Louis Oosthuizen set a tough target; Charl Schwartzel posted one of the day’s best rounds; and Branden Grace was unable to follow through after three excellent rounds, as South Africans featured prominently in the $10m US Open, one of golf’s four Major Championships. But the spoils went to 21 year old Jordan Speith who followed up his victory in the previous Major and is set to take up where once invincible Tiger Woods left off. – Alec Hogg
By Erik Matuszewski
(Bloomberg) — Jordan Spieth became the youngest player to win golf’s U.S. Open since Bobby Jones in 1923, capturing a second straight major when Dustin Johnson three-putted from 12 feet on the final hole with a chance to win or force a playoff.
The 21-year-old Spieth, who also won the Masters Tournament in April, shot a 1-under-par 69 during the final round to finish with a four-day total of 5-under 275 at Chambers Bay Golf Course outside Seattle.
Spieth had a tap-in birdie at the par-5 18th hole, putting him one shot ahead of Johnson, who was playing in the final group. Johnson had an 12-foot attempt at an eagle for the win, but ran his first putt by the hole and then missed a 5-foot birdie try that would have forced an 18-hole playoff on Monday.
“I’m in shock,” Spieth said. “I just wanted a fighting chance tomorrow. I felt bad for Dustin.”
Johnson and Louis Oosthuizen tied for second at 4 under, one shot better than Adam Scott, Branden Grace and Cameron Smith. Charl Schwartzel finished at 2 under, while Brandt Snedeker was the only other player below par at 1 under. Jason Day, who was tied for the 54-hole lead and playing despite a bout of vertigo, shot a final-round 74 to finish at even par.
Spieth is the sixth golfer to win both the Masters and the U.S. Open in the same year and the first to do so since Tiger Woods in 2002. That select group of champions also includes Craig Wood (1941), Ben Hogan (1951 and 1953), Arnold Palmer (1960) and Jack Nicklaus (1972). The season’s next major is the British Open, held July 16-19 at St. Andrews in Scotland.
Topping Tiger
In his young career, Spieth has been chasing many of the records set by Woods, and now he’s surpassed the 14-time major champion for one milestone. Two months after earning the green jacket at Augusta National as the second-youngest Masters winner behind Woods, Spieth became the youngest player to win two career majors since Hall of Famer Gene Sarazen in 1922.
Spieth, an American, entered the U.S. Open as the second- ranked player in the world behind only Rory McIlroy, who finished tied for ninth at Chambers Bay. While McIlroy will remain No. 1 in the next Official World Golf Ranking, no player has been as successful as Spieth in 2015.
In 16 events since February, Spieth now has 10 top-10 finishes, three victories and a total of $7.8 million in winnings. Spieth pocketed $1.8 million for winning the U.S. Open. He’s also become one of the sport’s top earners off the course, with endorsement partnerships with Under Armour Inc., AT&T Inc., Fortune Brands’ Titleist and Rolex.
Spieth opened the tournament with rounds of 68, 67 and 71, leaving him in a four-way tie for the lead entering the final round with Johnson, Jason Day and Branden Grace.
Johnson’s Bogeys
Johnson opened a two-shot advantage midway through the round with a pair of birdies on the first nine holes, but stumbled with three bogeys in a four-hole span from the 10th to the 13th holes. Spieth and Grace were left atop the leaderboard after birdies at the par-4 12th and remained tied until the par-4 16th, the site of a crucial three-shot swing.
Grace hit his drive out of bounds, pushing his shot well right toward Puget Sound, over a fence and across a pedestrian walkway toward the train tracks that run parallel to the hole. He’d make a double bogey on the hole while Spieth sunk a 26-foot birdie putt to get to 6 under.
Spieth’s three-shot lead with two holes left quickly dissipated, as he made his own double bogey at the par-3 17th and Oosthuizen tied him at 4 under with a birdie at No. 18.
18th Hole
As Johnson birdied the 17th to grab a share of the lead, Spieth hit a 324-yard drive and then a 274-yard second shot that curled off the back slope of the green to within 16 feet of the cup. Spieth, who had criticized the 18th hole when it played as a par-4 earlier in the week, trickled his putt down to tap-in range to regain the lead.
Spieth said he was preparing for a playoff at best when Johnson reached the 18th green in two shots, but two wayward putts later he was the U.S. Open champion. Johnson’s birdie attempt completely missed the cup to the left for his latest disappointment in a major championship.
At the 2010 U.S. Open, Johnson shot a final-round 82 after taking a lead into the final day. That same year at the PGA Championship, Johnson’s gaffe in a bunker on the 18th hole led to a penalty that cost him a chance to make a playoff. His girlfriend, Paulina Gretzky, was left in tears outside the scorer’s tent after Johnson’s misses on Sunday.
“I think there’s only one tournament in the world that could finish like that and it’s this one,” Spieth said. “I thought I’d lost it.”
Young Success
Spieth and Woods are now the only players since 1940 to win four times on the PGA Tour before their 22nd birthday.
While Spieth’s successes grow, Woods’s struggles continue.
Woods, who entered the week at 195th in the world ranking, missed the cut for weekend play at Chambers Bay for just the second time in 19 U.S. Open appearances after rounds of 80 and 76. The combined 36-hole score of 156 was his worst in 308 professional starts on the PGA Tour.
The last time Spieth competed at Chambers Bay was at the 2010 U.S. Amateur Championship, where at 17 he shot 83 in his lone stroke-play round and failed to qualify for the match play portion of the competition.
Spieth had the advantage of local knowledge this week. His caddie, Michael Greller, is a resident of Gig Harbor, Washington, and until 2011 spent time as a Chambers Bay caddie while also working as a teacher. Greller married his wife on the 15th hole at Chambers Bay.
“He’s my right hand man,” Spieth said. “He’s the only other guy who can control the outcome of what I do on the course. To win this one for him is really special.”
