Hopes for Grand Slam end for Spieth at British Open
Spieth’s bid for third straight major title ends as Zach Johnson rallies, claims three-way playoff.
Former Longhorn Jordan Spieth’s pursuit of a Grand Slam were doomed when he missed the British Open’s playoffff by a stroke. American Zach Johnson won the event.
ST. ANDREWS, SCOTLAND— Zach Johnson cradled the silver claret jug in his arms. Jordan Spieth let it slip through his fifingers.
Spieth was right where he wanted to be in his spirited bid for the Grand Slam — tied for the lead with two holes to go in the British Open, right after making a 50-foot birdie putt that made it feel as though he were destined to win at St. Andrews for his third straight major.
And he was still there at the very end Monday, but only as a spectator.
The slam gone, Spieth graciously returned to the steps of the Royal & Ancient clubhouse to watch Johnson fifinish off a sterling performance of his own. Johnson rolled in a 30-foot birdie putt on the 18th hole that got him into a threeman playoff, and he outlasted Louis Oosthuizen and Marc Leishman to win the British Open.
Johnson described himself
as a “normal guy” from Cedar Rapids, Iowa, when he won the Masters in 2007. And now? “I’m a normal guy from Cedar Rapids ... with a green jacket that has something that most guys don’t get to drink out of right now,” Johnson said, smiling as he looked at golf’s oldest trophy with his name etched alongside most of the game’s greatest players.
Spieth was close to having his name on that jug. No one ever came closer to the third leg of the Grand Slam.
He fought back from taking four putts for a double bogey on No. 8 with back-to-back birdies. He rolled in that long birdie putt on the 16th for a share of the lead. After missing an 8-foot par putt on the tough 17th hole, Spieth needed a birdie on the closing hole to join the playoff.
“Up and down for a playoff,” was the last thing Spieth said to caddie Michael Greller from about 90 yards away. It was too far right and quite hard enough, and it rolled to the edge of the Valley of Sin short of the green. His birdie attempt up the slope stayed inches left of the cup, and he tapped in for a 69.
“We gave it a great effort,” Spieth said.
At least he was in elite company. Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods — the three biggest names in golf over the last 50 years — were the only other players to capture the Masters and U.S. Open in a bid to sweep the four professional majors in the same year. All came up short in the British Open. Spieth was the only one who had a share of the lead so deep in the final round.
“I’m going to go home and reflect,” Spieth said. “It won’t hurt too bad. It’s not like I really lost it on the last hole, and 17 was brutally challenging. I just didn’t hit a great putt there, and I just picked the wrong wedge out of the bag on 18. I made a lot of the right decisions down the stretch and certainly closed plenty of tournaments out. And this just wasn’t one of those. It’s hard to do that every single time.
“I won’t beat myself up too bad, because I do understand that.”
It took a superlative effort from Johnson, who now has two majors among his 12 PGA Tour victories.
Johnson was in tears when he was interviewed off the green.
“I’m grateful. I’m humbled. I’m honored,” Johnson said. “This is the birthplace of the game, and that jug means so much in sports.”
Johnson closed with a 6-under 66.