It was more survival for Jordan Spieth at the 115th U.S. Open, but he sank the birdie putt when he needed to on the 72nd hole after hitting the three wood of his life from 274 yards to set up an 16 foot eagle putt. He took a one shot lead into the clubhouse and waited for Dustin Johnson to play 18. Dustin had just birdied the par three 17th from five feet and crushed his drive on the 601 yard par 5, 18th.
Johnson hit a 242 yard five iron to 13 feet and it looked pretty good for DJ at that point. I had a feeling he was going to sink it. They showed the guy holding the trophy looking like he was going to jump out of his skin to run hand DJ the trophy.
But Johnson got a little too aggressive with his eagle putt, missed it to the left and faced a four footer coming back to birdie the hole and send the United States Open into an 18 hole playoff today pitting him and Spieth.
Johnson just kind of tried to force the putt in, and it went left of the hole in heartbreaking fashion. Tough one for Johnson to take as he’s been so close in majors. But Spieth proved once again, at 21 years old, that he is the standard bearer in golf right now. Rory is certainly right there and will be a tough out at St. Andrews, so winning at St. Andrews for Spieth will be difficult. Not to mention the other guys like Johnson, Stenson, Rose, Kaymer, Rickie Fowler, and the other key Europeans and Americans. There will be massive competition for the Claret Jug, so Spieth will have his work definitely cut out for him in the next three weeks preparing for the Open Championship. But it’s thrilling that there is a guy competing for the coveted Grand Slam.
Only one man has completed the Grand Slam, and that was Bobby Jones in 1930, in the pre-Masters Slam era. Jones won the Open Championship, the U. S. Open, the U.S. Amateur and the British Amateur. There was no Masters or PGA Championship, though that is still phenomenal. Tiger Woods won the “Tiger Slam,” the U.S. Open, the Open Championship, and the PGA in 2000 and the 2001 Masters, but that still doesn’t count overall in historic legacy terms. Doing it in one calendar season is where the legacy is really established. Not taking anything away from Tiger’s feat, that was remarkable. But it was kind of like they created a Grand Slam for him. To do it in one season would be unmatched in history.
The 144th Open Championship is at famed St. Andrews, Scotland July 16-19th, the birthplace of golf. There are three tournaments on the PGA tour before the Open Championship: The Travelers this weekend in Connecticut, the Greenbriar Classic in Virginia, July 2nd-5th, and the John Deere Classic in Illinois, July 9th-12th. What’s interesting is that Spieth won the John Deere two years ago at age 19, and he likes to fulfill his commitments. Most defending champions will play in the tournament that they’ve won. But the Scottish Open is that weekend too, so Spieth will have a tough decision to make. I’ll keep an eye out on his plans. if he plays in the Scottish, which I think would be a good decision, he can really be prepared for the Open Championship. But knowing Jordan, he’ll play in the Deere if they really want him to. He’ll prepare for the Open regardless; you can bank on that.
The 79th PGA Championship is at Whisting Straits in Kohler, Wisconsin. In 2010, Dustin looked like he had that tournament won on the 18th hole, but grounded his club in the sand trap on his second shot, which was not very well marked and looked like a waste area in which you can ground your club. He hit his ball on the green and looked to be putting for par and securing the win. Instead he was assessed a two shot penalty for a double bogey and lost out to Martin Kaymer.
The interesting thing is that this U.S. Open, despite its flaws at times, really prepared Spieth and the other players for the other two majors. Both are links courses, and that is really an advantage for Spieth after handling the links of Chambers Bay. But it’s also an advantage for the other competitors in this year’s U.S. Open.
The greens weren’t great and it was not the greatest course, but the fans were awesome. As Jordan said in the trophy ceremony he wouldn’t like to be an opponent playing the Seattle Seahawks judging by the passion of these golf fans. The scenery was fantastic, the course was really pretty interesting and a major test of golf, and it turned out to be another historic major. So many twists and turns and a remarkable finish. It was a blast to watch, and that’s what it’s supposed to be about for golf fans.
Now Jordan, Rory, Dustin, Rickie Fowler, Martin Kaymer, Henrik Stenson and the other great ones, including Tiger, who has won at St. Andrews in 2000 and 2005, and Phil, who won at Muirfield in 2013, and Ernie, who won in 2012 at Royal Lytham &St. Annes, will battle in another epic at St. Andrews in three and a half weeks. The drama is building.
