Jordan Spieth, the winner of the 2015 US Open Championship, is handed the famous old trophy. “I didn’t think I’d done enough, but I couldn’t be more happy right now.” What about the grand slam? “To go to the home of golf, that’s the sole focus. But you can’t win them all unless you win the first two I guess. I believe we’ll be able to get it done if we get the right prep in.” And then a nod to the fans. “You can certainly tell why the NFL teams don’t like to come to Seattle because these fans are awesome!” Well, that’s much slicker than Rory McIlroy’s Manchester United riff at Royal Liverpool upon winning the Open, you have to give him that.
So here’s how they finished up:
-5: Spieth
-4: Oosthuizen, D Johnson
-3: Scott, Smith, Grace
-2: Schwartzel
-1: Snedeker
E: McIlroy, Lowry, Day
And one final thought. If the players thought Chambers Bay was tricky, wait until they get to Oakmont next year! But next stop St Andrews, for Rory McIlroy’s defence of the Open Championship. Can he stop the Spieth juggernaut? Can anybody stop the Spieth juggernaut? It’ll be a blast finding out. See you all then. Nighty night!
To Dustin’s immense credit, he walks to the scorer’s tent, child in arms, still smiling on Fathers’ Day. What a response to severe disappointment. But that’s a moment that he’ll replay in his mind over and over when the lights go out. A slightly strange atmosphere at Chambers Bay, with folk more shocked than celebratory. But that’ll pass, and we should take nothing away from another stunning Jordan Spieth performance. He was the most consistent golfer all week, and pulled out the big shots when they were required. Even when he stumbled, he found a way to quickly regroup and administer the killer blow. He’s a marvellous champion. A Jack Nicklaus for the 21st century? Very possibly. And look at what he’s just done, by winning the US Open a couple of months after his triumph at Augusta ...
- He’s the youngest US Open champion of the modern era, erasing a 22-year-old Rory McIlroy from the record books
- He’s the first player since Gene Sarazen in 1922 to have won more than one major before turning 22
- He’s only the sixth man in history - after Craig Wood, Ben Hogan, Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods - to win the Masters and US Open in the same year
- And he’s halfway to golf’s elusive holy grail: the modern Grand Slam!
Jordan Spieth, ladies and gentlemen!
Johnson ends with a 70. Jason Day shakes Dustin’s hand to commiserate, with a real look of sorrow in his eyes. Health issues aside, Day’s had a lot of major-championship heartbreak to deal with himself. But nothing like this. Spieth is the deserving winner of this tournament - he stepped up at 18, a champion’s response to a nightmare double bogey - but this will live with poor old Dustin for a while. Perhaps for ever, if he never shakes the major monkey off his back. That’s four times he’s been the final group of a major, and four times he’s lost out in fairly bizarre circumstances.
JORDAN SPIETH IS THE 2015 US OPEN CHAMPION!!! Poor old Dustin Johnson joins the Doug Sanders Club. He prods a terrible putt to the left of the hole, and that’s yet more major-championship heartbreak for the big man. A Chambers Bay of horrors. But it was Spieth who seized the day.
Dustin’s had quite a long wait for Day to finish up. Day had offered to step aside. “Whatever you want, Dustin.” Dustin waved him on. And now he prowls the scene. It’s a 12-footer with a gentle left-to-right break. He prowls and prowls, circling like a shark. Then he steps up, hits his putt ... and sends it high on the left, four feet past the hole. Oh lordy. A short one coming back, a firm prod right to left, and he’ll make birdie that’ll take him into a play-off. He steps up, and ...
Jason Day wasn’t really at the races today. But who could blame him? That he was competing at the business end of a US Open at all is something else, given his issues with vertigo. One of the truly brave US Open performances. A par, and he finishes level for the tournament. He receives a huge ovation. And now it’s over to Dustin!
Dustin creams his 5-iron straight at the flag. It slides a little off line as it lands, and stops 12 feet behind the flag to the left. Dustin Johnson will have that putt for eagle, and the US Open.
First up, poor old Branden Grace, who stumbled at the last hurdle. A look at birdie from 20 feet down the green, but it’s always up on the right. He’ll have a three-footer for par, and a final-day 71. It promised so much more. But then Spieth steps up and sends his 15-footer a ball’s width from the hole. That’s a tap-in birdie. A final-day 69, despite it all. And he’s -5. Grace taps in, and the pair vacate the green quickly, knowing that Dustin Johnson, who has crashed a drive down the middle of the fairway, is waiting to hit the biggest 5-iron of his life.
-5: Spieth (F)
-4: Oosthuizen (F), Johnson (17)
-3: Scott (F), Smith (F), Grace (F)
Jordan Spieth has just suffered a thundering meltdown on 17, but this response is something else. After creaming that drive down 18, he now powers a fairway wood to the top-right corner of the green. The ball funnels round to the left, then back down to the hole, stopping 15 feet below it. He’ll have a putt for eagle, two for birdie, and the US Open suddenly looks within his grasp again! Though let’s count no chickens, as Dustin’s tucked his birdie putt away on 17. He’s -4 too, though it looks like he’ll need something special coming up 18. The reception Spieth receives from the Chambers Bay crowd walking up to the 18th green puts the monu into mental.
-4: Oosthuizen (F), Spieth (17), Johnson (17)
-3: Scott (F), Smith (F), Grace (17)
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Spieth creams a beauty down the middle of 18. What a response to that shocker on 17! Grace finds the fairway bunker. Meanwhile back on 17, Dustin gives himself another chance, curling his tee shot in from the left, his ball stopping six feet short of the hole!
-4: Oosthuizen (F), Spieth (17)
-3: Scott (F), Smith (F), Grace (17), Johnson (16)
Dustin Johnson should be joining the leaders at -4. But Dustin Johnson is Dustin Johnson, and having done all the hard work, he fails to hit his short birdie putt, the ball dying to the right, only five of six feet covered. He remains at -3. This is one of the most astonishing denouements in the history of the US Open. Does anybody, other than Louis Oosthuizen, want to win it?
Oosthuizen rolls in his birdie putt, and he’s back in 29 shots! Six birdies in the last seven holes! He signs for a 67, and he ends the tournament at -4! Meanwhile the excitement just keeps on coming: Spieth can’t make his long par putt. Then Grace, from 30 feet, sees a majestic birdie effort stop a dimple short! Heartbreak. He stays at -3. And then Spieth pushes his two-foot bogey putt to the right of the hole! A double bogey, and suddenly he’s all over the shop too! This looked absolutely over a few minutes ago, with Spieth three clear. And now look at this!!!
-4: Oosthuizen (F), Spieth (17)
-3: Scott (F), Smith (F), Grace (17), Johnson (15)
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Spieth whips his ball out onto the green, a fine escape, but he’s still 25 feet from the pin. Johnson, on 16, looked to have driven the green, but his ball broke right into the sand. He blasts out to six feet. He’ll have a birdie putt for -4. Up on 18, Oosthuizen splashes out of sand, then wedges to ten feet, leaving an uphill putt for birdie. And his playing partner Cameron Smith lashes a fairway wood to the back of the green, the ball breaking off the bank at the back and working back to 12 inches. That’ll be a tap-in eagle that’ll give him a 68, and a -3 finish!
And then Spieth, the US Open surely in the bag, sends a 6-iron the best part of 40 yards to the right of 17, his ball nestling in the thick stuff on the wrong side of the bunkers! Grace sends his tee shot pin high, 25 feet to the left. This isn’t quite over yet!
Grace’s bogey putt nearly curls into the cup, but stops on the left lip. That’s a bodyblow of a double bogey. He’s back to -3, and his US Open dream is surely over.
-6: Spieth (16)
-3: Scott (F), Oosthuizen (17), Grace (16), Johnson (15)
Spieth curls in his 25-footer for birdie, a big left to right swing, and it looks like the Masters champion is going to win the US Open too! He moves to -6, and will be at least two clear in a minute, and more likely three!
There’s a little bit of confusion. Is Grace’s ball out of bounds or not? It’s only just squirted under the fence. He should hope it is, because hacking it up from there would be a complete nightmare. It does appear to be OB. After that’s decided, Spieth chips up, but he hits a very tentative shot, and leaves his ball 25 feet shy of the hole! That’s appalling, but he’s probably been knocked sideways by that astonishing error from Grace. Then it’s Grace’s turn to putt up. He leaves that 15 feet short himself! This is a complete shambles. Elsewhere, Dustin splashes out from the sand at 15, and knocks in an eight-footer to save his par. Oosthuizen’s run of birdies ends with par at 17, and then he drives into the sand down the left of 18.
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This could be the moment the US Open was won. Or, more accurately, lost. Poor Branden Grace, standing on the 16th tee, has just sent a huge slice winging out of bounds to the right. Oh my lord. His ball has disappeared under the boundary fence. He tees up three, and blasts the new ball onto the green. He’ll have a long putt for a par, but that’s the optimistic reading. In between Grace’s dramatic, terrible, awful capitulation - a potentially career-defining mistake - and his second tee shot, Spieth drives the green, though the ball topples off the right and into a tuft of long grass. Really, this is Spieth’s US Open to lose now.
Five birdies in a row for Louis Oosthuizen! His eagle putt at 15 trundles four feet past, but he knocks the return in with confidence. He’s suddenly in a tie for third! And Dustin Johnson has hoicked his tee shot at 15 into the bunker at the front. What an unravelling this is.
-5: Spieth (15), Grace (15)
-3: Scott (F), Oosthuizen (16), Johnson (14)
Dustin trundles his 30-foot birdie putt six feet past the hole. He’s falling to bits. This is through-the-fingers viewing right now. But he knocks in the saver and stays at -3. That’s a positive, right? He needs to take what he can from that. Up on 15, Spieth is left with a huge poser, a putt up and over a massive bank kinking in from the right. He can only get it to four feet, but that’s a result from there. And he knocks the par putt in. A deserved up and down, and a hard-as-nails one, too. Highly impressive. He’s 21 years old! Grace curls a 25-foot birdie chance to four feet, and taps in for par. The co-leaders remain two clear at -5, with three holes to play. “Dustin, or DJ as Corey Pavin is insisting on, is back to only being able to rely on his driver,” argues Seamus Devlin. “Some of these putts would embarrass most hackers. Tinny iron shots too if you ask me - which you didn’t.”
Oh this is ludicrous. Grace finds the middle of the 15th green with his tee shot. Spieth sends his wedge to ten feet, but watches in impotent disbelief as the ball topples off to the left and back down a bank at the front. It doesn’t fall into the bunker, which is something I suppose. Dustin’s approach to 14 sails off to the left-hand portion of the green, a way from the flag. Lowry birdies 16, driving the green and nearly raking in a long eagle putt. He’s -1 again. Oosthuizen, coming behind, drives the green too, and will have a similar look at eagle. What a noise there’ll be if he knocks that in!
If only Louis Oosthuizen hadn’t started with three bogeys in the first four holes! What a US Open this has been. We’re at the business end now, and there are still four realistic winners here. Five if you count Dustin Johnson.
Up ahead, Spieth and Grace crash drives down the 14th fairway. Spieth arrows his second straight at the flag, just a little bit shy for distance. He’ll have a look at birdie from 15 feet though. Grace’s approach is arguably a better shot, landing inside Spieth’s ball, but dying off to the left. A two-putt par for Grace. And Spieth isn’t particularly close with his birdie putt, always moving off to the right. A par. But at the moment that’s fine. Unless Louis Oosthuizen’s absurd run continues: he rakes in a 30-footer on 15, and that’s four birdies in a row!
-5: Spieth (14), Grace (14)
-3: Scott (F), Johnson (13)
-2: Schwartzel (F), Oosthuizen (15)
Day putts up this time, but he’s left himself a 20-foot bogey putt. It doesn’t go in. He’s done. A double-bogey six, and he’s back to level par. He’s four over for his round, and has never looked himself today. Bereft of energy, which is totally understandable. Poor guy. What terrible luck. Then Dustin putts from 40 feet, but not particularly close. He looks bereft of confidence all of a sudden. And it’s DUSTIN JOHNSON MELTDOWN TIME! He misses the short par putt. Three bogeys in the last four holes, and he’s back to -3. It looks all over, unless he pulls something out of the bag quicksmart.
-5: Spieth (13), Grace (13)
-3: Scott (F), Johnson (13)
Dustin finds the heart of 13 with his second, though he’s not close. Better than Day’s position, though, down the right of a swale. And Day doesn’t bump his chip up the bank, and it comes back down to his feet. Disaster. This could be a killer blow to his US Open hopes. Or maybe, if we’re being honest, that came on the 9th on Friday, when vertigo hit the poor man like a hammer blow.
Remember Louis Oosthuizen’s albatross at the Masters in 2012? Well, this isn’t quite so dramatic, but he’s fast developing a reputation for holing out from the fairway on the final day of a major! He’s just clipped a wedge into the cup from 120 yards up the fairway on 14. Having been in a spot of trouble in a bunker, that was his third shot, so only a birdie. Only a birdie from 100-plus yards! He moves up to -1, and not out of this quite yet.
The wheels are clanking off Dustin’s challenge. He sees his short putt slide off to the left, and it’s only a par at the inviting 12th. Day makes the same mistake, though he’s sure the bobbling green’s at fault for that one. The greens certainly aren’t in great nick, but that didn’t seem like a confident stroke to me. A bit of both, perhaps. Meanwhile up on 13, Grace sends his approach down a huge bank to the right of the hole. He putts up, but only to 12 feet. He’s in danger of dropping a shot, but puts it away. He pumps his fist in the air, knowing how valuable that one was. Spieth meanwhile lands his in the heart of the green, 30 feet away. His birdie effort shaves the edge. Par.
-5: Spieth (13), Grace (13)
-4: Johnson (12)
-3: Scott (F)
-2: Schwartzel (F), Day (12)
Day is just off the front of the green with his drive at 12. Dustin too, though he requires a very fortunate bounce off the bank to the right of the hole. Long eagle putts from off the green. Both knocked up to five feet, leaving uphill putts for birdie. Spieth and Grace launch their drives down the middle of 13. Another birdie for Oosthuizen, this time at 13. He’s level par again. And Schwartzel birdies 18, to sign for a 66. He ends the week at -2.
And those misses are very costly for Dustin, because as he’s falling back to -4, Spieth and Grace are both making birdie on 12! Drives boomed to the back of the green, eagle efforts lagged up to a couple of feet. Textbook stuff, very calm golf by the pair in the penultimate group. They’re the joint leaders now! Spieth has to be hot favourite ... and yet you wouldn’t write Scott out of this yet. This final round is poised perfectly.
-5: Spieth (12), Grace (12)
-4: Johnson (11)
-3: Scott (F)
-2: Day (11)
Dustin is beginning to get a bit ragged. Nervous, maybe. His second into 11 finds the rough just off the back-left of the green. He bumps up to six feet, but prods an uncertain par putt towards the hole, and that’s back to back bogeys. Day curls his approach to 12 feet, but can’t convert for birdie. Lowry can only bump his ball up to 25 feet, but is an inch away from knocking in the par saver. He goes down on his haunches in agony as the ball hovers on the edge. Bogey, and back to level par again. What a topsy-turvy round he’s having. Snedeker in lots of bother on 14. He’s left himself with a long par putt up a hill. His own fault, but he can’t be blamed for the absurd kick that takes his ball a couple of feet into the air. A huge pitch mark? Anyway, all the momentum’s taken away, in more ways than one, and his ball rolls back down the bank. A double bogey’s the result, and he’s back to +1.
Lowry’s second into 13 finds the bank down the right. He’ll be doing well to get up and down from there. Meanwhile word of Louis Oosthuizen, who started abysmally, following bogey at 2 with more at 3 and 4. That triple whammy put paid to his hopes of victory, though he’s just birdied 12 to get back to +1.
A two-putt birdie for Lowry at 12. He’s back to -1. Birdie putts coming up for Spieth and Grace on 11, albeit not close ones. A 25-footer each. Spieth rakes his towards the hole. It’s going in. It’s going in. Eh, no it’s not. It dies off to the left, just at the last. He’s had no luck today with the putter. He makes do with a par on a tricky hole. Then it’s Grace’s turn to look to the skies in disbelief, as his effort lips out on the left. How those putts never dropped is beyond me. But the pair of them stay at -4. All good news for Adam Scott so far, though of course he needs the course to really show its teeth now. I’m sensing play-off.
Day blasts out to 15 feet, an astonishing escape given the height of the face of the bunker he was in. Day didn’t look particularly comfortable climbing out of that trap, grimacing as his caddy helped him out. Hopefully he’s OK. But he’s not holing that par saver, and he’s back to -2. Dustin meanwhile finds a cart path and chips down to 12 feet. He can’t convert for par, either. He’s back to -5, and suddenly Adam Scott is only two shots off the lead. What a two-hour wait he’ll have to discover his fate.
Scott knocks his birdie putt in, and he’s signing his name on the bottom of a 64! What a round! A huge fist pump; he knows his clubhouse total of -3 is something to beat. He’s three behind the leader Johnson, but Dustin’s just hoicked his second into 10 towards the punters on the right. It’s an awful shot. And Day’s isn’t much better, against the bank of a deep bunker on the same side. And the course is firming up. So you never know. And what if the wind picks up?! It’s going to be quite a wait for the 2013 Masters champ.
-6: Johnson (9)
-4: Spieth (10), Grace (10)
-3: Scott (F), Day (9)
Lowry finds the front of 12 with his drive, and will have 3o feet to cover in two for birdie. That’s a real chance to get back into the red. Johnson and Day take out their post-9th disappointment by battering drives down 10. And up on the green, Spieth and Grace both lag putts up close from distance, to secure pars that were by no means a gimme after poor approaches. (Grace had fallen off the back of the green.) Meanwhile on 18, Scott has an eagle putt, albeit from 100 feet, his ball at the front of the huge green, the pin right at the back. Using the bank at the back of the green, he gathers the ball round to five feet. He’ll have that for birdie, and a final round of 64!
What’s this? A par for Shane Lowry, that’s what! It comes at 11, breaking a run of birdies and bogeys from the 5th. He nearly made an absurd birdie, too, having hoicked his drive miles left, then bashed an iron to eight feet. But par will suffice. In the context of the hole, anyway; at level par for the championship, six off Johnson’s lead, you’d say it’s a step too far now for Lowry.
Glorious tee shots at 9 from the final pairing. Dustin clips his to 12 feet, but Day sends his 20 feet behind the hole, allowing the slope to take the ball back to three feet! Two great birdie chances here. Dustin can’t curl his right-to-left putt in, though he’s unlucky, the ball taking a massive leap into the air en route. Day also misses, a really poor stroke, the tiddler pushed to the right. Up on 10, Spieth finds the right-hand side of the fairway, but his approach isn’t too hot, nearly finding the bunker to the left of the green, a big pull. And a three-putt par for Snedeker on 12, his drive having been battered miles from the flag to the back of the green. He stays at -1.
Day moves back up to -3 with a careful two-putt birdie on 8, having found the front of the par-five in 2. Dustin converts his tiddler. Par for Scott - who is five-under for his round today - on 17. And Charl Schwartzel has been creeping up the leaderboard, with birdies at 11, 12 and now 14; he’s -1.
-6: Johnson (8)
-4: Spieth (9), Grace (9)
-3: Day (8)
-2 Scott (17)
-1: Schwartzel (14), Snedeker (11), Smith (10)
No birdie for Spieth, but that’s a par, and he’s out in level-par 35. He remains at -4. Grace joins him on that mark by tapping in his deserved birdie. No eagle for Scott, but he rolls his putt up to a couple of feet, and birdie will certainly suffice. Just ask Rory McIlroy. Scott’s -2 now, and if he can find one more birdie, or even two, he’ll be setting quite the clubhouse total.
And they’re peppering the flags now. Dustin has to chip out at 8, but then wedges to 18 inches. Maybe as many as 24. That’s a surefire birdie that’ll take him to -6. He might need it, because on 9, Spieth has just sent his tee shot to 15 feet, while Grace has finally located his mojo, whipping his iron to the back of the green and letting the camber do the work, his ball finally nestling four feet away!
Shane Lowry won’t let it lie. He fires his approach into 10 over the flag, then curls in the 15-foot left-to-right curler for birdie! No par for the Irish star since 4, and only two pars all day! Bogey, birdie, bogey, birdie, bogey, birdie. Nick Faldo would not approve. Snedeker can’t get up and down from distance on 11, all the trouble coming from that errant tee shot. He’s back to -1. Meanwhile here’s Mac Millings: “This tournament is proving a welcome distraction from the recent horrific events here in my adopted hometown of Charleston, South Carolina. Hoping local favourite Dustin Johnson (an SC native, and graduate of Coastal Carolina University, near Myrtle Beach) can forget for a day his tendency to self-destruct, and bring back the US Open trophy. Bonus fact for fans of unusual fowl: as a Coastal Carolina man, Dustin is a Chanticleer - that fine institution’s mascot - which is some sort of weird chicken featured in The Canterbury Tales. I just jinxed him by calling him a chicken, didn’t I? Clucking hell.”
Dustin, having parred 7, hoicks his drive at 8 into the rough down the left. Day splits the fairway. Snedeker has found more trouble, this time down the left of 11. Scott, meanwhile, has just driven into the heart of 16, leaving himself a 30-footer for eagle. This leaderboard could look very different quite soon:
-5: Johnson (7)
-4: Spieth (8)
-3: Grace (8)
-2: Snedeker (10), Day (7)
-1: Scott (15), Smith (9)
What a par for Snedeker on 10. He’s been lucky to find a small path on the hill to the right of the hole. He clips a chip to eight feet, and knocks in the putt! A lovely mix of fortune and brilliance. A tap-in birdie for Spieth on the par-five 8th, having creamed a fairway wood into the heart of the green. The eagle putt from 20 feet was never going in, but a move up to -4 will do. Par for Grace, who isn’t really doing much of note. Day’s approach to 7 catches the bank and runs 70 yards back down the hole. It costs him another shot. He’s back to -2.
Lowry is very close to knocking in his par putt on 9 from 15 feet, but it doesn’t drop. He’s back to +1, and it’s just not happening for him today. It didn’t quite happen for Rory McIlroy either, who pars the last, and signs for a disappointing 66. A disappointing 66! Level par for the US Open, which is just how the USGA like it. Ah well, he’ll always have Congressional.
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Snedeker is currently making a mess of 10, finding sand and then the tatty bank down the right. Cameron Smith, quiet for so long, birdies 8 to move back to -1. Rory has driven into the sand down the 18th, his noggin totally gone now, all that effort for naught. And Lowry is in trouble on 9, having hoicked his tee shot to the back right of the green, miles from the flag. His first putt up isn’t particularly close. Here’s how we’re standing right now ...
-5: Johnson (6)
-3: Spieth (7), Grace (7), Day (6)
-2: Snedeker (9)
-1: Scott (15), Kuchar (12), Smith (8)
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It’s all happening, and it’s all over for Rory! A three putt at 17, having failed to properly negotiate the ridge in between his ball and the hole, then yipped the three-footer. He’s back to level par, and it’s such a shame. If only that putt on 14 had dropped. That was the end of it. Meanwhile eagle for Matt Kuchar on 12, following a birdie at 11, and he’s -1 all of a sudden! Spieth doesn’t set his birdie putt at 7 away on the right line, and that’s yet another par. Poor putter’s a-cold! Day can’t get up and down from his bunker at 6, but Dustin - despite leaving himself 25 feet short from the rough - curls in the par saver! That’s potentially a huge moment, as Day drops back to -3.
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It’s all happening! Snedeker rattles in his birdie putt at 9, and that’s four in a row! He’s -2, out in 32 strokes. On 6, trouble afoot thanks to those errant tee shots: Day’s in a bunker front of the green, while Dustin fires a hot one into thick stuff to the left of the putting surface. On 7, Spieth’s in thick rough to the left of the fairway. He whips his second to the back of the green, and from 40 feet the ball slowly works its way back to 12 feet! And Lowry made his birdie at 6, but handed it straight back at 7. He’s value for money today, though, as he’s just stuck his third at 8 to five feet. Another birdie, and he’s back to level par!
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Day pulls his tee shot at 6 into thick rubbish down the left. Dustin bangs his in there too, but he gets a happy bounce and the ball sits up, lying nicely. Up on the green, Spieth has a look at birdie from 25 feet, but that’s not dropping. Another par, and his putter’s cooled down since yesterday. Plenty of time to warm it up again. Rory meanwhile on the 17th. He sends his tee shot 20 feet from the flag, with a ridge to cross. Technically a birdie chance, but not a particularly likely one.
Dustin is so close to knocking in a 15-footer on 5 for another birdie, but his putt lacks a little pace and turns to the right at the death. He remains in the lead at -5, but that’s only a one-shot advantage now, because his playing partner Day has wedged to 12 feet, and glided in a smooth right-to-left slider for birdie. He’s back to -4. And up on 9, Snedeker very nearly makes hole in one, his tee shot coming back off the bank and rolling to three feet. The birdie chances are being set up now, because on 14, Scott arrows his second straight at the flag, leaving an uphill eight footer.
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McIlroy elects to throw up a lob, but undercooks it. He’ll not be making birdie here, unless he rakes in a 30-footer. He gives it a good trundle, but he’s left behind his momentum on the 14th green. He’s -1. Meanwhile three birdies in a row from Brandt Snedeker, between 6 and 8, has hauled him up the leaderboard to -1.
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McIlroy sends his drive at 16 to the front of the green. A Homeric two-putt journey mapped out ahead of him if he wants a birdie. Back on 5, one of those moments. Is it Jordan Spieth’s day? Putting from 50 feet away at the back of 5 for birdie, he looks to have drained it, but it kinks off the right-hand lip and out. That was surely in. He stays at -3. What energy that would have given him had it dropped! So unlucky. A 68 today for Sergio, by the way. He ends the week at +3.
Day is left with a 55-foot putt, but he’s having to take a huge detour up the green and back round, a giant u-turn. He hits his putt, and it doesn’t even get over the first ridge he faces, a complete misjudgement of such scale that you have to think his health issues are causing him some distress. He knocks in the bogey putt. Dustin knocks his birdie putt in, though, and suddenly he’s the sole leader by two shots! Meanwhile Scott can’t make birdie at the inviting 12th, while the short miss on 14 appears to have done for Rory. He three-putts from the front of 15, and that’s his first bogey today. He should be at -3 now; he’s actually at -1. He needs something really special now, if the unlikely dream is to stay alive.
-5: Johnson (4)
-3: Day (4), Spieth (4), Grace (4)
-1: McIlroy (15), Scott (12)
Grace punches out from sand at 4, his ball plugged. But he can only get it to the heart of the green. He misses the 25-foot par putt, and that’s a shot gone. Dustin and Day are the co-leaders now. Meanawhile Spieth’s ball just evaded the bunker, and he can curl a huge putt to five feet, and salvage his par. Coming behind them, Day finds the middle of the green, Dustin clips close again, to ten feet.
On 15, McIlroy’s tee shot nearly topples back into the bunker at the front, but just stays out. He was attacking the flag there, near the front. I suppose he feels he’s got to. But it’d be easy to undo all that good work by going too bold. Up on 5, Lowry misses a short par putt, and he’s back to +1, going the wrong way today. But he responds to the blow well, lifting his second at 6 to three feet. Back at 4, Grace dumps his second into greenside sand, while Spieth, from rough down the right, hits a heavy one into the bunker at the front.
McIlroy wedges his second at 14 to eight feet. Maybe six. Maybe even five. This is astonishing! But he leaves his birdie putt up on the left, a really poor effort from there, and after that approach. But it seems churlish to criticise, given the run he’s been on. Such a shame, though. That would have sent serious ripples up and down the leaderboard. But it’s not to be. Par, though, and he’s still right in the mix at -2. He walks off looking thoroughly dejected, however, almost as though he’s decided the jig is up. He needs to snap out of that, because if he picks up another shot or two, and the course hardens as expected, the field could do the rest of the work for him.
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Dustin yips the putt. For goodness sake. He’s not going to win today if he keeps carrying on like this. Day isn’t that close with his birdie effort either. Chances spurned. McIlroy and Scott, though!
What a tee shot from Dustin Johnson on 3! An 8-iron sent smoothly to four feet. Surely a birdie awaits. Of course with the big man, you never know. Day’s 7-iron looks distinctly average by comparison, ending up ten feet away, but what a shot that is too! McIlroy, currently six under for his round, pearls a huge drive down the left-hand side of 14. And this is cooking now, because Scott rolls in a 25-footer on 11 to move to -1!
Lowry on 4 needs to sink a 12-footer to avoid making two three putts in a row. He rattles it in, and punches the air. He knows how important that is. Another bogey could have killed him. He walks off with his par, and remains at level. Meanwhile another magnificent two-putt, this time by Spieth on 3 from the best part of 100 feet. What a save!
-4: Grace (3), Johnson (2), Day (2)
-3: Spieth (3)
-2: McIlroy (13)
-1: Smith (3)
E: Scott (10), Lowry (4)
Astonishing birdie putt by Rory McIlroy!!! He’s on the back of 13, a good 80 or 90 feet from the hole, a downhill ridge running across the green. He’s got to set it out miles right, but it’s perfectly judged, and it curls deliciously towards the cup and topples in. Chambers Bay explodes in sound! And Rory bounces down the green, punching the air and exchanging high-fives with his caddy. He’s -2! This is a full-on charge!
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Nightmare starts for Joost Luiten and Henrik Stenson. Both are already four over for their rounds, and +5 overall. Luiten bogeyed 3, doubled 4, and bogeyed 5. Stenson’s dropped one at 2, another at 4, and now a double at 5. Holmes rolls in a 30-footer at 5 for birdie. Then on 2, Dustin caresses his approach to eight feet, but watches in horror as his ball horseshoes out. A dimple’s width away from a birdie, and the outright lead.
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McIlroy appears up for this now. He creams a 3-wood down the right-hand side of the 13th fairway. This was where he lost momentum after a good run on Friday, by wanging his drive into filth down the right. No such mistake this time. He fires his second straight at the flag, but it bounds on towards the back. A long two putts for par. Meanwhile pars for Spieth and Grace at 2. And Spieth’s tee shot at the par-three 3rd isn’t all that, down to the far left, miles from the flag, the position Lowry three-putted from earlier.
McIlroy’s left himself a monster right-to-left breaker on 12. The best part of 80 feet. He tickles it up the bank to the right, and all the way down the green, before it breaks left towards the hole. Eagle’s never going to happen, but getting to within six feet is a result, and he strokes in the birdie putt to move into red figures! Smith meanwhile picks up his first par of the day at 3.
-4: Grace (1), Day (1), Johnson (1)
-3: Spieth (1)
-1: McIlroy (12), Smith (3)
Day and Johnson clip wedges into the heart of 1, leaving themselves uphill 15-footers for birdie. Dustin up first - and it’s almost a perfect replica of Spieth’s first effort. Four feet past. But can Dustin do what Spieth couldn’t, and knock in the return? Yep. It’s in. Par. Day leaves his a couple of feet short, but taps in for par. Bogey meanwhile for Oosthuizen on 2, only his second in the last 20 holes. Not the time to start that particular habit up again.
-4: Grace (1), Day (1), Johnson (1)
-3: Spieth (1)
-1: Smith (2)
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Back on the tee, the final group of the 2015 US Open Championship: Dustin Johnson and Jason Day. Dustin’s first up, and he whacks a monster down the fairway. Then, after a very warm reception from the crowd, Day, stricken by vertigo on Friday, steps up. And wallops one down the left side of the fairway, the perfect spot. Elsewhere, Smith knocks a 20-footer into the cup on 2 to birdie and reclaim the shot he shed on the opening hole. Lowry three-putts from distance on the par-three 3rd to drop back to level par. And McIlroy bangs his drive at 12 to the back of the green; he’ll have a long two putts over a ridge for birdie.
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McIlroy pitches up the bank at 11, gorgeously to three feet. He’ll save his par. A lovely up and down. Still level. Back on 1, Grace wedges eight feet from the flag, pin high. He was doing this a lot yesterday. More of that, and we could have an unexpected winner here. But he’ll need to sink the putts. This one, downhill, is pretty tricky, to be fair. Par. Spieth can’t put his birdie putt away either. He trickles it three feet past - and misses the one coming back! Can’t blame the green, a pull. That’s astonishing! A terrible start from a young man who will understandably be feeling the weight of expectation.
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A fantastic shot by Spieth from the rough down the left of 1. He powers his ball onto the front of the green, and it bounces up to 15 feet, giving him a good look at a fairly straight putt for birdie. Meanwhile McIlroy misses the 11th green to the left by a long way. He’ll be left with a long chip up a swale. “I’m tired of the complaining professionals and the criticism of this year’s host,” writes Rob Hampel. “I, like many weekend golfers play these conditions every weekend. We cannot afford the manicured country club that the professions think is their right. We play the pasture, hard pan in late summer with postage size greens. These courses challenge our skill and make us better golfers, so play golf and shut up. I think the USGA finally got it right.”
Spieth - grand-slam chasing Jordan Spieth - takes to the 1st tee. And hooks one into County Lowry down the left. Then the unsung Branden Grace, who skelps one down the fairway. Up on the green, Oosthuizen chips to 12 feet, but can’t knock the birdie putt in. Par. But Smith leaves himself a six-footer for par, and leaves it up on the left. He bogeys to drop back to level par. Meanwhile Adam Scott is on the move, with back-to-back birdies at 7 and 8. A sliver away from eagle at 8, in fact. He’s level par now.
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Rory knocks in his birdie putt, and he’s level par for this tournament! He’s only four shots off the lead. It’s still a very long shot, dependent on the course turning treacherous later on, and four players all experiencing meltdowns. But these things can happen in golf. Time, then, for the first leaderboard of our final round...
-4: Day, D Johnson, Grace, Spieth
-1: Lowry (1), Oosthuizen, Smith
E: McIlroy (10), Finau (3), Romero (2)
Lowry gets up and down from the front of 1 for his par. A brilliant save, that, and one which should settle his nerves after that shaky opening drive. Poor old JB has to suck up a double bogey, though, two putts from the middle of the green. A horrible slice of luck with that approach, though I suppose if you gamble with that side of the green, you’re not playing the percentages and asking for trouble.
Holmes lobs his ball up onto the green. But only just. And so the ball topples all the way back to his feet. He makes sure with the second attempt, going for the heart of the green. But he’ll be faced with a long bogey putt. Back on the tee, Cameron Smith whistles one straight down the middle. Then the in-form Louis Oosthuizen, coming off the back of a pair of 66s, bangs his drive straight down the track too. On 10, McIlroy plays the approach of the day, clipping his ball to three feet. And on 3, Stenson misses his short putt - more three feet than the aforementioned six - and chance of birdie is gone. That’s terrible. Stenson keeps being mentioned as a possible major champion, but I’m not sure he has the special something that will haul him over the line. He does this sort of thing too often. Westwoodian.
An appalling stroke of luck for JB Holmes, who pitches onto the front of the 1st green, only for the ball to take a sharp bounce to the left, disappearing down the big swale to the left. He’ll be 50 or 60 yards from the green now. One bounce forward from ending up by the pin. Lowry punches out from the thick rough, and doesn’t reach the green, but he’s just in front of it, a decent result from where he was. Up on 3, Stenson curls his tee shot to six feet.
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Rory sets his putt on 9 out to the right, as he should, but fails to give it enough poke. Can’t blame the greens for that one. He stays at +1, out in 32. Birdie for Andres Romero on 1; he’s level par. A short birdie effort for Henrik Stenson on 2, but he leaves it high on the right. Not a great putt. He remains +1. Up on 12, Sergio manufactures a lovely bell-curved bump onto the green from the hill, the ball nestling eight feet away. But his birdie putt remains on the left, lipping out, and he’s +2 still.
Sergio, soundtracking himself with the intense rattle and clatter of agitated Spanish, whistles his drive at 12 up the tousled hill to the right of the green. He’ll not enjoy himself up there. Back on 1, a rather nervous looking JB Holmes blows out hard a couple of times, then fires his drive straight down the middle. What’s the worry? Alongside him, Ireland’s Shane Lowry, who looks terribly nervous too. Unfortunately he hooks his drive into the thick stuff down the left. Ah well, the only way is up.
A fast start by Tony Finau, who shot a distinctly average 74 yesterday after his opening salvo of 69-68. He lands his second, a three-quarter wedge, at the opening hole six feet from the cup. The ball bites, and he’s knocking that one home for a birdie that takes him to level par for the championship. Patrick Reed, Joost Luiten and Henrik Stenson are also out, and they’ve all parred the 1st. Up on 9, Rory sends his tee shot into the heart of the green, the ball turning and leaving him a downhill 15-footer for a third birdie in a row. If that goes in, our dreams can be upgraded from Pipe to simply Unlikely.
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McIlroy sends his second onto the front of the 8th green, not quite enough juice. The ball breaks off to the right and threatens to topple down Dustin Johnson Ridge, but stays up. He’s left with an 80-foot eagle putt, and races it six feet past the hole. He’s left with a testing dribbler back into the cup for birdie, but he guides it in from the left, and suddenly he’s three under for his round, and +1 overall! This is a fine charge from the 2011 champion. But just think about all those missed putts yesterday!
Billy Horschel, out in 32, comes back in level-par 35. A birdie chance flew by the right of the cup on 18, which no doubt proves his point. He signs for 67, and ends the week on +4. Meanwhile Thomas Aiken matches Hoffmann’s 66, birdie-birdie bringing him home. He ends up at +4 too. So some low scores out there.
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The 2006 champion Geoff Ogilvy, out in 33, continued his good form to birdie 10 and 13. Having hauled himself all the way up the leaderboard to +2, he then immediately dropped one at 14. A good look at birdie at the par-three 15th turned out to be futile, but par there, and he’s three under for his round. He’ll need to pick up another shot on the way in if he’s to match Morgan Hoffmann’s best-of-day 66: the American signed for that after coming back in 31 strokes! He ends his championship at +5.
Thanks to Mr Lutz, who has become so over-excited about the golf, he’s run off, forgetting to say goodbye. He left so quickly, his chair spinning round and several sheets of paper slowly wafting back down onto the top of his desk, that he’s missed a putt finally dropping for Rory McIlroy, on 7. That birdie moves him to +2, and he’s just blootered a monster down the par-five 8th. Dreaming is free, so what if he eagles here? Eh? Also going well, as we’ve heard, is Sergio, and he nearly made it three birdies in a row with a long, straight putt up 10. A couple of turns shy. He remains at +2.
Rory has a straight putt for birdie but misses by inches - it was a fair length but a fairly flat path to the hole, he should have done better. That’s two makeable birdies he has missed today. Meanwhile, Campbell looks like he has a good chance of finishing as the low amateur. He pars the 18th to finish +5. His closest rival is Schniederjans, who is currently +6.
Sergio Garcia has two birdies in a row on the 8th and 9th, and is -2 for the day and two over for the tournament. It wouldn’t be Sergio if we didn’t have a noble but futile charge on the final day. Keegan Bradley has hit an eagle on the 12th but won’t threaten the leaders: he’s +5 for the tournament.
Charl Schwartzel and Matt Kuchar have started their final rounds. Both find the fairway safely. Both are +2 and Schwartzel hit a nice round of 69 yesterday to give himself a good chance of a decent finish.
And Els pars the final hole to end on +11. Campbell, the low amateur for the tournament so far along with Ollie Schniederjans, has just moved to five over after bogeying the 17th. Meanwhile, on the fifth Rory saves par with a tough putt from about 15 feet.
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On the fifth, Rory underhits his approach and ends up in the bunker. Adam Scott is one under for the day on the third but has just sent his first shot long on the par three third. He should still make par but the birdie chance has gone, I’d say.
Rory McIlroy goes for the birdie on the fourth. He puts a little too much on it, and it slides to the right of the hole. He has a little curse to himself while he’s at it. His putting hasn’t been up to his usual standards this week. He does make par though to stay +3. Morgan Hoffman finishes off on the 18th to card a round of 66, and +6 for the tournament. Simon McMahon writes in with some thoughts. “I was listening the other day to a very successful sports coach who suggested that sportspeople who can thrive whilst out of their ‘comfort zone’ are those most likely to succeed. He also mentioned a well known Scottish rugby coach who used a ‘WIN’ strategy during coaching sessions - WIN meaning What’s Important Now?, used as a way to address weaknesses and learn from mistakes. Talent these days is not enough. You can bet the best golfers know this and use it.”
Rory is playing his second shot on the fourth and plops it on to the green, around 15 feet from the flat to give himself a decent chance of a birdie. He avoids a tricky ridge in the middle of the green too. Matsuyama birdies the first for a good start to his final round.
McIlroy at the par-three 3rd. He lands his ball pin high, and he’ll have an eight footer across the green for a second birdie in a row. It doesn’t drop, though, as he dribbles it to the left, hoping in vain for it to turn back. So much for that pipe dream. Meanwhile on 10, George Coetzee hits a drive, and the head of the driver shears off and flies nearly as far as the ball. He’s allowed to replace it, as he didn’t smash it in anger. But why he bothers is a moot point, because on 12 he slices wildly into deep filth on the right. That’s the wildest drive I’ve seen all week, and I saw pretty much every shot played by Tiger Woods. Wow!
And with that, I’m off for a bucket of Hamburger Helper, the only food-flavored old-meat-masking product to be marketed by a talking golf glove. Tom Lutz, the Guardian’s big cheese in New York City - and still a good man despite attaining high office, a lesson to us all - will be your guide for the next hour! See you soon!
Birdie for Rory at 2, after an approach guided to 15 feet, the putt rolled straight into the cup. He’s +3 now, and... and... we’ll have to stop thinking that. He’s too far back. But a Greg Norman style birdie blitz would be fun to watch anyway. Can he follow Horschel’s example? The 2006 champion Geoff Ogilvy is doing his best to entertain, too. Three opening pars, then he reaches the turn without making another. Birdie, bogey, birdie, bogey, and finally back-to-back birdies at 8 and 9; he’s there in 33, and +4 overall. That 75 yesterday really hurt the 38-year-old Aussie.
Eagle for Billy Horschel on 12! He pearls his drive into the heart of the green, his ball resting six feet behind the hole, and guides the right-to-left slider home to move to +2. He’s in no position to worry the leaders, but he’s five under for his round, and this proves that someone could spring from the pack, posting a score and posing a question, just before this course hardens and becomes the ultimate puzzle.
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A fantastic final-round 68 by the 19-year-old amateur Nick Hardy! Four birdies in the last seven holes, and he’s ending his first US Open at +10, three shots better off than the five-time major winner Mickelson, and five better than the 2007 Masters champ Zach Johnson. He also survived the cut, unlike Tiger, Rickie, Bubba, G-Mac and the defending champion Martin Kaymer. What memories to take away, and upon which to build. The beauty of golf, right there.
Exit stage Lefty. Mickelson leaves himself a 20-footer for bogey at the last. He can’t make it, and that’s a miserable end to a miserable week for the all-American hero. Still no US Open for one of the greatest players to ever pick up a club. And you’d think time really is running out on that grand-slam dream now. He signs for a 73, and he’s +13 overall. To think, he was leading this tournament for a while on Thursday, but it all went wrong after that glorious front nine of 32.
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Rory’s out. If only he’d holed a few of those birdie chances he set up for himself yesterday afternoon. As it is, he’s teeing off at +4, with no chance of winning. His post-round interview was instructive. Yes, he compared the greens to cauliflowers. But he also critiqued his own putting stroke, and pointed out that if he’d trusted in it a bit more, putting with the sort of confidence and aggression displayed by the likes of Jordan Spieth and Dustin Johnson, things might have worked out a little better for him. It was far from a whine. An honest analysis, and another example of why he’s already got four majors to his name (and counting). Anyway, he blooters his drive down the opening hole, to great cheers, only to overhit his wedge in. Nearly, not quite. Story of his week. Not too much to tweak ahead of his Open defence at St Andrews, though. “On the subject of the course, you mentioned that ‘the normal PGA Tour grind starts up again next week, anyway, for those all flushed with righteous anger’ (7.55pm),” writes Thomas Wahl. “I might add it’ll be won with 20-under scores by golfers we’ll most likely never see with a major trophy.”
The young amateur Brian Campbell was leading this US Open, briefly, on Friday. It couldn’t last, of course, and he plummeted to a 78 yesterday, but it’s lovely to see him putting something together again today. Back-to-back birdies at 8 and 9 saw him reach the turn in credit, and though he dropped a shot at 11, he’s just eagled 12 to move up to +5, two under for his round today. Meanwhile, birdie for Zach Johnson at 18. No quintuple bogey. Kirk’s wooden spoon is safe.
This next bit relies on Zach Johnson avoiding a quintuple bogey at the 18th, but the battle to avoid the wooden spoon has been won by Camilo Villegas. He ends the 2015 US Open in second-last place, at +20, a shot ahead of poor old Chris Kirk, who never recovered from that 10 at the opening hole. Six over for his round after 1, he played the other 17 holes in two over par. A 78 to finish, and he props up the entire field at +21. His playing partner Ben Martin went round in 70, which he can file alongside a 67, another 70 - and yesterday’s 86. Nineteen shots between his best and worst rounds! Shades of Rory at St Andrews in 2010, when he followed up 63 with an 80.
Here’s a way to bounce back from despair. Mark Silvers, out in 38, a double bogey at 11, and +13. He batters his drive at 12 high on the bank to the right of the green, sending his ball rolling all the way down to the hole. It’s the width of a ball and a half from dropping into the cup for an outrageous hole-in-one albatross. But an eagle will have to do. Not quite as close as Rickie Fowler’s stunning effort on Thursday, but we really are nitpicking now. Up to +11 he wheechs!
Sergio birdies the opening hole. A record-breaking 62 is ON!!! Also at +4, Billy Horschel, who bounces back from that missed tiddler at 6 with his fourth birdie of the day at 8. He’s out in 32 strokes, and along with Aiken, the hottest property out on the course right now. His birdie putt at 9 slid by on the left, causing him to launch into ostentatious mime, waving his arm around like a swimming fish. The ball’s oscillating this way and that, seems to be the subtext. He’s not happy with those greens!
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Serious signs that a low score is out there for one of the earlier starters. Branden Grace and Louis Oosthuizen are hoping to land South Africa’s sixth US Open title today. Their compatriot Thomas Aiken is showing them the way. He started out with bogey at the par-four 1st, but since then has been today’s hot ticket: birdies at 2, 3, 8 and now 9, and he’s reached the turn in 32. He’s +5. Meanwhile on the subject of all this whining about the greens, here’s John McEnerney with a most entertaining blast: “Are the hissy fits about the greens still going on? Right lads, we get it, you’re not happy with the putting surfaces, that was the word long before they teed it up on Thursday. They’re used to playing on manicured courses week in week out, and for the one week they’re taken out of their comfort zone, the toys are launched from almost all the prams. Guess they don’t like playing like mortals. Well, who does? Some golf ahead of us. Enjoy it!”
Preach on, brother. Chambers Bay has been great fun, in my book. So some of the bounces aren’t fair, and the greens aren’t totally true? Well, so what? Golf, as a wise man once said, is not a game of perfect. And it’s the same for everyone. This US Open has been marvellous entertainment, watching players visualise strange routes to the flag, then manufacture shots they never usually play. And when things do go wrong, it’s great to see players fashion their escapes, fighting back from adversity, refusing to kow-tow to unlucky blows. It’s just different kind of golf, that’s all. Another part of the game. The normal PGA Tour grind starts up again next week, anyway, for those all flushed with righteous anger.
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Readers of yesterday’s hole-by-hole report may remember mention of plumes of thick black smoke billowing into the air above Chambers Bay. Some of that was coming out of the ears of Patrick Reed, as he fumed and simmered his way to a 76, but most of it was caused by a fire at a nearby marina. Just to tie up the smouldering loose end, we’re pleased to report that nobody was hurt in the blaze, though it did destroy a boathouse and $4m worth of boats within. Ah, hold on, another black smoke alert: Monty’s just bogeyed 4. Quick! Throw a blanket over those lugs!
Perhaps Horschel won’t be changing his mind about these greens. He birdied 5 as well, but he’s just missed a par putt at 6 from 18 inches or so. He’s still +5, then. But let’s look at the wider picture: proof that there appears to be birdies out there for the earlier starters, with the water in the ground yet to evaporate. Meanwhile at 2, Monty curls one in from 15 feet for a birdie that moves him to +6.
Mike Davis, the head honcho of the USGA, has been explaining the decision to stick with the 18th as a par five. The wind direction’s changed, causing two problems if the hole plays as a par four. The shorter hitters (your Jordan Spieths) wouldn’t be able to clear the big bunker on the left of the fairway. The longer ones (your Dustin Johnsons) would get over it no bother, but almost certainly see their ball scamper into the big bunker further on down the right. Either way, it wouldn’t be very fair. As a par five, with the tee set back, the bunker on the right isn’t an issue for anyone, while the one on the left simply has to be avoided by the longer hitters. So there you have it. Or is Davis simply responding to Spieth’s capsule review? “He could be,” suggests Sky pundit Butch Harmon, “but he’s not going to tell us that.” So there you have it!
Plenty of water has been pumped onto the greens, in the hope of keeping things sane them as receptive as possible. They’re still hosing the 18th. Great news for Chris Kirk and Camilo Villegas, but probably not so relevant for Jordan Spieth, Jason Day, Dustin Johnson or Branden Grace. All of this does give those a few shots behind, going out an hour or two earlier, a chance to put a little bit of pressure on the leaders, who will be getting the worst of it.
The current FedEx Cup champion, Billy Horschel, has been scathing about the state of the greens at Chambers Bay. He’s been on some social networking site or other, calling the putting surfaces “the worst rolling greens I’ve ever putted on”. Well, that’s as maybe. But he has just sent an average approach into the 1st, then rolled a gorgeous straight putt up the green and into the cup from 25 feet for birdie. Maybe he’s growing to love them. At least like them. Another birdie at 4, and he’s two under for his round, the best shape of the early starters. He’s +5. Speaking of putting woes, here’s Raymond Reardon, arguing that today’s sunny weather might not be good news for one of the co-leaders: “The 21-year-old genius Jordan Spieth has a problem putting through his shadow. Happened again yesterday and was masked by cloud cover on the last day of the Masters.”
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Camilo Villegas, who suffered the first meltdown of the week in a native sandy area by the side of 12 on Thursday, has symmetry on his mind. He’s making a late, late charge for bottom spot with a Sunday collapse. The hapless Chris Kirk had been cut well adrift at +19, but three bogeys in a row for the Colombian, on 11, 12 and 13, have seen him plummet to that lowly mark too. It looks like a toss-up between Kirk and Villegas for the wooden spoon, then; they’re five shots worse off than 2007 Masters champion Zach Johnson, and six worse than erstwhile US Open and Masters winner Angel Cabrera. Some big names have suffered this week, that’s for sure. It’s not just Tiger.
Meanwhile Kevin Mannerings was on this blog yesterday arguing that Europe was almost certain to continue its recent domination of the US Open. Well, with the top 15 dominated by Americans, Australians, South Africans and Argentinians, he’s back! “I’d just like to withdraw my silly waffle about the challenging diversity of the European Tour. What I forgot was the greens. With that unique grass mixture of fescue, poa and wild poppy, the Stateside greenkeepers have created a challenge which only players like Jordan Speith, Dustin Johnson and JB Holmes can deal with. I expect one of them to win this and put down a marker for the next Ryder Cup at Hazeltine. Phew, that should do it.”
The big news this morning is the USGA’s decision to retain the 18th as a par five for the final round. The initial plan had been for 1 and 18 to alternate between pars four and five over the course of the event. Which would mean it would play as a par four today. But they’ve changed their mind at the death. It’s possible they didn’t want their tournament to be decided by a widescreen meltdown on the last hole: the 18th as a par five has been one of the easiest holes this week (ranked 16th hardest), while played as a par four it’s caused no little bother (ranked 5th).
This has been dressed up in some quarters as a victory for Jordan Spieth. He parred it in five on Thursday and Saturday, but double-bogeyed it in six as a par-four on Friday, calling it “the dumbest hole I’ve ever played in my life” and “unbelievably stupid”. So it’s a mental two-shot swing for him before he’s even teed up his ball, they say. But to be fair, Jason Day, Dustin Johnson and Branden Grace all bogeyed the hole as a par-four on Friday, too. Meanwhile Day and Grace, unlike Spieth, have had birdie joy on it as a par-five. So nobody’s getting the better of this deal. And it’s almost certainly the correct decision; the hole was just too much of a lottery as a par four, players firing long irons into a rock-hard, punitive green.
Kirk’s playing partner today is Ben Martin, who suffered the biggest fall from grace yesterday. After birdie at the opening hole, he moved to within a shot of the lead. But double bogeys at 2 and 4 quickly changed the mood music, and much worse was to come: bogey at 7, a third double of the day at 7, and a quadruple bogey at 8. Out in 45 strokes, it got a little better coming back, but not much: a triple bogey at 18 set the seal on a 16-over-par 86. When it unravels around Chambers Bay, it really unravels. Ask Rickie and Tiger. He’s recovered his early-tournament poise today, though, level par for his round through 10, at +13 overall.
There’ll be plenty of time to concentrate on the top of the leaderboard, so let’s begin our journey at the other end. The entire field’s being propped up by Chris Kirk. The 30-year-old from Tennessee isn’t one of golf’s superstars, but he’s no mug either, with two wins on the PGA Tour in the last year. He was good enough to see off Jordan Spieth and Brandt Snedeker to win the Crown Plaza Invitational at Colonial last month. However, he’s six over par at the turn today. He was also six over par after the 1st, running up a humiliating 10. He took five shots to get his ball up from the huge swale to the left of the green. When he finally managed to keep it up on the playing surface, he took three putts. Ooyah. Oof. To have played par golf over the rest of the front nine after that blow is some feat. But there he is, bottom of the pile at +19. Putting Spieth to the sword one month, running up double figures on a hole during your national championship the next. What a pastime is golf.
Updated
Here we go, go, go, then! There’s nothing like the final day of a major championship. Especially when it’s all up in the air. Three of the last four majors were done and dusted, pretty much, by the 54-hole stage. Martin Kaymer was five clear going into the final round at Pinehurst last year. Rory McIlroy had six shots on the field after three rounds of the Open at Hoylake. Jordan Spieth was four clear with one round remaining at Augusta in April. Only the PGA was tight going into the final day, and even then McIlroy enjoyed a lead that was good enough in the end. Today, however ... well, good luck guessing what’s going to happen. Spieth to calmly close it out with a 68? Dustin to blitz the field with a 66? All the leaders to falter, allowing Sergio to burst through with a 62, the lowest round in major championship history (only to miss out by one stroke)? Your guess is as good as mine. Almost certainly better, in fact. But the sun’s out, and the weather’s expected to hold. Perhaps a bit of wind picking up later. In which case, someone coming out of the pack may not be beyond the realms, as the greens harden later on, making conditions even tougher. That dynamic didn’t do Louis Oosthuizen any harm yesterday. So let’s see ...
There’s going to be some noise if the 21-year-old genius Jordan Spieth becomes the 2015 US Open champion. If he triumphs at Chambers Bay today - or tomorrow, should an 18-hole play-off be required* - he’ll become the youngest champion of the modern era, erasing a 22-year-old Rory McIlroy from the record books**. He’ll become the first player since Gene Sarazen in 1922 to have won more than one major before turning 22. And he’ll be only the sixth man in history - after Craig Wood, Ben Hogan, Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods - to win the Masters and US Open in the same year. He’d be halfway to golf’s elusive holy grail: the modern Grand Slam. Yes, there’s going to be some noise.
It says something for the sheer brilliance of this year’s championship, then, that a Spieth win might not even be the most amazing story on offer. The narrative surrounding Jason Day is arguably even more compelling. At the still-tender age of 27, he’s finished second twice at the US Open already, and fourth in another. A perennial bridesmaid at the majors, he’s also got a second and third place at the Masters under his belt, plus two top-ten finishes at the PGA. His ascension to major winner would be some story anyway. But having suffered that distressing vertigo attack on Friday, bravely finishing his round with his legs barely supporting him, then embarking on a storming back nine of 31 yesterday despite still being a bit shaky on his feet, a Day victory would be a story for the ages. Right up there with Ken Venturi’s death-defying battle against heatstroke at Congressional in 1964. Setting aside how the golf’s going to pan out, God speed Jason Day. Safe home.
Then there’s Dustin Johnson. He’s come so close in the majors, only to blow up spectacularly every time he finds himself in the final group. An 82 on the final day at Pebble Beach in the 2010 US Open. Grounding his club in sand and missing a play-off at the PGA later that year. Winging a shot out of bounds from the centre of the fairway at Sandwich while chasing Darren Clarke at the 2011 Open. It’s three blockbusting failures from three. But he won this year’s WGC Cadillac Championship at the notorious Doral Blue Monster with a nerveless 66. Can he finally parlay a great 54-hole position into victory? Nerves could still betray him, but who’d begrudge the big man?
Or what if Louis Oosthuizen manages to bounce back from that opening-day 77 to complete the unlikeliest turnaround in major championship history? A pair of 66s since, and he’s the most in-form player in the entire field right now. He’d continue a famous South African tradition at the US Open, too, Gary Player having broken the USA/UK hegemony in 1965, Ernie Els and Retief Goosen winning multiple titles since. His compatriot, the unsung Branden Grace, who has been peppering the flags this week, will fancy joining that elite list too.
Could Shane Lowry become the latest in a long line of recent European - actually, let’s narrow this down, Irish - major winners? Will JB Holmes - a modest record in the majors, but hot on the PGA Tour this year, winning the Shell Houston Open, shooting 62 at Doral - take the step up? Or could the 21-year-old Australian Cameron Smith - Spieth isn’t the only player with a chance of becoming the youngest champ of the modern era - win on debut? He’d be the first player since Francis Ouimet in 1913 to achieve that, and he’d also become the first major debutant to win a title since Ben Curtis took the Open in 2003.
So many spectacular stories waiting to be told. And we’ve only just scratched the surface. We’re guaranteed a championship to remember. To think some people are moaning about the set-up around Chambers Bay! Pah. This is going to be some ride. Buckle in, folks. It’s the final round of the 2015 US Open Championship. It’s history in the making. It’s on!
The leading standings after 54 holes ...
-4: Day, D Johnson, Grace, Spieth
-1: Oosthuizen, Smith, Lowry, Holmes
+1: Snedeker, Romero, Stenson, Finau, Luiten, Reed
+2: Schwartzel, Kuchar, Levy, Kisner
+3: Beljan, Molinari, Scott, Matsuyama, Dufner, Lovemark
+4: Poulter, Koepka, McIlroy, Senden, Warren, Na, Rose, Schniederjans (a), Maguire (a), Casey
+5: Garcia, Gunn, McCarthy, Summerhays
...and the fourth-round tee times:
7.55am PDT (3.55pm BST): Camilo Villegas
8.06am PDT (4.06pm BST): Ben Martin, Chris Kirk
8.17am PDT (4.17pm BST): Zach Johnson, D.A Points
8.28am PDT (4.28pm BST): Andy Pope, Nick Hardy (a)
8.39am PDT (4.39pm BST): Phil Mickelson, Brad Elder
8.50am PDT (4.50pm BST): Sam Saunders, Lee Westwood
9.01am PDT (5.01pm BST): Marcus Fraser, C.T. Pan
9.12am PDT (5.12pm BST): Angel Cabrera, Morgan Hoffmann
9.23am PDT (5.23pm BST): Ernie Els, Mark Silvers
9.34am PDT (5.34pm BST): Thomas Aiken, Brian Campbell (a)
9.45am PDT (5.45pm BST): Cameron Tringale, Luke Donald
9.56am PDT (5.56pm BST): Ryan Palmer, Billy Horschel
10.07am PDT (6.07pm BST): Robert Streb, Kevin Chappell
10.18am PDT (6.18pm BST): Jim Furyk, George Coetzee
10.29am PDT (6.29pm BST): Jimmy Walker, Troy Kelly
10.40am PDT (6.40pm BST): Colin Montgomerie, Geoff Ogilvy
10.51am PDT (6.51pm BST): Beau Hossler (a), Tommy Fleetwood
11.02am PDT (7.02pm BST): Brad Fritsch, Keegan Bradley
11.13am PDT (7.13pm BST): John Parry, Webb Simpson
11.24am PDT (7.24pm BST): Daniel Summerhays, Denny McCarthy (a)
11.36am PDT (7.36pm BST): Jimmy Gunn, Sergio Garcia
11.48am PDT (7.48pm BST): Paul Casey, Jack Maguire (a)
12pm PDT (8pm BST): Ollie Schniederjans (a), Justin Rose
12.12pm PDT (8.12pm BST): Kevin Na, Marc Warren
12.24pm PDT (8.24pm BST): John Senden, Rory McIlroy
12.36pm PDT (8.36pm BST): Brooks Koepka, Ian Poulter
12.48pm PDT (8.48pm BST): Jamie Lovemark, Jason Dufner
1pm PDT (9pm BST): Hideki Matsuyama, Adam Scott
1.12pm PDT (9.12pm BST): Francesco Molinari, Charlie Beljan
1.24pm PDT (9.24pm BST): Kevin Kisner, Alexander Levy
1.36pm PDT (9.36pm BST): Matt Kuchar, Charl Schwartzel
1.48pm PDT (9.48pm BST): Patrick Reed, Joost Luiten
2pm PDT (10pm BST): Tony Finau, Henrik Stenson
2.12pm PDT (10.12pm BST): Andres Romero, Brandt Snedeker
2.24pm PDT (10.24pm BST): J.B. Holmes, Shane Lowry
2.36pm PDT (10.36pm BST): Cameron Smith, Louis Oosthuizen
2.48pm PDT (10.48pm BST): Jordan Spieth, Branden Grace
3pm PDT (11pm BST): Dustin Johnson, Jason Day
* If there’s a tie, which let’s face it looks more than likely, there will be an 18-hole play-off tomorrow, starting at 9am PDT, 5pm BST.
** For the record, John McDermott remains the youngest champion, at 19 years, ten months and 14 days.
