Before J.J. Spaun ever held a major trophy, he held other people’s muddy golf shoes. The 2025 U.S. Open champion is now one of the biggest names in golf. But as a San Diego State student, he spent tournament weeks at Torrey Pines cleaning PGA Tour pros’ shoes. Among them was one man he still jokes about, who had beaten him in an important amateur match months earlier.

That man was Harris English. On the We Need a Fourth Podcast, Spaun was asked if there was any golfer whose shoes he hadn’t cleaned particularly well. He immediately pointed to English.

“That’s Harris English. It’s a little inside joke. Our team program would work in the locker room, and all the tip money would go to our program. That’s why we would be there at Torrey Pines working in the shoe room.”

“By the time you’re a senior, you’re like, there’s all these freakin* guys that like I was just beaten up on like last year that are on tour now, and I’m shining the freakin* shoes. So, yeah, it kind of like wore off, you know, the beauty of it,” Spaun said, chuckling.

The job was a team fundraiser. San Diego State’s men’s golfers worked the Farmers Insurance Open each year, cleaning shoes in the locker room to raise money for the program. Spaun had walked on in 2009 without a scholarship before working his way up to a 70 percent one. His PGA Tour bio also reflects on those days, recalling the experience of going from cleaning shoes to playing in the event.

The joke with English goes back to June 2011. A 20-year-old Spaun faced English, a recent Georgia graduate and Walker Cup hopeful, in the quarterfinals of the U.S. Amateur Public Links at Bandon Dunes. The winner of the event earned a Masters invitation, so a lot was riding on the match.

Spaun trailed by one on the par-five 17th at Old Macdonald when things unraveled. By his account, he had marked his ball off the green, which cost him a two-shot penalty. His putt for eagle became a putt for par, and he eventually lost the hole and the match. The USGA lists the result as 2 and 1 for English, who reached the semifinals before Corbin Mills won the title.

English then tied for 13th at the 2011 Q-School to earn his 2012 PGA Tour card. Soon after, he walked into the Torrey Pines shoe room.

“The following year, Harris got his Tour card through Q-School. Then he came walking one rainy day at Torrey Pines with these white shoes covered in mud. He looks at me and says, ‘JJ.’ I said, ‘Yeah, man. Here, I’ll take your shoes. Give me your shoes.'”

English tipped well, Spaun said, but the money never reached him.

“Yes, Harris took care of us, but we didn’t get to count the tips. I was like, ‘Come on, man. I need some gas. It’s a 30-minute drive each way.’ But apparently, the money went to the program.”

Spaun added that today’s NIL rules might have allowed players to put that cash straight into their pockets.

Both men have come a long way since. English won the 2013 FedEx St. Jude Classic, played in the 2021 Ryder Cup, and has five PGA Tour victories. One came at the 2025 Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines, the same course where he once handed over his muddy shoes.

Spaun’s road was slower. He turned pro in 2012, spent four years on the mini-tours, and earned his PGA Tour card in 2017. Before the 2025 season, he was close to quitting, and a movie reportedly helped talk him out of it. Then came Oakmont and a 64-foot birdie putt on the final hole to win the U.S. Open.

He has added to that success since, winning the Valero Texas Open in April 2026 and the BMW PGA Championship in September.