J.J. Spaun’s birdie putt yesterday on his 72nd and final hole magnificently rolled 64-feet, breaking left-to-right 8-feet, and dropped into the hole, securing J.J. his 1st major championship and 2nd PGA TOUR title.
How did he do it?
What we saw J.J. do right to make the biggest putt of his life–maybe the best putt in the history of the U.S. Open:
- He paid attention. Viktor Hovland putted right before him from roughly the same spot. He watched. He took mental notes. And then executed what he learned from Hovland. With his heart beating a million beats a minute for sure.
- He focused on the top of the break and his speed, not the hole. Making the putt was always going to be a minor miracle, but getting his read and speed right was what PGA Tour pros do, and do it better than everyone else on the planet.
- He held his follow-through. The ball merely got in the way of the stroke. Holding your follow-through is a good approach to optimize controlling your speed on the greens.
- He stuck to his pre-shot/pre-putt routine. If he had this exact same putt two days prior or two months from now, he would have gone through the same process to read the green, establish the high point of the break and speed, take the same number of practice putts, step into the putt the same way, etc. Pros are planners and his plan worked.
- Prayed.