British Open: Johnson earns second major

Jordan Spieth, in search of the third leg of the Grand Slam, was done in by putting clean off the eighth green from what was probably the 10 green, and taking three more from there for a double bogey. Neither was meant to be this year.

Tiger Woods laughs with Australian Jason Day during the second round.

Here are this week’s victor and losers.

Asked in a first TV interview how it felt to be Open champion, Johnson said: “It sounds lovely, it still sounds extremely surreal”. There is a big difference. He had a birdie putt for the win on the 18th that was wide left and gave him a 66.

They were at 12-under 214, one shot ahead of Spieth with plenty of others that can not be dismissed Fourteen players were separated by three shots.

It couldn’t have been much of a better week for O’Meara. He was more than happy to leave St. Andrews with a silver medal.

“It’s a feat to be invited and an honour to be invited to these tournaments, and to win at Augusta and to win the Open Championship at St Andrews, it’s hard to put it into words”.

The 22-year-old was given exemptions to the U.S. Open and the British Open this year, providing he stayed amateur.

This wasn’t my least favorite British Open. He said the only regrets he had were that it had to end.

Leishman was terrific as were Day and Scott, but since Peter Thomson’s playoff win against Dave Thomas in 1958, Jack Newton(1975) Wayne Grady and Greg Norman (1989), Steve Elkington and Stuart Appleby (2002) and now Leishman have fallen at extra holes in the Open. The adopted son of Scotland will be missed. That being said, the British Open has the best playoff format of all the majors.

“The awareness of him will just keep going up”, said Delzell. He was more than happy to leave St. Andrews with a silver medal.

David Duval plays from the 14th tee during the second round.

Spieth came to grief with a bogey at the 17th as his Triple Crown dream died, but Leishman held firm at 15 under and they were joined in the playoff by Oosthuizen, who sunk a six-footer at the last for a birdie. “All three of these guys played fantastic golf”. His wife came down with a viral condition that brought her close to death.

Johnson, Oosthuizen and Leishman all finished with totals of 15-under 273 after Johnson and Leishman had 66s and Oosthuizen a 69. Golf was not the priority, his family came first.

Instead, it’s Oosthuizen who heads to Whistling Straits next month with his own little bit of history on the line – the PGA Championship is the only major in which he has not finished second. It gets worse (if possible)!

On another day, the 3-under 69 he shot might have been enough. He ended the tournament at 4-under.

Despite missing the chance to make history with regards the grand slam, and become the second youngest world number one ever, Spieth insisted he would soon get over his disappointment. On 18, his attempt to save the hole with a long and challenging putt went just wide of the mark. The 27-year-old Australian, who revealed he was suffering from vertigo after collapsing at the US Open, has now had six top 10s in his last 11 majors, including three runner-up spots. In the latest world rankings, he was 1,268. Is he an eternal optimist or in denial?