History has its way of beckoning the chosen ones. For a time, it seemed as if Jordan Spieth would - just as he did in the US Open - contrive to find a way to capture another of golf's most cherished prizes. Ultimately, though, he was rebuked, deprived even of a second bite at the cherry; and, instead, Zach Johnson was the one selected and embraced, as he claimed this 144th British Open with a four-hole aggregate play-off win over Louis Oosthuizen and Marc Leishman.
As if five days of disrupted play were not enough, Johnson had to go the extra journey to reach his destination. Not that he minded those four extra holes in the slightest, for the American - the Masters champion in 2007 - embraced the Claret Jug like a long-lost treasure. A final round 66 for 273, 15-under-par, put Johnson into the play-off, where his run of birdie-birdie-bogey-par for 15 strokes left him one clear of Oosthuizen and two ahead of Leishman.
For sure, it was a final day’s play which enthralled and captivated for the most part. At one point or another, no fewer than eight different players owned or shared the lead. Apart from the trio who reached the play-offs, others departed the Home of Golf with a sense of what might have been. Foremost of those was Spieth, who bogeyed his penultimate hole to agonisingly finish just one stroke outside of the play-off in his bid to win the first three Majors of the year.
More sorely, Spieth will reflect on a four-putt on the Par 3 eighth which led to a double-bogey, where he rolled a putt off the putting surface. That’s how close he was to history.
Others too, left believing some sort of ghostly thief had dipped their pockets. Jason Day. Adam Scott. Sergio Garcia. All had manoeuvred into position to contend, only to falter when it mattered most. Scott most dramatically of all: he leaked five shots in the closing five holes, which included a missed putt of no more than 12 inches. "Just one of those stupid things that happen," he observed afterwards.
Unfortunately for the two Irish players who had set out with great anticipation, it proved to be a disappointing day. Pádraig Harrington's momentum was drained by a lost ball on the sixth as he struggled to a finishing 75 for 281, in tied-20th; and amateur Paul Dunne, the last player to be sent off in pursuit of the Claret Jug by Ivor Robson, endured a 78 for 282, which left him in tied-30th.
Dunne had started out in a share of the lead, but that was short-lived after a nervy opening bogey - “I just hit three wedge shots fat and one thin. I don’t think I’ve done that ever. I don’t know where that came from,” he remarked later - and Harrington also moved into a share with three birdies in his opening five holes, only to be derailed by a lost ball which led to a double-bogey on the sixth. He tried and tried, but could not rediscover the early magic.
“I was trying to drive it down to the front of the green (on the sixth). Things were going well, why not take it on at that stage? Obviously it was disappointing to lose a ball. If you found it there, you made five. It wasn’t the end of the world,” said Harrington. But suffering the double-bogey proved costly, and was exacerbated as the round progressed by poor putting which led to two three-putts. He became a bit player in the drama.
On an overcast day, with showers of rain mixing with a breeze to cause a degree of annoyance for players attempting to plot their way around the Old Course, the conditions somehow contrived to produce a showdown of the ages and, for a time, it seemed as if Spieth would again play the role of main character. When he rolled in a 40 footer for birdie on the 16th, one of only three there all day, it seemed as if he was destined to continue his winning streak in the Majors.
“None of the historical elements came into my head whatsoever, because 17 is so brutal,” he said. As it turned out, he was proven right: a bogey on the Road Hole deprived him of a place in the play-offs.
In contrast, Johnson sealed his place in the play-offs with the unlikeliest of birdies on the 18th holes, where he rolled in a 30-footer which prompted his caddie Damon Green to kick out his right foot and perform his trademark Chicken Dance.
In the play-off, Leishman was relegated to a minor part when he bogeyed the first against birdies from both Johnson and Oosthuizen. Then, on the second, Johnson rolled in a 15 footer to gain the advantage. All three players bogeyed the 17th - with Johnson making a good up and down from the back for his bogey - and, then, on the 18th, Oosthuizen’s birdie putt to force extra holes lipped out to make Johnson’s par sufficient to win.
“They’re champions. They’re not going to back down,” said Johnson of the fierce contest that manifested itself through the final day’s play, where roars from different parts of the course carried tales of birdies back and forth. It served to keep his mind on the job.
“I feel like God gave me the ability to play a game. I try to take it very seriously. I realise it’s just a game. I’m just a guy from Iowa that has been blessed with a talent, and this game provides great opportunity. I don’t want to make it any bigger than what it should be. This isn’t going to define me or my career, at least I hope it doesn’t. It’s not my legacy. Granted, as a professional athlete and as a golfer I’m going to relish this. I’m going to savour this. I’m humbled by this. But my legacy should be my kids, my family,” insisted Johnson.
