Spieth had birdied the first to join Harrington, Day and Zach Johnson on 12 under, with English amateur Ashley Chesters among a six-strong group on 11 under on an extremely congested leaderboard.
Advertisement
Golf amateur Paul Dunne is set for a bittersweet victory Monday at The Open championship at St. Andrews in Scotland.
ST. ANDREWS, Scotland (AP) – Jordan Spieth’s spirited bid for a Grand Slam was stopped Monday by Zach Johnson, who is no longer just a normal guy from Iowa.
The initial focus goal for the University of Alabama student was the silver medal for the leading amateur, but his goal is undoubtedly now the big prize.
Most eyes were on 21-year-old Spieth.
Dunne was one of five amateurs to make the cut and he ended his third round having only dropped two strokes all week, one apiece in his matching opening two rounds of 69. “I just didn’t hole any putts”. Marc Leishmann also parred and is now 3 shots behind Johnson. By the end of the season Spieth is likely to be pulling in $5 million to $10 million in annual endorsements, said Matt Delzell, managing director of The Marketing Arm, who negotiates such endorsement deals.
South Africa’ Louis Oosthuizen birdie putts on the ninth green… Johnson also has one major championship in his trophy room, winning the 2007 Masters.
“There’s so many players that can still win this”. Johnson has 3 holes left to play.
“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 in sports”.
After completing a round that contained five birdies and a missed 8-foot putt for another birdie on the last, Day let his mind wander back to the 18th hole and the “best walk in golf“.
Johnson might have bogeyed the hole anyway, of course, but a birdie at 18 ultimately enabled him to finish in a tie, and he won in a playoff. He had a birdie putt for the win that stayed wide left.
Johnson headed to the practice ground to prepare for a possible four-hole play-off, and the prospects of that improved when Leishman was unable to save par from a greenside bunker on the 16th.
“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. It’s not hard to see how Twitter is getting Jordan Spieth and Irish amateur Paul Dunne confused, but hilarity ensued during Sunday’s third round of The Open.
It forced the first Monday finish in the British Open in 27 years. But what a show.
He led the 2013 Masters on the 16th hole in the final round and finished third. Majority fell away.
Advertisement
They were at 12-under 214, one shot ahead of Spieth, and plenty of others remain in the mix as well with 14 players separated by three shots.
