CAN'T TOUCH THIS!
Spieth fends off challengers to remain in front at Open
SOUTHPORT, England — Jordan Spieth and Matt Kuchar were walking down the 18th fairway together in the early evening Saturday with the Royal Birkdale grandstands jammed with fans on their feet in thunderous ovation when Kuchar stopped Spieth in his tracks for a moment.
“This is pretty cool to be here walking up the last hole of a British Open,” Kuchar said to Spieth.
“It was just a neat moment,’’ Kuchar said after the round.
Spieth, who was in grind mode, ready to survey the birdie putt he was about to have, had to check himself.
“Typically when I’m walking up to greens, I take out my notes trying to just get an idea what the putt is going to do as I walk up,’’ Spieth said. “I started to take out my book and saw the 18th hole and I’m like, ‘I can’t. This is not worthy of this.’ When Matt came over and said that, I had already started to kind of appreciate that. It was a fun walk.’’
That walk figures to be a lot more special for Spieth on Sunday considering he is taking three-shot lead over Kuchar into the final round after shooting a 5-under 65 on Saturday to get to 11under.
Kuchar shot 66 to get to 8-under and lost ground to Spieth, who led him by two shots entering the day. Austin Connelly, a 20-year-old playing in his first major championship, is tied with U.S. Open champion Brooks Koepka for third at 5-under.
Branden Grace, who became the first player ever to shoot a 62 in a men’s major, is 4-under, as is Hideki Matsuyama. Several players are at 3-under, including defending champion Henrik Stenson and No. 1 ranked Dustin Johnson.
But this looks like a two-man race Sunday.
Spieth has converted eight of his past nine final-round leads into wins, with the only blemish being the mess he made losing a five-shot lead with nine holes to play at the 2015 Masters.
“I think I’m in a position where [the Masters experience] can be very advantageous,’’ Spieth said. “It was a humbling experience that I thought at the time could serve me well going forward. I understand that leads can be squandered quickly, and I also understand how you can keep on rolling on one.’’
On Saturday, Spieth kept on rolling, playing bogey-free golf and never giving Kuchar or anyone else an opening.
When Kuchar birdied No. 15 to tie him momentarily at 9-under, Spieth topped his birdie to get to 10-under. On No. 18, Spieth drained a long birdie putt from the back of the green to get to 11-under and Kuchar missed his 8-foot birdie putt to stay on 8-under, three shots back.
“That’s expected with Jordan,’’ Kuchar said of Spieth’s birdie on 18. “I played well. I’m not out of this. I’d like to be a little closer to Jordan, but I’m playing good golf and I’m excited about [Sunday]. It was a battle with both of us pushing each other. I hope there’s more of that [Sunday].’’
Spieth has played 69 career major championship rounds and has finished with the lead in 14 of them — a remarkable percentage of success. He has a chance to join Jack Nicklaus as one of just two players to win the third leg of the Grand Slam before age 24, and become the first player to have 10 PGA Tour wins and three majors before reaching 24.
So, if you think anyone is going to stop Spieth from winning Sunday, bagging his third career major championship and the third leg of a career Grand Slam at age 23, raise your hand.
“The man out front has a good track record,’’ Justin Rose said of Spieth. “He’s obviously done all the right things to score well, which is what you have to do on windy links. So the chasing pack will have to chase pretty hard.’’
Chase away.