The most bizarre bogey in major history
SOUTHPORT, England — Almost as soon as the driver made contact with the ball, Jordan Spieth clutched his head with both hands — looking like someone bracing for a car crash. Spieth’s drive on the 1 3th hole went some 120 yards off line to the right of the fairway and turned the 146th British Open final round into “Masterpiece Theatre.” The ball came to rest on a steep hill of dunes with grass so thick he could not get a clubface on it to advance the ball. So Spieth, who was tied with Matt Kuchar for the lead at 8-under par, opted to take an unplayable lie for a penalty stroke. He then con- firmed with rules officials that the driving range, which was on the other side of the dune from the 13th fairway, was inbounds.
The rules allow players to take a drop as far back as they want, as long as it keeps the original spot where the ball landed in line with the green. So Spieth took his drop more than 100 yards back over the hill on the driving range behind equipment trucks.
Then he received a line-of-sight relief from the trucks. That still left him a 245-yard blind shot over the tall dunes to a fairway littered with pot bunkers. His 3-iron stopped 25 yards short of one of the bunkers in front of the green.
From there, he pitched it to about 8 feet and made the putt for one of the great bogeys in major championship history.
Somehow, on a hole that took 29 minutes to play because of all the back-and-forth among Spieth, his caddie, Michael Greller, and the rules officials, Spieth lost only one shot and walked to the 14th tee one shot behind Kuchar.
“That was the most bizarre thing I’ve ever experienced as a caddie,’’ Spieth’s caddie, Michael Greller, said. “I certainly didn’t have any [yardage] numbers from the right side of the range. Just getting a good line [to the green] was tough. Once he made that putt on 13, there was just a different energy in him those last five holes.’’
Greller urged Spieth on as they walked from the 13th green to the 14th tee.
“Hey, that’s a momentum shift right there,’’ Greller said to Spieth.
“He was dead on,’’ Spieth said. “All I needed to do was believe that. I was starting to feel it.’’
Spieth birdied No. 14, eagled 15 and birdied 16 and 17 to win by three shots.
“The turning point was 1 3,’’ Greller said. “He hit a really good [approach] shot. And then the up-and-down was just ridiculous. That’s the greatest bogey I’ve ever seen by a mile. I hope I never see one that great again, because that was stressful.’’
When Spieth finally arrived to the 13th green, he apologized to Kuchar for the delay and the two bumped fists.
“We knew Jordan was in a great deal of trouble on 13,’’ Kuchar said. “I went ahead and played my second shot [to the green] knowing that it was going to be a while. I hit a great shot and knew we were in for a big delay. Certainly, it was not anything I was ever going to be upset with. It’s a very difficult situation. Once we started playing again … I didn’t lose any momentum.
“All of a sudden I now have a 1-shot lead after that hole in the British Open with five to go. I’m playing really well, hitting a lot of good shots. I’m going to keep doing what I’m doing. And he just … he really turned it up.’’