It could have been Sergio Garcia’s great moment, emulating Seve’s victory the only time the tournament ended on Monday, but it was not to be. In the end, the British Open had an American color thanks to the sensational performance of Zach Johnson, who beat Louis Oosthuizen and Marc Leishman in the playoff for the claret jug.Johnson, who made the playoff thanks to an accurate ten-meter putt on the 18th, turned in a 66(-6), the best round of the day, to set the bar at 15 under par with six matches left in the field.
Leisman signed 40 minutes later another 66 to tie in the clubhouse. The Australian, who shot a flawless 64(-8) on Sunday, equaled the 36-hole record in the history of the majors.
Behind came Oosthuizen, the last winner of the British Open at St Andrews, with two holes to go. The South African saved a crucial par on the 17th and finished with a birdie from five feet on the 18th to get into the four-hole playoff (1, 2, 17 and 18).
Johnson and Oosthuizen birdied the 1st while Leishman made three birdie putts from distance. Johnson birdied again on 2 to take the lead.All three bogeyed the 17th. On the 18th Johnson made par, Oosthuizen missed birdie from 6 feet and Johnson claimed his second major eight years after his Augusta victory.Upon receiving the claret jug he declared, “I’m thrilled and very honored to be this year’s champion. I don’t know how to play better. On Friday and Saturday I held my own, I was able to wait for the opportunities to come and I took advantage of them. Today one of my dreams has come true and I have achieved a great goal”.
Johnson started the final round three strokes behind the leaders: Oosthuizen, Jason Day and Irish amateur Paul Dunne. He started with five birdies on the front nine for a share of 31.
In the next match, Adam Scott matched this score and both birdied the 10th, but Scott’s attack unraveled on the back 9 and countryman Leishman took the lead.Leishman also made 31 for the front 9 and followed with birdies on 10 and 12 to go two ahead when Johnson made bogey on 17 after slipping up when hitting the second shot under a downpour. But Johnson holed a long putt for birdie on 18 while Leishman bogeyed 16. They finished tied at -15.
For his part, Jordan Spieth chased his Grand Slam dream until the last hole.
He started with three pars in the first six, but four pars on the 8th (he took it off the green with the first) cost him a double bogey. He reacted in the act with birdies on 9 and 10 and got within one stroke of the leaders.
On the 16th he birdied another 15-meter hole to tie for the lead.Johnson, who was preparing on the driving range for the possible playoff, heard the roar of the crowd and checked his phone to see what had happened.
Spieth missed the second shot on the 17th and could not save par. He needed a birdie on the last to get into the playoff.
On the 18th he sent the drive to the left, close to the grandstands on the 1st, and had to take off the second shot due to the noise of spectators taking pictures.
He restarted his routine and hit a seemingly good shot, but the ball rolled back off the green and ended up in the Valley of Sin.
Twenty years ago Costantino Rocca birdied from the same spot to break the tie with John Daly, but Spieth was unable to repeat the Italian’s feat.
Sergio Garcia, who was two strokes behind the leaders, finished tied for sixth at -11 after a final round of 70 with five birdies up to the 10th and three bogeys from the 12th on. If everything had gone my way there was a chance, the problem is that after the 10th I was -5 on the day and I was still two or three strokes behind. I realize that behind me I’m very far behind, and the holes that are coming are not birdie holes by any means”.
“It’s true that we could have finished one or two strokes better, 13 under par, but I’m not leaving unhappy because I think it’s been a good week. Today was probably one of the days I hit it the best, as difficult as it was, but a couple of mistakes here and there cost me.”
As for the public that, once again, turned out to support him, Sergio commented: “I will be eternally grateful for the affection they have for me and I will not stop thanking them in every British Open I play”.
Rafa Cabrera-Bello, with a final 71 strokes, finished in 40th place with -5.
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