J.J. Spaun, a pre-tournament 150-1 shot, clinched the U.S. Open title in spectacular fashion — with a 64-foot birdie putt on the 72nd hole. Spaun was the only player to complete Oakmont under par (-1) and finished two strokes ahead of Robert MacIntyre. Fourth-round leader Sam Burns (+4) imploded in the stormy conditions.

Here are some post-tournament thoughts from VSiN’s golf experts . . . .

Matt Youmans

I’ll admit that was my worst career betting performance in a golf major and there’s no close second. The Masters and PGA worked out pretty well this year, but this one was a clusterf-. It had to be a dream for the bookmakers. I didn’t like the course setup, neither did the world’s top players, and it turned into The Twilight Zone of golf handicapping.

It was a lame tournament until J.J. Spaun sank the incredible 64-foot putt to finish it.

I went to the Sony Open in Honolulu in January and randomly followed Spaun’s group one day. I told a betting friend that Spaun’s play impressed me and he had a chance to win as a longshot this year, so keep that in mind. I bet Spaun twice after that and he was terrible in both tournaments. I didn’t bet anything on him this week, but you have to appreciate the Cinderella story.

I did have Cameron Young at 115-1 and he tied for third, but I never truly thought he would win it.

Matt Brown

The 2025 US Open will go down as a tournament that happened (at least for me). The JJ Spaun story is nice, but the tournament as a whole was not enjoyable for me at all. Could it be because it’s my biggest losing tournament in three years? Maybe. Maybe so. 

But…it could also be because the setup just failed us all. 156 of the very best golfers in the world teed it up at Oakmont, and it took a 64-foot miracle putt on the 72nd hole from JJ Spaun for any player to shoot under par for the tournament. That screams poor setup to me. And from a handicapping standpoint, it makes it damn near impossible. How do you handicap a tournament where nobody plays well? There was no golfer profile that fit this tournament. No data that added up. It was just minimizing inevitable disaster, and praying for some lucky bounces and favorable lies. Not the type of tournament I’m a fan of. 

As for what we can take away, it sure seems like Robert MacIntyre was not scared of the moment. He gained across the board in three of the four rounds and spoke of how he thinks his game is back on track. He’s live for the Open Championship. 

Rory finished off his trip to Oakmont nicely with a 3-under, 67 on Sunday. That said, his overall performance was pretty poor. Unfortunately, it has not fazed the betting market. He’s still the second shot on the board at the Open Championship. I was hoping for something in the +900ish range, but that’s not the case today. Hopefully there’s a drift. 

I’m taking almost nothing from the poor outings we saw from Shane Lowry, Sepp Straka, and Tommy Fleetwood. Golf is hard. The course was ridiculous. And yeah, golf is hard. They’ll bounce back and be solid placement market bets. 

Lastly, I want to take nothing away from JJ Spaun. His round was a complete disaster to start and he didn’t give up. He didn’t quit. He showed grit and determination. He’s a model favorite and a guy I’ve been on numerous occasions. Nothing but love for Spaun and glad to see him get it done…even if it did cost me a boatload of cash. 

We’ll be back on the horse this week and every week over at VSIN and the Long Shots podcast. Good luck and happy golf betting. 

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