bodyType

customContents

entityId

entityUuid

articlePageQuery

filter

article

articleBaseAdvertisingInfoArticle

articleListArticle

articleSeoArticle

hooksArticleAcknowledgementGateOverlayArticle

hooksTrackPageViewArticle

hooksContentInterestArticle

articleLinkingDataContent

hooksAmpRedirectArticle

articleSchemaContent

liveArticle

advertZone

sentiment

contentLock

topics

types

sections

paywallTypes

createdDate

publishedDate

sponsorType

urlAlias

moreOnThisArticles

commentCount

authorLocations

authors

corrections

displaySlideShow

multimediaEmbed

printHeadline

seriesContainer

articleSpeeches

socialHeadline

headline

images

flag

firstTopic

glossary

flattenTypeIds

image

relatedLinks

relatedNewsletters

__typename

sponsor

pdfFiles

seriesReverseOrder

series

disableOffPlatformContent

published

updatedDate

summary

subHeadline

body

keywords

readingTime

customTimezone

liveContents

Zach Johnson cradled the silver Claret Jug in his arms. Jordan Spieth let it slip through his fingers.
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 on Monday, but only as a spectator.
The slam gone, Spieth graciously returned to the steps of the Royal & Ancient clubhouse to watch Johnson finish off a sterling performance of his own. Johnson rolled in a 30-foot birdie putt on the 18th hole that got him into a three-man play-off, and he outlasted Louis Oosthuizen and Marc Leishman to win the British Open.
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
Zach Johnson
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 eight-foot par putt on the tough 17th hole, Spieth needed a birdie on the closing hole to join the play-off.
“Up and down for a play-off,” 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 US 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, an astounding record and a reminder that a good wedge game and a putter can still go a long way in this era of power.
Johnson was in tears when he was interviewed off the green.
“I’m grateful. I’m humbled. I’m honoured,” Johnson said. “This is the birthplace of the game, and that jug means so much in sports.”
On a tense afternoon of shadows and showers on the Old Course, Johnson closed with a six-under 66. He was the first in at 15-under 273.
Leishman, who considered giving up golf in April when his wife nearly died of a rare respiratory illness, fell out of the lead with a bogey on the 16th hole. He had a birdie putt for the win on the 18th that was wide left and gave him a 66. Oosthuizen made a 10-foot par putt on No 17 to stay one shot behind, and he delivered a clutch moment of his own with a wedge to five feet for birdie and a 69 to join the play-off.
It was the first British Open play-off since Stewart Cink beat Tom Watson at Turnberry in 2009, and the first involving more than two players since 2002 at Muirfield, the year Woods failed in his bid for the third leg of the slam.
Johnson matched Oosthuizen’s birdie on the first hole and pulled ahead with another birdie on No 2. Both made bogey on the 17th – Oosthuizen by missing a five-foot putt to tie Johnson – and the South African had one last chance. Oosthuizen, who won the British Open when it last was at St Andrews in 2010, had a 12-foot birdie putt to force sudden death. It touched the left side of the cup and kept going, and Johnson was introduced as the “champion golfer of the year”.
 


Another day, another near-miss for Louis Oosthuizen at British Open

Jordan Spieth’s grand slam hopes lie in tatters, but there's still the PGA Championship to look forward to

Zach Johnson drinks from the Claret Jug after British Open play-off win while Jordan Spieth is left thirsty

Jordan Spieth in the thick of the action at top of packed British Open leaderboard going into final round

The Open Championship 2015

Zach Johnson kisses the Claret Jug after his play-off victory. Photo: AFP

The scoreboard tells the story. Photo: EPA

Zach Johnson reacts after sinking his birdie putt on the 18th. Photo: TNS 

Jordan Spieth did not make the play-off, but still broke new ground. Photo: Reuters

Sport