‘You don’t know s–t’: J.J. Spaun fires back at critics of his 17th-hole playoff disaster

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It will be a long time before golf fans forget the sight of JJ Spaun airmailing TPC Sawgrass’ Island green during Monday’s Players Championship playoff. It will be even longer before J.J. Spaun forgets.

For several interminable seconds, as Spaun’s 8 iron arced toward the flagstick, it looked like he may have just hit the shot of the tournament. But his ball never stopped. It just kept going and going, splashing into water beyond the back of the green without ever sniffing dry land.

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Many fans and pundits questioned Spaun’s club selection after the disaster, which all but handed the golden boy to Rory McIlroy. Video surfaced of Spaun glancing at McIlroy’s club selection before his shot, leading many to speculate he clubbed up after watching Rory go with a 9 iron into the wind.

On Wednesday’s edition of the Foreplay Pod, however, Spaun fired back against his critics, explaining, quite simply, “you don’t know sh*t.” Take it away, JJ.

“I was warming up … I was literally hitting 8 irons 128 yards [117 metres], like into the wind, carrying perfect, and the pin was 130,” Spaun told Riggs. “We get to the hole, I already knew what I’m going to hit. I didn’t care what Rory was hitting, but I looked, just to like gauge the kind of shot I hit with it [which] was going to determine the right distance.

I mean, Rory’s two clubs longer than me. He’s one of the longest guys on tour. Everybody knows that. And everyone’s [mocking voice], ‘Oh you hit a f—king 9 iron when this guy hit an 8 iron, what an idiot.’ It’s like, you don’t know sh*t. I’m happy with the swing I put on it. I executed how I wanted to. You know, I was one down, I had to hit a good shot.”

There’s a lot to unpack there, but the only person Spaun needs to answer to is himself. He knows what really happened better than anyone, and if he’s happy with his decision-making process and execution, then that’s all that matters. He also deserves credit for not hiding from the media after the heartbreaking loss. Think whatever you want about his club selection, but that’s more than the likes of McIlroy or Collin Morikawa, who have both ghosted reporters after high-profile losses in the past year, can say.