The year J.J. Spaun changed everything

Scottie Scheffler picking up his fourth straight Player of the Year award on Monday didn’t exactly stop the presses. It was expected. Almost inevitable.

Scheffler and Rory McIlroy owned 2025, and while McIlroy carried the emotional pull — finally completing the career Grand Slam after a decade-long chase, then punctuating it with a memorable Ryder Cup win on foreign soil — Scheffler’s relentless excellence ultimately separated him from the field. Six victories. Two majors. And not a single finish outside the top 10 over the final eight months of the season.

Four players were nominated. Realistically, it was a two-man race from the start, and no one was making a serious case for anyone else.

Still, as the dust settles on the PGA TOUR season, one idea keeps lingering: someone else may have “won” 2025.

He didn’t rack up the most trophies. He didn’t dominate headlines week after week. He wasn’t even nominated for Player of the Year. But when you look at where he stood 12 months ago — and where he stands now — it’s hard to argue that anyone had a more transformative season than J.J. Spaun.

A year ago, Spaun was fighting just to keep his TOUR card.

Now? He’s a major champion and a Ryder Cupper.

“Sometimes I forget what I’ve done this year because it’s all been such a blur,” Spaun admitted earlier this month at the Hero World Challenge.

That trip to the Bahamas, for Tiger Woods’ invitational, felt like a snapshot of how dramatically his life has changed. As a kid growing up in Los Angeles, Spaun attended the event when it was held at Sherwood Country Club in Thousand Oaks. By the time he turned pro, the tournament had moved overseas — and qualifying for it was never really within reach.

Last year, during Hero week, Spaun was on vacation in London. This year, he was again on holiday when the event rolled around — only this time, he’d earned the invite and chose to arrive a week late. A trade-off he was more than happy to make.

Scheffler had the most accomplished year.

McIlroy had the most emotionally satisfying one.

Spaun’s was the most impactful.

The 35-year-old earned more than $13 million in 2025, more than half of his total on-course earnings across a 14-year career. He locked up full PGA TOUR status through 2030, secured a decade-long exemption into the US Open as a champion, and enters 2026 firmly on the radar for a Presidents Cup spot after standing out in an otherwise disappointing U.S. showing at Bethpage Black.

In one season, Spaun went from TOUR afterthought to a player no one would be surprised to see win again — and again.

And he hasn’t fully processed any of it.

“I just wanted to keep my card,” Spaun said of his goals entering 2025. “That was it. Give me a card, and you can have all the Hero World Challenges you want. I’d be happy.”

That mindset didn’t last.

“Yes, I was trying to keep my card because I didn’t have much time left,” he said. “But once I did that, I kind of said, ‘Why are you only trying to survive? You want to contend. You want to win.’ You’re not here just to keep your job.”