American golfer Zach Johnson wins British Open

“Yeah, mate, I’m happy”, he said.

Most eyes were on 21-year-old Spieth. No one ever came closer to the third leg of the Grand Slam. He parred two holes before being called in again.

Australia’s Marc Leishman was also 15 under with two holes to play.

“Up and down for a playoff”, was the last thing Spieth said to caddie Michael Greller from about 90 yards away.

When asked what kind of pressure he might feel should he stand on the precipice of an historic hat-trick, Spieth’s answer said everything about his current state of mind.

“I’ve come a long way since 2007”, Johnson told ESPN after his win. I’m humbled by this but my legacy should be my kids, my family, that kind of thing. “I’m hitting driver almost 14, 15 times out there”. Spieth bogeyed the 17th and needed a birdie at the last to extend his Open, but pitched into the Valley of Sin and could only make par.

Oosthuizen, the victor of the Open when it was last played at St Andrews in 2010, was level par for the extra holes while Leishman effectively played himself out of it when he three-putted the first.

The playoff, which will be decided on aggregate scores, will go down the first, second, 17th and 18th holes. He was faced with a daunting birdie putt – a 1-in-100 chance, really.

The three players had a quick break before heading to the first to get the four-way play-off underway and the South African, along with Johnson, sank birdies while Leishman’s par putt lipped out and he recorded a bogey.

Johnson was crowned “The Champion Golfer of the Year”, as all British Open winners are. It runs in front of the Old Tom Morris Golf Shop and along the 18th fairway of the Old Course, an ancient street that has felt the clatter of golf spikes back to the days of gutta percha balls.

Spieth hung around for the playoff, and walked out to the course to give Johnson a hug before the 39-year-old received the silver claret jug. But what a show.

Leishman began the day nine shots off the lead held by American Dustin Johnson but carded four birdies in a front nine of 32 and picked up further shots on the 10th, 11th, 13th and 15th. He is now eight shots back.

Padraig Harrington drove into a gorse bush on No. 6 and made double bogey. They hailed him at the home of golf, a place where champions are respected and revered, and where he honored them with his own little victory parade along The Links. Then there’s Paul Dunne, positioned to be the first amateur champion since Bobby Jones in 1930.

But with so many big names – including major winners Retief Goosen (-9), Zach Johnson (-9), Justin Rose (-9) and two-time runner-up Sergio Garcia (-9) – also on the star-studded leaderboard, Scott knows he must shoot a low number in the Open’s first Monday finish since 1988. He was one shot behind Spieth in the U.S. Open at Chambers Bay. The PGA Championship is next month at Whistling Strait.

Quoteworthy: “I don’t know how many guys have done three majors in a year”.

At 21, he can only hope he gets another shot at the slam.