Despite being on the losing team at last month’s Ryder Cup, J.J. Spaun emerged as one of the few bright spots for the Americans at Bethpage Black.

Spaun received plenty of praise for his performances in the fourballs and singles in New York, and many fans and analysts were surprised to see the 2025 U.S. Open champion left out of alternate shot entirely, especially on the Saturday after the poor start for team USA.

Speaking on the podcast Straight Facts Homie following the event, analyst Colt Knost revealed the reason Spaun had been ommitted from alternate shot was due to the fact that he’s the only player that plays a Srixon golf ball, saying:

“I play golf with J.J. a lot here at home in Scottsdale. We were playing together Thursday before he left and he shot 60 on me, by the way. So he looked in pretty good form.

I said, ‘any idea, off the record, who you going to go with?’ He’s like, ‘I know I’m not playing alternate shot’. I said, ‘what?’ And he said, ‘yeah, part of it, I’m the only one who plays a Srixon golf ball’.

However, in a recent interview with Trey Wingo on the Straight Facts Homie podcast, Spaun has revealed the real reason for his omission, claiming the decision was down to Bradley wanting a veteran heavy lineup to start the event, and that the decision had “nothing to do” with his equipment.

Speaking on the show, Spaun revealed:

“Maybe a little bit (surprised about not being involved in alternate shot). I wasn’t sure what format I would start in. I talked to Keegan a few weeks prior, and he was just adamant about having a pretty veteran-heavy lineup going out in the first match, which was foursomes.

So, it had nothing to do with how I was playing or what equipment I played. It was more of he wanted to put guys out there first who have been in that arena, have had success, and have had the experience. Getting my feet wet in fourballs, which is probably an easier format, I think, was appropriate.”

Spaun added his thoughts on being left out of the foursomes for Saturday, saying:

“But who knows? I don’t know what the thought process was for Saturday’s matches, but I think Keegan didn’t want to freak out and start changing things around, just assuming, put the batting lineup out there, and eventually get things turned around.

…Yeah, I thought there would be a little bit of a change, whether it was someone else… I think Cam [Young] was the only one who subbed in for the foursomes on Saturday. That was different, maybe. Honestly, though, the European team were playing so good. They were putting amazingly. They were shooting eight under par on alternate shot, which is just so hard to do.”

The 35-year-old ended the event winning 2 points from the three matches he was involved in at Bethpage Black.

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