{"id":331232,"date":"2025-12-05T03:08:10","date_gmt":"2025-12-05T03:08:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/331232\/"},"modified":"2025-12-05T03:08:10","modified_gmt":"2025-12-05T03:08:10","slug":"j-j-spaun-goes-from-breaking-down-amazon-boxes-to-hero-co-lead","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/331232\/","title":{"rendered":"J.J. Spaun goes from breaking down Amazon boxes to Hero co-lead"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>NASSAU, Bahamas \u2013 Perhaps more than any other professional athlete, most of whom are often hidden behind helmets and masks and separated from the fans by great distances, golfers can be easily humanized. No one falls into that everyman category easier than J.J. Spaun.<\/p>\n<p>This week\u2019s Hero World Challenge is Spaun\u2019s first start in a month, just his second since the Ryder Cup, and he spent his time off the clock doing the most predictable of things.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHanging out with my family, being a good dad, helping around the house, getting things done around the house, which this is the time to do it,\u201d Spaun said of his offseason. \u201cIt\u2019s been very chill.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>In the most relatable moment for anyone bracing for the holidays, Spaun explained what has mostly consumed his time away from the game: \u201cDude,\u201d he smiled, \u201cmy biggest pet peeve is breaking down Amazon boxes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Spaun said his main project was organizing his garage, complete with additional storage space and a new floor. \u201cI felt so accomplished,\u201d he laughed.<\/p>\n<p>But if Thursday\u2019s round at Albany is any indication, the time off wasn\u2019t detrimental to his game. Spaun posted a 6-under 66 for a share of the Day 1 lead at Tiger Woods\u2019 event. He\u2019s tied with world No. 1 and defending champion Scottie Scheffler, Akshay Bhatia, Sepp Straka and Wyndham Clark. Spaun\u2019s Ryder Cup captain Keegan Bradley and Corey Conners are a shot back.<\/p>\n<p>    <a class=\"Link\" aria-label=\"Hero World Challenge 2025: Tee times, how to watch Round 2 in the Bahamas\" href=\"https:\/\/www.golfchannel.com\/pga-tour\/news\/hero-world-challenge-2025-tee-times-how-to-watch-round-2-in-the-bahamas\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><\/p>\n<p>    <img decoding=\"async\" class=\"Image\" alt=\"Hero World Challenge 2025 - Round One\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/1764904090_505_\" loading=\"lazy\"\/><\/p>\n<p><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Tee times and TV times for the second round of the Hero World Challenge.<\/p>\n<p>Spaun picked up strokes on the field off the tee, on approach and on the greens in what was a solid start for a player who admittedly didn\u2019t know what to expect.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI felt that way [rusty] Tuesday and Wednesday, for sure. You know, just tried not to read too much into like mechanics or swing stuff. I knew like once the bell range, I\u2019d probably be OK,\u201d he said. \u201cYeah, ended up being a lot better today than the start of the week.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Spaun said he took two weeks off after the Ryder Cup and didn\u2019t touch a club, and it would have been easily understandable if he spent even more time on the couch following the best year of his career.<\/p>\n<p>Spaun won his first major at the U.S. Open, lost a playoff to Rory McIlroy at The Players, played in his first Ryder Cup and finished inside the top 30 on the season-ending points list for the first time in nine seasons on Tour. His first start at Woods\u2019 limited-field invitational is a vivid reminder of how far he\u2019s come in the last 12 months.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI think I was in England last year [during the Hero World Challenge],\u201d Spaun said. \u201cAfter the Ryder Cup was a really good time to kind of decompress. You know, kind of relish what I accomplished. It was good to kind of chill out and reflect on all that I did this year and really soak it in.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"NASSAU, Bahamas \u2013 Perhaps more than any other professional athlete, most of whom are often hidden behind helmets&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":331233,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[71],"tags":[427,99],"class_list":{"0":"post-331232","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-golf","8":"tag-golf","9":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/331232","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=331232"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/331232\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/331233"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=331232"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=331232"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=331232"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}