] Yeah, yeah, I think it is.
[Smylie] 'Cause he has just ended up in some of the most awkward, worst places
that you can imagine.
[commentator] He's getting an attitude check that he's probably never
seen before.
Can he get this in for par?
Oh.
Bogeys keep piling up for J.J.
Ben Griffin has this for birdie.
[man] Get in!
[cheering and applause]
[commentator] Appears we've got raindrops coming through for the first time.
[Smylie] The pressure, the conditions, a nuisance, and then some.
Ben Griffin for par at the last. He had birdied 16 and 17.
[crowd] Oh!
[Smylie] So he gets in at plus five with a bogey at the last.
[Ben] Today was tough.
I'm still a little… a little bummed, but, um…
Yeah, all in all,
you know, the last few weeks, I've been in the final group every week,
so this was a…
It felt weird being, you know, sixth, seventh last group.
But I would've taken this week a long time ago,
and I think I gotta accept it
and bring the positives and bring them to next week.
U.S. Open, the majors.
Hey, that was my first U.S. Open. That's crazy.
It's wild to be at my first U.S. Open and, like, be bummed that I didn't win.
Like, most guys go to the U.S. Open,
they're like, "All right, I just want to make the cut and play well."
And for me, there was never even a moment where I was thinking about the cut.
It was really just trying to get in the lead.
But it's crazy how fast things change in this game.
I mean, three years ago, I'm just trying to get on tour.
Three months ago, trying to get in the majors.
Two months ago, I wasn't even in the Masters. And so here we are.
Now I'm on Keegan's radar. [chuckles]
Everyone's… everyone's paying attention now.
[Keegan] Playing your first U.S. Open at Oakmont is a pretty tough task.
[car door beeps]
[Keegan] And for him to go out there and play the way he did
just shows what a brilliant player he is.
[commentator] Man, is it coming down here.
Wow, quickly.
[Smylie] They're gonna have to stop play, I think.
[commentator] And this has just put a stop on play.
And there's the siren, the horn.
Fans are scrambling for cover.
[J.J.] When the horn went off, a weight had been lifted off my shoulders.
I kind of get a little break
from this nightmare of a start to the final round of the U.S. Open.
I feel like I'm starting over by kind of going back to what I do before rounds
and, you know, almost try to forget what happened earlier.
I got nothing to lose at this point. Who knows?
I mean, it's the back nine of the U.S. Open
in some really tough conditions
and anything can really happen.
[commentator] The police escorts are getting the players out in vans
out to their positions.
[Smylie] Maybe this break in the action will help J.J. Spaun.
[commentator] Just been an all-out fight for him today.
[Smylie] Bogeyed five of the first six.
[J.J.] My coach told me, "If you were four back
going into the back nine on Sunday,
if you were told that Monday, you'd take it?"
I said, "Sure. I totally would."
[commentator 2] Some days, you don't feel like anything is gonna go your way,
You feel like you're not that far off.
Need something to turn this around.
[J.J.] I knew that I still was in it.
I just had to string together some good shots
and, you know, push through.
[commentator] J.J. Spaun!
[cheering and applause]
[Smylie] You talk about keeping a good attitude and never giving up.
[J.J.] I was just trying to go out there and give it all I had.
[commentator] Oh, that's an excellent shot there by Spaun.
[Smylie] It's been a day and really a career of resilience for this man.
For the outright lead.
[cheering]
[Smylie] And this is developing
into one of the craziest U.S. Open stories in a final round.
[man] Go, J.J.!
[Smylie] Sole leader.
[man] You got it, J.J.!
[suspenseful music playing]
My daughter always asks me every time I go to a tournament and come home,
did I win?
And I say no.
And for her to see me actually win a trophy,
I think it would be, you know, a dream come true.
[crowd] Ooh!
-[commentator] How about this?! -[Smylie] The best shot of his life.
[cheering]
[commentator] J.J. Spaun, the leader by himself
with one to play at the U.S. Open.
[J.J.] I need to stop selling myself short, honestly.
I've always doubted myself.
This is my ninth year. I'm no young buck anymore.
It's just honestly something that you see other people doing.
[Banks] We're watching J.J. Spaun stand over this putt,
and everybody is thinking, "Just lag it up there. Get it in in two."
Who's gonna hole a 64-foot birdie putt to win the U.S. Open?
Nobody's ever holed a putt of that length to win a major championship.
[Smylie] We talked about it all week,
how there was a time in his career
where he said, "I was scared to be in the big moment."
This is a kind of psychological turnaround
that J.J. Spaun has made.
[crowd clamoring]
[cheering]
[Smylie] In one of the most unlikely final round Sundays
in U.S. Open history,
J.J. Spaun closes the deal.
You could've never dreamt this Sunday for Spaun.
[uplifting music playing]
[Smylie] Another one of those lessons that you… you learn in sports, right?
Only in sports.
You keep dreaming. You keep plugging away.
You don't give up.
[applause]
[Smylie] We saw all of that and more today.
[crowd chanting] J.J.! J.J.! J.J.! J.J.! J.J.! J.J.! J.J.!
J.J.! J.J.! J.J.! J.J.!
[cheering]
[commentator 2] That's the coolest experience you can have right there.
Walking away with your girls on Father's Day
after you just won the U.S. Open.
[photographer] J.J.! J.J.!
J.J.!
[announcer] The champion of the 125th United States Open,
J.J. Spaun of Los Angeles, California!
[cheering and applause]
[J.J.] I never thought I would be here holding this trophy.
I never knew what my ceiling was. I never knew how good I could be.
But I'm just proud that I've been resilient in my career
and pushed through a lot of things
and just trying to be the best golfer I can be.
And I'm happy to display that,
um, today at Oakmont.
[cheering and applause]
-[man] Let's see it! -[man 2 cheering]
[man 3] Let's go, baby! Whoo!
[reporter] Every kid is like, "This putt to win the U.S. Open."
Please tell me the difference for you between the dream and the reality.
Well, first off, the putt, as a kid, wasn't a 64-footer.
Usually, it's, like, five feet or something.
What a story-tale ending to such a great week.
And for me, it's just unbelievable.
And I'm still riding on cloud nine right now.
I got a second wind now.
You know, I… represented the country pretty well this week,
winning the U.S. Open as an American,
and I'm ready to represent the country as an American at the Ryder Cup.
Oh, okay.
I'm waiting to wake up.
Waiting to wake up.
I don't want the dream to end for sure.
But it's not a dream.
[tense music playing]
[Banks] The Tour Championship is the last tournament of the season.
Last day of the season. Nothing to see.
I've not won on the PGA Tour, and I've had these chances.
I'm well aware of the story that's building.
[Ben] It's crunch time for the Ryder Cup.
[commentator] A lot of guys out there
trying to get Captain Keegan Bradley's attention this week.
[Andrew] When I think of the Ryder Cup,
it's hard to not make it a bigger deal than what it is.
[Ben] Keegan Bradley has a lot to chew on this week.
[woman] You have a chance here to become a playing captain.
[Ben] I'm feeling pretty good. I feel like I've kind of got it in my hands.
All I know is I have to prove to Keegan
that he should have no doubt in picking me.
[line ringing]
Are we next?
[line ringing]
[man] Hey, Keegan.
[dramatic music playing] ubt in picking me.