Photo Courtesy: Bruce Chandler
By Jay Betsill
Jordan Spieth captured the Open Championship following an exciting final round that began with him three shots clear of the field and ended with him winning by three shots, but in between was action that was dramatic enough to be worthy of an ESPN 30 for 30 film.
“This is a dream come true for me,” Spieth said. “Absolutely a dream come true.”
The dream was on the verge of morphing into an absolute nightmare on par with his 2016 Masters collapse as his drive on No. 13 went roughly 100 yards right. Following a lengthy delay, Spieth wound up taking an unplayable and dropping on the nearby driving range. He would go on the bogey the difficult 13th hole before going on a historic run that saw him go 5-under through the final five holes.
“The amount of time it took was trying to figure out where exactly the drop would be, to where my nearest point of relief from the equipment trailers, would be to the right side on the driving range instead of to the left side, where I wouldn’t be able to get a lot of club on the ball,” Spieth said.
Spieth nearly aced No. 14, drained a 50-foot eagle on No. 15 and birdied No. 16 from 30 feet to essentially put the dagger in Matt Kuchar’s major championship hopes.
Spieth gave caddie Michael Greller a ton of credit for the victory.
“I was getting down on myself, as I think anyone would,” Spieth said. “This is as much mine as it is his.”
Spieth turns 24 this week and with his victory at Royal Birkdale, he became the second-youngest player to win three majors, just behind Jack Nicklaus and just ahead of Tiger Woods.
The PGA Championship is three weeks away at the Quail Hollow Club in Charlotte and Spieth will have the chance to become the youngest golfer in history to win the career grand slam.
