ST ANDREWS // ST ANDREWS // Zach Johnson defeated Louis Oosthuizen and Marc Leishman in a play-off for the Open Championship on Monday after Jordan Spieth failed to keep his grand slam dream alive.
Johnson had set the clubhouse target on 15 under after a closing 66 that was matched 40 minutes later by Leishman, whose total of 130 for the third and fourth rounds – he carded a flawless 64 on Sunday – equalled the lowest 36-hole total in major history.
Oosthuizen, who won the 2010 Open at St Andrews, still had two holes to play and, after a crucial par save on the 17th, the South African birdied the 18th from five feet to make it a three-way aggregate play-off on the first, second, 17th and 18th holes.
Johnson and Oosthuizen both birdied the first as Leishman three-putted from long range and Johnson edged ahead with another birdie on the second. All three players bogeyed the 17th, and after Johnson missed his birdie attempt on the 18th, Oosthuizen’s attempt from 12 feet also missed to give Johnson his second major title, eight years after victory in the Masters.
An emotional Johnson said: “I feel blessed to be the champion. I feel honoured to part of the history of this game and to don my name on that trophy, especially with the names before me.
“I can’t play any better than what I did. I had a lull on Friday and Saturday, but nothing significant, but stayed in it and waited for the opportunities and made a few.”
It was the 39-year-old American’s second major title win after he triumphed at the 2007 Masters.
All three play-off entrants finished with totals of 15-under 273 after Johnson and Leishman had 66s and Oosthuizen a 69.
That forced the first British Open play-off since Stewart Cink defeated Tom Watson at Turnberry in 2009 and the first three-way play-off since 1999 when Paul Lawrie triumphed.
“To don my name on that trophy is humbling and surreal,” said Johnson, whose superb wedge-play and putting were key to his win.
“It has been a week of patience, courage and trust. I can’t play any better than I did. I just stayed in it, waited for the opportunities and made a few putts.
“I don’t like seeing it end on a miss. Louis is a buddy, a friend and a tremendous competitor.”
It was a gripping end to what had been an enthralling day that saw a packed leader board go hammer and tongs at grabbing enough birdies to take possession of golf’s most coveted trophy.
The three-way overnight lead held by Oosthuizen, Jason Day and Irish amateur Paul Dunne was immediately shattered when the understandably nervy Irishman bogeyed the first two holes from which he never recovered and eventually finished with a 78 for six under.
Johnson and Adam Scott came charging out of the pack as the rain showers came and went, but the packed leader board was as fickle as the weather, and predicting who would emerge triumphant at the end of the day was proving nigh-on impossible.
Spieth was well in the hunt, but a double-bogey at the par-three eighth had him chucking his ball away in anger.
Others fell away, too, as they failed to keep up in the unrelenting birdie stakes and it came down to a dogfight down the back nine with the punishing final six holes holding the key to victory.
Leishman pushed his nose in front with six holes of his round to play and he made a drive for glory only to lose his outright lead by missing a four-footer at the 16th.
Johnson sunk a snaking, downhill 20-footer for birdie at the last to get to 15 under and it was up to Leishman, Spieth, Day and Oosthuizen coming up behind him to match or better his score.
Johnson was not the only golfer to walk away with silverware, as Jordan Niebrugge took the Silver Medal as the top-finishing amateur.
A senior at Oklahoma State University, Niebrugge was also the first amateur to finish in the top 10 since Chris Woods did so at Royal Birkdale in 2008.
Another amateur, Ollie Schniederjans, got within two shots of the lead but finished tied for 12th.
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