Spieth’s spark of
no chance of getting to the green. The resultant bogey was almost inevitable. What we didn’t expect, though, was seeing the American soon starting to have a nightmare with his putter, especially after it had behaved impeccably over the first three days.
He was unable to convert a sevenfooter at the second after Kuchar had plonked his approach no more than a foot from the hole. Spieth then missed from four feet at the third after sending his second through the back, the only consolation for him there being that Kuchar also took 5 after finding a greenside bunker with his second despite having a great angle in.
In fairness to him, Kuchar made amends for that by getting up and down when faced with a much more difficult bunker shot at the 199-yard fourth, where the duo walked off the green tied for the lead after Spieth three-putted from long range after leaving his first attempt woefully short. It was just the tonic he needed when Spieth rolled in a six-footer for birdie at the fifth, edging him in front again, and that lead quickly became two. Neither player hit good drives at the sixth, a 499-yard brute, but Spieth found the more favourable lie on an area that had been trampled down over the course of the week and, thanks to a lovely pitch with his third, made 4 to Kuchar’s 5.
Incredibly, though, the pair were tied again just three holes later. That followed a Kuchar birdie and yet another lapse from Spieth with that normally-so-trusty flat stick in his hand. Kuchar was out in level-par 34 to sit eight-under. Spieth was out in 37. It was poor stuff in comparison to the sensational golf produced 12 months earlier by Henrik Stenson and Phil Mickelson at Royal Troon, but it was gripping nonetheless. Even more so after the two joint-leaders had started for home by three matching pars, the one made by Spieth from the side of a bank following a wayward approach being important, though not nearly as muchassomeofthemagicalmoments he produced in the next hour or so.
Spieth’s tee shot at the 13th was truly horrific, finding an awul spot high up on a dune miles to the right. He took a penalty drop but had to take that on the practice area, prompting a lengthy delay as officials made sure that things were being done the book. From there, Spieth got his third close to the green and managed to salvage a 5.
Kuchar’s 4 there gave him the lead but, if anyone thought the impetus was now with the older of the two Americans, they were soon proved wrong. The way Spieth responded to falling behind will become part of Open folklore and rightly so. He almost holed his