THE UPS AND DUNES OF AN OPEN CHAMPION:
Battle between Spieth and Kuchar a real rollercoaster ride
ON the horizon beyond Birkdale’s dunes stands Blackpool’s biggest rollercoaster.
But for the record-breaking crowds on this famous old links yesterday they needed only to visit the back nine for a thrill ride we’ll never forget.
This two-man duel for the Claret Jug may not have matched for quality the epic battle of Henrik Stenson and Phil Mickelson at Royal Troon 12 months before.
But this was pulsating stuff, drama you didn’t dare take your eyes off for a second.
In the aftermath there will be an inquest as to whether technology should be reigned in to prevent classic old courses like this from being taken apart.
Branden Grace’s record 62 guaranteed that debate even before the champion set a new record as the first man to shoot all four rounds in the 60s at Birkdale.
But who cares if courses are being brought to their knees when the men doing so are providing such exhilarating entertainment.
For any of the 235,000 punters who flocked to Birkdale this week, and for the millions watching at home, this Open has delivered the kind of drama that should keep them coming back for years.
But no one delivered more when it mattered most than Jordan Spieth.
There is plenty to admire about a man who, at just four days short of his 24th birthday, has just claimed his third Major title to go with the US Masters and US Open titles won in 2015.
But perhaps the quality to be admired most in yesterday’s performance was his ability to keep his head while everything seemed to be unravelling in front of his eyes.
Bad enough that the threeshot lead he’d carried into this final round had disappeared at the turn as three dropped shots in his opening four holes set the tone for an uncharacteristically sloppy front nine.
But by the unlucky 13th all looked lost as a wild tee shot into the thick stuff at the foot of a huge sand dune heralded scenes of utter chaos, bordering on farce.
Memories of his incredible Amen Corner meltdown at last year’s US Masters loomed ominously. It took about 20 minutes for Spieth to debate with referees as he marched all the way back to the practice range seeking a suitable place to take his penalty drop.
But after the comical sight of him flitting between Tour trucks in search of the right spot he finally pulled the trigger on a recovery shot from 260 yards out that left him an up-and-down to limit the damage to a bogey.
That he even knew to request a drop so far back was the result, as Spieth later explained, of bitter personal experience of struggling with his tee shots.
He said: “I’ve just hit it in a lot of places before! Honestly, if I was a very straight driver of the golf ball I would have made a different score on that hole.
“Having been in unplayable situations before I just asked the question, ‘Is the driving range out of bounds?’ When I got the answer no I thought, ‘Well that’s a much better location for me to hit the next shot because I can get it much closer to the green and it saves me almost a full stroke from going back to the tee.
“The amount of time it took was trying to figure out where exactly the drop would be – where my nearest point of relief from the equipment trailers would be. I knew on that line I was going to be okay hitting
from the driving range and getting it up somewhere near the green.
“I apologised profusely to Matt about the amount of time it took from when he hit his shot to when I played my second. There was nothing I could do and he told me that.
“It’s tough to play golf that way and step up and hit a 6-iron when it’s starting to rain and the wind is blowing and you haven’t taken a full swing in probably 10 or 15 minutes.
“So I didn’t feel like that was necessarily fair to him but I needed to do what I could to produce the best score.”
And bogey to only be trailing Matt Kuchar by one was undoubtedly the best score he could have mustered – and as he walked to the 14th tee with a spring in his step Spieth’s caddie Michael Greller knew it.
Spieth added: “As I was walking off the green Michael said, ‘That’s a momentum shift right there’. And he was dead on. All I needed to do was believe that.
“Even though you lost the hole and you went one down the momentum is on your side.”
Spieth proceeded to rampage his way home in a breathless charge to glory.
Birdie, eagle, birdie, birdie and finally tap-in par for victory.
Kuchar must feel disappointed to have come so close to his first Major but can console himself that he really could have done no more against a man whose closing stretch of golf was bordering on superhuman.
It was mesmerising stuff. Spieth’s closing 69 to conclude a 12-under total of 268 to win by the three-shot margin he had surrendered nine holes before.
As Spieth later joked, 17 pars and a birdie would have been fine too. But not nearly as thrilling and utterly compelling to watch.
If I was a straight driver I’d have made a different score there JORDAN SPIETH