In an exceptional finish, Texan Jordan Spieth beat his compatriot Matt Kuchar in extremis by beating the field by five strokes in four decisive holes, from the 14th to the 17th, in which he chained three birdies and an eagle.
Five days shy of his 24th birthday, Spieth became, after Jack Nicklaus, the second player to win three majors under the age of 24. In his case, the young American already has to his credit, apart from the British Open, the Augusta Masters and the U.S. Open.
The Texan golfer, with thirteen victories to his credit, totaled 12 under par, three strokes less than Kuchar, in the 146th edition of the British Open or The Open Championship in its official denomination.
The third place went to the Chinese Li Haotong, with -6, who had the best round of the tournament on the last day, 63 strokes, 7 under par. In fourth place, one stroke behind the Japanese player, tied Rory McIlroy and Rafael Cabrera-Bello, who could have done even better if it were not for the 73 strokes he shot on the second day.
The other two Spaniards in play did not meet expectations. Sergio Garcia finished 37th, with a total of 1 over par, and John Rahm took the 44th place, with 3 over par. The current world number one, Dustin Johnson, finished even worse, in 54th place, at 4 over par.
Thanks to his brilliant victory, Spieth has moved up one place in the world ranking and, after beating Japan’s Hideki Matsuyama, he is now second, behind Johnson, who is a little more than two points behind him. Sergio continues fifth in this ranking, Rahm remains seventh and Cabrera-Bello moves up one position to sixteenth.
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