Spieth buries long eagle putt to retake lead at British Open

Johnson, who averaged a mammoth 337 yards off the tee on Saturday, played flawlessly from tee to green and made six birdies in the first 15 holes. He canned that long putt for a momentous tournament-changing eagle. Spieth channeled his inner frat boy and just went there.

On Sunday at the 2017 British Open, American champion Jordan Spieth gets to hoist the iconic Claret Jug after beating Matt Kuchar three strokes.

He then finished his round with an eagle and two more birdies to win The Open by three shots. He pointed to his caddie and told him to get the ball out of the hole, pumped his fist, and walked off the green.

Spieth had taken a two-shot advantage into the third round, and despite three birdies in the first eight holes, was initially unable to shake off the attentions of Ryder Cup team-mate Kuchar.

After the third round Spieth said he had learned from his 2016 Masters collapse, when he squandered a five-shot lead with nine holes remaining. He’s 23 years old and just won the British Open.

Spieth, who blew a five-shot lead at the Masters previous year, appeared on the verge of throwing away the Open, too. “The shot on 18 (hitting it to 4 feet) was just phenomenal”.

After miraculously saving bogey after a awful drive (and 30-minute adventure) on 13, Spieth almost jarred his tee shot at the par-3 14th, settling for birdie to once again grab a share of the lead.

“I took about 20 minutes to play a shot today”.

Nearly inevitably Kuchar then missed his six foot putt as he struggled to deal with the decisive blow. Although he soon moved two ahead again, he was playing some wayward stuff off the tee in particular and catastrophe almost struck at the par-four 13th. Grace now finds himself tied in fifth place going in to the final round. When Jordan Spieth poured in a birdie putt at the 18th in the third round, the coronations started flowing.

His round Friday featured four bogeys, three birdies and an eagle – the latter coming on the 15th hole. He played his last seven holes in 7 under to shoot the 32nd 63 in major championship history. A mis-read on his first putt had left him with a tricky six-footer but he holed it to maintain his one-shot lead. Spieth has played a total of 69 rounds in major championship golf and has led the tournament in an astounding 14 of those rounds.

But somehow Spieth salvaged a bogey to trail Kuchar by just one shot, and the response on the following holes was emphatic.

By then the rest were well back, with Brooks Koepka the nearest challenger on five under.

Feel-good story of the day: 38-year-old Royal Birkdale pro shop assistant Gregg Petterson received a call at 9.50 pm as he walked to the club auto park, asking him to take on the role of “playing marker” with lone morning starter Shaun Norris. What a great champion Matt Kuchar is, and what a class act.

On Saturday, Spieth kept on rolling, playing bogey-free golf and never giving Kuchar or anyone else an opening. He has been hugely impressive here at Royal Birkdale; serious but ever ready to smile as he plays.

Kuchar, a Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets alum, is still searching for his first major title. It was an unbelievable bogey he made at the 13th. He shot 64 in the third round, but was eight shots behind Spieth entering Sunday’s final round.

Spieth begins the day with a three-shot lead over Matt Kuchar.

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South Africa’s Branden Grace is in the clubhouse on four-under par after his major championship record-breaking round of 62 earlier in the day.

A victory on Sunday would make Spieth only the second player after Jack Nicklaus to have won three of the game’s four majors before the age of 24. He got working yesterday and staved off Kuchar’s advances with a fine, front-running display.

A record crowd has taken it all in.