As for Johnson, he’s got 17 players ahead of him and is tied with seven more, which will make it extremely hard to work his way back up the leaderboard.
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With flags hanging limp like damp tea towels – a huge contrast to Saturday’s gales that wiped out the third round and forced a first Monday finish at the British Open since 1988 – an eclectic mix of major winners, amateurs and nearly-men tucked into the Old Course birdie banquet with relish.
Paul Dunne, a 22-year-old from Ireland, rolled in putts like this was the prestigious St. Andrews Links Trophy for amateurs instead of the oldest championship in golf.
The playoff will be between Louis Oosthuizen, Zach Johnson, and Marc Leishman.
“As we were walking off the green [Saturday], he just said, ‘Go get it done, you know what you need to do, ‘ ” Day said. But the sense that something bigger was lost wasn’t just felt by the fans who bought tickets for 10 pounds to sit in the rain on what was looking to be a magical day.
Oosthuizen also birdied the first hole but missed a 25-footer at the second.
“I don’t see why not”, Dunne said.
To do that, he’ll have to hold off Jordan Speith, among others. He was one shot behind Spieth in the U.S. Open at Chambers Bay. I love this place. He is alone in third place on 8-under 136, two strokes off Johnson’s lead. I was really motivated to win this championship.
Jordan Spieth’s quest for the Grand Slam is over.
Just don’t see that view as a sign of weakness from Day. He shot 67 and shared the lead for the second straight major, and he has challenged in four of them since 2011.
When a shootout at St. Andrews ended Sunday, 14 players were separated by three shots.
Day is also trying to become the first Australian since Greg Norman, in 1993 at Royal St George’s, to lift the Claret Jug.
“Up and down for a playoff”, was the last thing Spieth said to caddie Michael Greller from about 90 yards away.
However, Dunne mishit his approach so badly that it came up short of the Swilcan Burn and although he managed a wry smile, the resulting bogey meant he was suddenly two off the lead.
When Johnson’s final putt dropped in the cup, his knees buckled and he pumped his right fist. Leishman badly missed his birdie putt that would have won it, while Oosthuizen hit a flawless wedge to 5 feet for birdie and a 69 to join the playoff. Now he has two majors among his 12 PGA Tour victories. He had won the Masters and the U.S. Open, giving him a shot at joining Ben Hogan as the only golfers to win the first three majors of the year.
” I’d like to have a chance to do something nobody has ever done”, Spieth said.
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Sunday was probably the most fun I’ve had on a golf course, definitely. Jordan (Spieth) is obviously looking at making history, so you can expect him to fire on early and to really be up there and Jason (Day) is playing unbelievable.
