JJ Spaun and his wife Melody love holidaying in England and their favourite place to visit is the Cotswolds in winter. It led them to start watching Clarkson’s Farm, the show in which Jeremy Clarkson attempts to run a Cotswolds farm with mixed results, and their love only grew.
“It’s awesome,” Spaun said of the TV programme, after his two-shot victory at the BMW PGA Championship on Sunday. And yes, the two things are related.
“We are huge fans of Clarkson’s Farm, and I think we really enjoyed it because we went to the Cotswolds before watching his show, and it gravitated to how we understood the culture there, the community, and then obviously looking like an idiot trying to farm. It’s a good laugh. We enjoy the show and we love the Cotswolds.
“We’ve grown fond of him along with English culture. We take holidays in December in the Cotswolds and really enjoy his show. I went to his pub, The Farmer’s Dog, with hopes to catch a glimpse but he wasn’t around.”
Which helps to explain why Melody was carrying Clarkson’s face on a stick around the grounds of Wentworth Club this week.
“My wife said something weird to me before I left. She said, ‘I have a surprise for you’. And sure enough, Thursday morning, here she is and it’s Jeremy Clarkson in the gallery.”
As much as Spaun likes playing golf in Europe, the real motivation for his late-season jaunt across the Atlantic would appear to be Melody’s love of picturesque villages in Gloucestershire.
“My wife has been the main contributing factor for always coming across here to holiday, encouraging me to play this event and The Scottish Open, The Open, and turning it into a family trip or holiday every time I play these weeks.”
Spaun was talking in the winners’ post-tournament conference, but the conversation veered away from golf and his outstanding back nine, in which he calmly amassed the birdies that took him clear of Rory McIlroy and the rest.
“You want to know a funny story?” he went on. “So it was 2025, and after I lost The Players, my wife, she wanted to make a bet with me. She goes, ‘You’re playing great, you finished second at the Honda, third, just lost in a playoff, I think you’re going to win. If you win a tournament this year, you’ll buy me a cottage in the Cotswolds’.
“I said, ‘No, that’s not a big enough accomplishment to buy a cottage in England!’ She said, ‘OK, what about if you won a major?’ Of course if I won a major, I’ll do whatever you want. And fast forward, she’s sending me listings on Zillow the following day [after winning the US Open]. It’s hilarious. We’ve come to a compromise. We don’t own a cottage yet.”
Along with Clarkson’s face, Spaun’s other motivation at Wentworth Club this week was US captain Brandt Snedeker’s decision to omit the 2025 US Open champion from the Presidents Cup team, for the event which takes place next week near Chicago.
Snedeker gave Spaun a 45-second phone to tell him he was “the odd man out”.
“I was pretty determined this week to prove something,” admitted the 36-year-old. “My whole career, I’ve had to do that. I wasn’t given scholarships. I had to earn my PGA Tour card the hard way. I was never given sponsor invite opportunities. I just had to do everything the hard way.
“Being left off was obviously for a reason. I don’t know what that reason was, but I’m here now and there was a reason why we’re here. My caddie kept telling me that, and it’s crazy how this has happened. Everything does happen for a reason. I’m just super happy.”
