There was his final-round meltdown in the 2010 U.S. Open at Pebble Beach, followed a couple of months later by his disputed two-shot penalty on the 72nd hole of the PGA Championship that cost him a spot in the playoff.
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U.S. golfer Jordan Spieth lines up a putt on the 4th green during his third round, on Day Four of the 2015 British Open Golf Championship on The Old Course at St Andrews in Scotland, on Monday.
The playoff will be between Louis Oosthuizen, Zach Johnson, and Marc Leishman.
Sergio Garcia, left, and Jordan Spieth shake hands on the 18th after completing the third round of the British Open at St. Andrews, Scotland, on Sunday. Half of them were major champions, and there was yet another amateur among them – 21-year-old Jordan Niebrugge of Oklahoma State, the victor of the 2013 Western Amateur at The Alotian Club in Roland. With a one-shot lead after powering his way around St. Andrews for 36 holes, he was the last player in the field to make a birdie Sunday, and that wasn’t until the 15th hole.
“I’m very pleased with the way I played”, Spieth said.
Having never won a major before and being just 21 years old, Spieth put on a clinic at the Masters for an impressive victory with players like Rory McIlroy and Phil Mickelson on his heels.
“I’m going to have to put together a special round to have a chance”, he said. It caught the left edge of the cup, and Johnson was in tears.
“To have my name on that trophy, along with the names before me, is humbling and surreal”.
“I think it’s just over the last few years that I’ve played and been in contention at major championships, I feel like I’ve learnt a lot”, explained the 27-year-old. “This is the birthplace of the game and that jug means so much to sports”.
On that occasion he reached the 14th with a four-shot lead, but bogeyed his last four holes to hand the Claret Jug to Ernie Els.
It was the first British Open playoff since Stewart Cink beat Tom Watson at Turnberry in 2009, and the first involving more than two players since 2002 at Muirfield, the year Woods failed in his bid for the third leg of the slam.
Oliver Schniederjans of Georgia Tech, in his final tournament as a pro, got within two shots of the lead about two hours before the leaders started the final round.
Johnson’s 15-foot birdie try at 18th missed right, leaving Oosthuizen with an eight-footer to force an sudden-death hole.
“I can’t. I’m at a loss for words”, an emotional Johnson said in a TV interview moments after the playoff, with tears in his eyes. The tournament is already finishing on a Monday for the first time since 1988 because of rain and high winds. But what a show. Louis Oosthuizen and Jason Day are one shot back with 2 holes to play.
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There are now 16 players within three shots of the lead so Ivor Robson may well be needed for a play-off.
