Jordan Spieth Wins British Open to Capture Third Major

Jordan Spieth emerged from the brink of disaster to stage an epic finish over the closing five holes to win the British Open.

On the 13th tee, Spieth mishit his drive 80 yards to the right of the fairway. It hit a fan in the head and buried in deep grass. The marshall found the ball and Spieth strategically took a drop way back on the driving range. He then proceeded to hit a long three-iron short of the green and got up and down for a not-too-shabby bogey. He then went five under over the next four holes with three birdies and an eagle.

It was an epic stretch of golf unparalleled in golf history. He closed with a par for one-under 69 and the admiration of the golfing world.

Spieth is the second youngest player in golf history to own three of golf’s four major championships. Jack Nicklaus was six months younger than Spieth when he won the 1963 PGA Championship for his third leg of the grand slam.

News and Notes from the Final Round:

Even prior to the 13-hole disaster for Spieth, players were warned about slow play. Spieth taking 20 minutes to hit his third certainly didn’t speed things up but he did apologize to his playing partner Matt Kuchar. Spieth takes forever to play; this is common knowledge in the golf community.
Matt Kuchar was rock solid all day. He just ran into a buzz saw in Spieth—a slow, deliberate, annoying buzz saw.

NBC’s golf coverage was amazing. Eight hours today alone with great commentary by Johnny Miller, play-by-play by Dan Hicks, and analysis by Roger Maltbie, Peter Jacobsen and Gary Koch. Miller did have one gaffe when he said Spieth should go back and re-tee on 13 instead of taking a drop on the driving range. Going back to the tee means certain double bogey. Spieth knew that and gave himself the best chance to make bogey and he did. Miller never acknowledged his strategic error.

Everyone talks about how the British have the best fans in golf. This is true but it’s only because they don’t have someone yelling out “bababooey” after every shot so it’s a low bar.

I called for Spieth to win in our British Open preview that ran on Wednesday. Hope some readers cashed in.

Dan Redmond can be found on twitter @danfromdc