How 2008 Tiger Woods helped J.J. Spaun win the U.S. Open

When the final round of the 2025 U.S. Open went to a rain delay, NBC treated viewers to highlights of Tiger Woods' epic victory at the 2008 U.S. Open at Torrey Pines Golf Course. It turns out fans weren't the only ones locked in on Woods' heroics 17 years ago. 

J.J. Spaun, who was 5-over when the horn blew on Sunday, used the 2008 U.S. Open highlights to reset his mind and loosen up for the restart. 

"When that horn blew, my caddie and I looked at each other, and we kind of just said, 'this is exactly what we need—to go back inside, reset, collect our thoughts and kind of get a fresh start,'" Spaun said on the Pardon My Take podcast.

So, Spaun changed his clothes to make sure "nothing was carrying over from that first start to the restart." He then grabbed some lunch and sat next to a television alongside Scottie Scheffler and Russell Henley to draw some inspiration from Woods' performance in 2008. 

Spaun sat and chuckled at Woods' ridiculous shots and the clubs he had to use back in the day. Turning from a competitor back into a fan helped Spaun ease his nerves and refocus for the rest of his final round.

"It was a cool moment to kind of just relax and, no matter how things were rolling on the course for me, it was a nice way to let go of it and come back with a better attitude," he said. 

And that's exactly what he did. 

After watching Woods take apart Torrey Pines, Spaun returned to the golf course and went 3-under in his final seven holes to win the U.S. Open.