Spieth to defend title in Australian Open

The future of golf is Jordan Spieth.

Two-time Grand Slam victor will defend his Australian Open title in Sydney in November, organisers said on Tuesday. A par and a birdie would have sent golf into hysteria. It wasn’t meant to be for Oosthuizen, who missed his putt and sealed Johnson’s win.

Johnson birdied the first two playoff holes to take a one shot lead over Oosthuizen.

Johnson saluted the strong influence his backroom team, his wife and three children, his family and friends had on his capture of the prized Claret Jug. Palmer finished second by a shot to Kel Nagle at St Andrews, while Nicklaus was beaten by the same margin by Lee Trevino at Muirfield.

“They’re all so good“. It’s no longer a stretch to think Johnson might join them one day. He didn’t play the PGA because the dates overlapped with the Open that year.

“It’s a tough feeling being that close in a major“.

Johnson’s dancing caddie, Damon Green, shared the image of Spieth on Facebook. Las Vegas already has installed him as the favorite at the PGA Championship.

The winner’s take at the Masters and the U.S. Open were $1.8 million each; at the John Deere, $846,000. “It’s kind of hard not to hit a good shot there”.

Dustin Johnson crashed on Sunday as he finished his third round and never fully recovered in the final round.

“He was the guy most people probably wanted to have win and I get that too…” Woods was the runner-up. It was a gripping end to what had been an enthralling day that saw a packed leaderboard go hammer and tongs at grabbing enough birdies to take possession of golf’s most coveted trophy on just the second occasion in it’s 155-year-long history when it concluded on a Monday. And he thought about his dad, Bill, who had passed away 10 months after his grandson’s victory at Augusta. But the U.S. Open required a few help.

When Johnson sank a 30-foot birdie putt on the 18th hole to get into the playoff, Green went into his dance, complete with body shake and towel flapping as he walked to the hole with the ball dropping into the cup.

He had a chance from 20-feet to seal the win but missed before Oosthuizen, the 2010 champion at St Andrews, lipped out a 10-foot effort to extend the playoff.

Yes, he has closed out his share of tournaments. “It’s hard to do that every single time so I won’t beat myself up too bad because I understand that”. He won’t win the Grand Slam this year.

It turned left of the hole, ending the latest bid at the holy grail of golf – winning all four professional majors in the same year.

He then waited for the right moment before heading over the giving Johnson a congratulatory hug for winning the second major of his career.

In the meantime, there is much history he can chase, even if it isn’t the holy grail.

Spieth, bidding to become the first player since compatriot Ben Hogan in 1953 to land the opening three majors of the year, seemed to be out of it after double-bogeying the eighth.

When he missed the eight-footer on 17 and made bogey, he was fully expected to birdie 18 to get into the playoff.

And if that doesn’t work out?