One of the first to congratulate Johnson was fellow American Jordan Spieth who failed to make the playoff by one stroke after a day of fluctuating fortunes. “I’m honoured”, Johnson said.
Advertisement
Johnson’s caddie, Damon Green, posted these pictures to Facebook.
Instead, he missed a par putt on the low side at the 17th, and hit his drive so far left on the closing hole of the Old Course that Spieth was between clubs and had an awkward angle to a front left pin tucked just above the ridge that leads to the Valley of Sin.
Spieth had the attention of everyone, or at least everyone who was able to watch on Monday, during his final round at The Open Championship.
Ryan Ballengee is a Yahoo Sports contributor. He only dropped a shot on the 13th when his iron approach caught the greenside bunker. It’s not like I really lost it on the last hole, and 17 was brutally challenging. He thought he might get another crack at it when he won the Masters in 1962 and was tied for the lead going into the final round of the U.S. Open at Oakmont.
“I’m humbled right now because of what’s in my lap and the names that are etched on this piece of metal”, he added. As I talked to him about his love for links golf last week at the John Deere Classic, Johnson was eager for the Open. Nearly. Nothing quite like The Open at St. Andrews. I feel great. I was patient. His hopes of pursuing a historic Grand Slam at next month’s PGA Championship were doomed by a bogey on the 17th hole in regulation, where he missed an 8-foot putt.
Spieth went on to win the event in Illinois for the second time in three years by beating Tom Gillis in a play-off, with a certain Zach Johnson just a shot behind. “… He is a really good friend of mine”. With 14 players separated by three shots – half of them major champions – no one seized control the entire day.
When Johnson sank a 30-foot birdie putt on the 18th hole to get into the playoff, Green went into his dance, complete with body shake and towel flapping as he walked to the hole with the ball dropping into the cup.
Spieth’s chances of a third consecutive major victory looked to have disappeared after he four-putted the eighth – sending his first putt off the green – to fall three behind, but the 21-year-old birdied the ninth and 10th and holed from 50 feet on the 16th for another to tie the lead. They’re so hard to win that British bookies would probably make the odds long that any player will have a chance again in the next 13 years. Rain washed away most of the early weekend play, which forced a rare Monday finish to the British Open.
Oosthuizen appeared to be out of contention until he grittily holed a 15-foot par-saving effort at the 17th and chipped to four feet at the 18th before rolling in his birdie putt to join Johnson and Leishman in the playoff.
Jordan Spieth wonderful bid for a Grand Slam was stopped Monday by Zach Johnson, no longer just a normal guy from Iowa.
On another day, the 3-under 69 he shot might have been enough. Woods won five more majors, though never a Masters.
Advertisement
“Jordan could be sitting here now…to have a champion like him take the time to give me best wishes… speaks volumes”.
