What is J.J. Spaun's nationality and background?

J.J. Spaun has had an impressive golf career on the professional golf circuit and now has become a regular PGA Tour member. Even though Spaun is an American national, there's more to his ethnicity than this.

Spaun was born on August 21, 1990 in Los Angeles, California, to John Spaun and Dollie Spaun. As per Golf Monthly, he is a Filipino descendant from his mother's side and also claims Mexican ancestry, making him a player of a diverse background.

Her mother influenced his love for golf as she played the sport while she was pregnant with him. Spaun took up this sport at a young age and is well-known as a self-taught golfer.

During his childhood, he would hit balls into a net in the garage, and when he would run out of balls, he would hit miscellaneous items from his dad's toolbox.

Along with golf, he also had a passion for skateboarding. However, one day, he met with a car accident and was lying in the middle of the street when his dad ran outside to find J.J. Spaun.

J.J. Spaun at the THE PLAYERS Championship - Source: Imagn

“Luckily, none of the wheels went over him, but he had this streak of oil all the way down his body,” John Spaun said (as per NBC Sports).

Hence, Spaun had to give up skateboarding and concentrate on just golf.

He attended San Diego State University and won Mountain West Conference Player of the Year Honors in 2012. He turned pro the same year and played on the PGA Tour Canada for a while.

The 34-year-old golfer first played on the PGA Tour in the 2016-17 season after winning a Korn Ferry Tour event in 2016. Even though he earned a PGA Tour card in 2017, Spaun had to wait for more than five years and 147 events to earn his first victory.

Spaun won the Valero Texas Open in 2022, giving him his first chance to compete in the Masters at the Augusta Nationals.

---

How has J.J. Spaun performed on the PGA Tour so far?

J.J. Spaun after winning the Valero Texas Open - Source: Imagn

Even though J.J. Spaun earned a PGA Tour card in 2017, he lost his playing status in 2021 as he finished 174th in the season-long FedExCup rankings. However, he did not lose hope and earned the tour card again in 2022 through the Korn Ferry Tour.

"I think maybe that was the best thing for me," Spaun said on an episode of Golf.com’s Subpar Podcast. [21:25 onwards]

"It’s not like it was a mental thing that I was taking for granted of being on Tour, but it was like, wow, you had something that you wanted so badly and now it’s gone. Not even conditional status," he added.

However, since earning his tour card back, J.J. Spaun has finished inside the top 100 in every PGA Tour season. In 227 events played, he has registered one win, two runner-ups and 10 top-5 finishes in his career so far.

The 34-year-old golfer has made $14,494,167 as official money on the PGA Tour.