J.J. Spaun’s U.S. Open-winning birdie putt was spectacular, astonishing and unforeseen.
It was also, it turns out, something else: Predictable.
In a video released by the USGA on Tuesday morning, golf fans earned a glimpse into the NBC Sports booth as Spaun’s 60-footer to win his first-career major championship found the bottom of the hole at Oakmont. While the most memorable piece of the video occurs shortly after Spaun’s putt fell — Hicks’ instant-classic “How about ONE?!” call — the most compelling piece of the video occurs shortly before.
That’s when NBC Sports lead analyst Kevin Kisner turned to his broadcast partner like Nostradamus, flipping a thumbs-up to Hicks 15 feet before the putt had reached the bottom of the hole.
“I’d seen that putt probably 10 times throughout the day,” Kisner told hosts Smylie Kaufman and Charlie Hulme in an interview on Kaufman’s The Smylie Show podcast. “Most guys were getting it within four or five feet — it wasn’t like it was impossible to get to a makeable second — so I could kind of tell when it crested the ridge whether the speed was good or not.”
Kisner said his thumbs-up was more about the pace of Spaun’s putt than it was a prediction about the putt’s outcome. Kisner wanted Hicks to know the putt was good pace … and wanted to give Hicks the opportunity to prepare for the possibility that it might be really good.
“Dan is kind of leading as it’s rolling, [saying Spaun] needs a two-putt to win the U.S. Open. As it crested the hill I’m like, ‘oh, man, this is perfect speed,’ like, it’s a two-putt,” Kisner said. “I just stick my thumb up right in front of Dan’s face, [as if to say] it’s good, because I know he’s got to make some crazy, big moment right there if the putt does something good.”
“None of us, nobody in that booth, was thinking [it would fall], right?” Kisner said. “You’re not thinking it. No one in America is thinking it. So I’m like, What is Dan gonna say if it goes in? I thought that was the coolest call ever.”
The great irony of Kisner’s prediction? His partner in the booth, Hicks, never saw it.
“I don’t think I did,” Hicks told Kaufman with a laugh. “I can’t imagine why. I was locked in on the monitor and just making sure I didn’t screw this epic U.S. Open moment up. But afterwards, I do remember Kiz saying, ‘Man, I knew that.'”
“I did not see the thumbs up, Kiz,” Hicks said, laughing again. “That’ll be enough of you for now. Let me do the call.”
To hear Kiz and Hicks’ full interview after the U.S. Open with Kaufman, you can check out the link here.
