SAN ANTONIO — An unexpected victory took place in the final round of the Valero Texas Open as J.J. Spaun reigned supreme, taking home the tournament title for the second time in his career. Spaun previously won the Texas Open in 2022, which was his first PGA Tour win. This year, his total score came out to be 17-under-par, defeating top contenders such as Robert MacIntyre, Matt Wallace and Ludvig Åberg. Although Spaun was not in the top-10 for round one and two, during the final round, his game came together.
Spaun shot a 67 and made a crucial eagle on hole 17 before concluding the final round. After a round three was suspended due to the weather on Saturday, the final day presented many obstacles for many golfers. Round three, and the final round, commenced all while San Antonio was dealing with cold and persistent rain. On top of the weather, every golfer was gunning for the top-10 as players’ positions on the leaderboard shifted frequently.
Spaun took possession of second place during round three by shooting 66, altering his tournament trajectory. Wallace was in first and Michael Kim was in third, crowding Spaun in the top spots after round three. Wallace completed 18 holes in round three with a brisk 64. He then proceeded to become the first one to finish the final round, but then placed second with a score of 16-under.
After Spaun completed his last hole of the final round, he was escorted to the 18th hole to find his family waiting to celebrate his victory. Spaun won $1,764,000 from a total tournament purse of $9.8 million, a pair of custom-made Lucchese boots and the Texas Open trophy wrapped around a bouquet of yellow roses. Obtaining his trophy, he could only talk about how fun the weekend was with his family staying at the TPC San Antonio golf resort.
“They were at Oakmont. Well, my youngest daughter wasn’t born yet when I first won here in 2022, so it was cool to have the whole family here,” Spaun said. “It’s such a fun week. Everything’s so convenient. There’s so much great hospitality they do here taking care of us. The water parks and everything are so fun, daycare is easy, there’s a bunch of little events for the kids. It’s a week in the schedule that we always like to come to as a family.”
When reflecting on how he approached this weekend strategy wise, Spaun did not have the intention to win but just to play a good game of golf.
“My strategy was to not spiral, believe it or not,” Spaun remarked. “I’ve been kind of going crazy as far as my golf swing and how I’ve been playing. You can look at my results. I’ve missed three or four cuts this year. I’ve had some middle‑of‑the‑pack finishes. I didn’t know how I was going to play every single week.
“But going into this week I kind of accepted where my game was, if that makes any sense, and just said this is what I have and this is what I’m going to play golf with and I’m going to accept the outcome. I’m going to just try and get the ball in the hole. I obviously was the best at it this week.”
Spaun was lucky to win the Texas Open, and he now sets the tone for upcoming events.
Up next is The Masters, held at the Augusta National Golf Club in Georgia.
