If you didn’t see what transpired over the final the final six holes of the 146th Open Championship Sunday at Royal Birkdale, you’d never believe it.
Even if you did see it, you’re probably still rubbing your eyes, wondering how the hell Jordan Spieth pulled off another major victory. How the hell did he save himself from what looked like the end of the line there at the crazy 13th hole at Royal Birkdale? With all the world looking on, it surely looked like Jordan Spieth was about to blow another shot at a major championship and add to the scar tissue from the 2016 Masters.
Spieth was teetering on the brink, about to go totally Jean van de Velde at the 13th where he blew his tee shot right of Rush Limbaugh, so far right that it was on a distant sand hill, nestled into the type of hay from which a golf ball cannot be extracted with the swing of a club.
Looked as if Spieth was about in full panic mode then something happened. It was as though he called time-out. Good news is that when all about him were going nuts, suddenly Spieth calmed down and used the Rules Of Golf to his advantage. He knew he was taking an unplayable lie but the question was: Where would he play his third shot from? It looked as if the entire R&A Rules Committee had gathered as Spieth kept going back from his line, farther and farther until he found himself on the practice range. John Paramor was there, Chief Referee from the European Tour, the walking rules book. No mistakes in the ruling. No controversy. Spieth then took advantage of all the equipment trucks parked at the back of the range. Temporary Immovable Obstructions. More relief. After a good 20 minutes, Spieth found a line to the green, albeit a long one.
Spieth launched a fairway metal that stopped just short of the green and a dangerous pot bunker. From there he pitched to seven feet and would make a miraculous bogey, one that would turn the course of his day.
At that point, Spieth had fallen to seven-under par, losing four shots from his overnight lead and trailed playing partner Matt Kuchar by a shot.
But it was that bogey save that turned the momentum of the day.
“I don’t know how I made five on 13,” Spieth would say later. “I don’t think I’ll ever know, it’s like I got away with murder.”
As they walked off the green tied with Kuchar, caddie Michael Greller turned to Spieth and said: “That’s a momentum shift!”
It was.
Something went off inside Spieth. It was as if he had gone into a phone booth, took off his Clark Kent hat and glasses and emerged as Superman.
His tee shot at the par three 14th nearly went in the hole. Birdie from three feet to get back to nine-under.
At the par five 15th, he found the fairway, then his second found the green, albeit 50 feet from the hole.
While Kuchar contemplated birdie, Spieth walked his line then settled in.
Then came the magic as his putt made its way with speed and buried itself in the bottom of the hole for eagle. Dagger to the chest of Kuchar. Tell Haotong Li he can come off the range.
“Go get that,” Spieth cried to Greller after the putt went in, sending Michael to pull the ball from the cup.
Suddenly Spieth was back to 10-under and rolling.
The Spieth Final Onslaught didn’t end there. He buried another good birdie putt at the 16th from 25 feet then pitched his third to seven-feet at the par five 17th and holed that one for good measure.
He crushed any hopes that Kuchar had within him. Spieth parred to finish it out while Kuchar suffered a closing bogey with the life sucked out of him by the Spieth Whirlwind.
“I showed a lot of resolve to make putts when I didn’t think I had it today. It was more difficult than it looked. This was eventful,” was how Spieth described the events of the final round. “I was put in a tough one early on, showed some resiliency. Credit to my guy on the bag (Michael Greller). He kept me in it today after not an ideal start. This trophy is as much his as it is mine.”
Spieth will savor this third major. This Open Championship gives him his third in a quest for the career Grand Slam with the PGA next on his list.
“This is a much of a high as I’ve ever experienced in my golfing life,” Spieth admitted. “And I’m going to enjoy it more than I’ve enjoyed anything that I’ve accomplished in the past.”
And now there is a new conversation in golf.
Gone is the “When will Tiger Woods catch Jack Nicklaus?” conversation.
Now, it’s a matter of:
“When will Jordan Spieth catch Tiger Woods?”
