Heart-stopper
Spieth wins a stunner at Chambers Bay for US Open title
UNIVERSITY PLACE, Wash. — Jordan Spieth is halfway home to the Grand Slam, a prize only three of the biggest names in modern golf have ever chased.
And he still can’t believe how he got there.
Spieth won the US Open in a heart-stopper Sunday with a turn of events even more wild than the terrain at Chambers Bay. He thought he had it won with a 25-foot birdie putt on the 16th hole. He threw away a threeshot lead one hole later. He made birdie on the final hole. And then he thought it was over as Dustin Johnson settled in over a 12-foot eagle putt for the victory.
Three putts later, Spieth was the U.S. Open champion.
“I’m still in shock,” he said with the gleaming U.S. Open trophy at his side. “I’ve never experienced a feeling like this. It was a very intense back nine.”
Spieth became only the sixth player to win the Masters and U.S. Open in the same year, and he joined Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods in getting the first two legs of the modern slam that Palmer created on his way to St. Andrews in 1960. That’s the next stop for the 21-year-old Texan whose two major championships could not be any more different. A wire-to-wire runaway at Augusta National. A nail-biter on the edge of Puget Sound.
And another major heartache for Johnson.
“I had all the chances in the world,” said Johnson, who missed six putts inside 10 feet on the back nine and finished one shot behind.