American Zach Johnson holds clubhouse lead on

Leishman, who had also covered the front nine in 31 and birdied the 10th and 12th, briefly held a two-shot lead when Johnson bogeyed the 17th, his right foot slipping on his second shot as a rain shower passed through.

All three finished the first four regulation rounds at 15-under-par 273.

Johnson opened with two quick birdies, kept a one-shot lead in the playoff when Oosthuizen missed a 5-foot par putt on the 17th hole and won the Open when the South African – the last player to lift the jug at St. Andrews in 2010 – narrowly missed a 12-foot birdie attempt.

It was Oosthuizen’s second near miss in quick succession after sharing second place at the U.S. Open last month.

It took a superlative effort from Johnson, who now has two majors among his 12 PGA Tour victories, an astounding record and a reminder that a good wedge game and a putter can still go a long way in this era of power.

Johnson added to the Masters title he won in 2007. It was last done by Anders Forsbrand at Turnberry in 1994. “That was the most important thing, and I was all right with that”. “I stayed in it and waited for the opportunities and fortunately I made a few”. “To have a champion like Jordan take the time on 18 to give me best wishes, and certainly Mike (Greller), his caddie, speaks volumes as to what he is”.

“I never really thought I’d win one“, he said.

That forced the first British Open playoff since Stewart Cink defeated Tom Watson at Turnberry in 2009 and the first three-way playoff since 1999 when Paul Lawrie triumphed. “It’s the biggest tournament that I can play in”, he said. That jug means so much. He’ll be favored there again, with a chance to join some elite company as a victor of three majors in one year.

It was a strangely orderly finale to what otherwise felt like a Grand Slam fire drill. He knocked in 20-foot birdies putts at the 10th and 11th holes, then made a 15-footer at the No. 15.

“I didn’t want to blast it way past the hole and hit it through the break, so I just wanted to hit my normal putt and try and hole it”.

Zach Johnson, the 144th Open champion, Claret Jug in tow, was high-fiving spectators as they touched the oldest and most famous trophy in golf.

In the playoff, Johnson – who finished 72 holes tied with Louis Oosthuizen and Marc Leishman at 15 under – struck first with birdies at the first two extra frames in the four-hole aggregate session. Eight players had at least a share of the lead.

“I’ve come a long way since 2007”, Johnson told ESPN after his win. “A lot of guys will take a lot of good out of this, and you know, it’ll be great for golf if this is going to be the way forward”. He didn’t overpower the softer side of the Old Course as many had predicted Dustin Johnson would, he simply picked it apart one swing at a time and outlasted a collection of contenders that would have filled the adjacent R&A clubhouse.

With his wife recovering alongside their two children, Oliver and Harvey, in their Virginia Beach home, the 31-year-old Victorian fell agonisingly short of etching his name into golf folklore.