Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - July 21, 2015, Winnipeg, Manitoba C M Y K PAGE C3 winnipegfreepress. com GOLF WINNIPEG FREE PRESS, TUESDAY, JULY 21, 2015 C 3 S T. ANDREWS, Scotland - Jordan Spieth's spirited bid for a Grand Slam was stopped Monday by Zach Johnson, who is no longer just a normal guy from Iowa. Not with a claret jug to go with that green jacket. Johnson captured his second major - this one at the home of golf - winning the British Open in a playoff over Louis Oosthuizen and Marc Leishman that capped off five wild days at St. Andrews and a suspense- filled final round. Most eyes were on 21- yearold Spieth. No one ever came closer to the third leg of the Grand Slam. Spieth fought back from taking four putts for a double bogey on No. 8 with back- to- back birdies. He rolled in a 50- foot birdie putt for a share of the lead with two holes to play. After missing an eight- foot par putt on the 17th hole, he needed a birdie on the closing hole to join the playoff. " Up and down for a playoff," was the last thing Spieth said to caddie Michael Greller from about 90 yards away. It was too far right and rolled to the edge of the Valley of Sin short of the green, and his birdie attempt up the slope stayed inches left of the cup. " We gave it a great effort," Spieth said. " I'll take a lot out of this week. It's not first, but I'll take it." He joined Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods - the three biggest names in golf over the last half- century - as the only players to capture the Masters and U. S. Open, only to come up short in a quest for the holy grail in golf - all four professional majors in the same year. Johnson won the Masters in 2007 and described himself as just a normal guy from Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Not anymore. The 39- year- old Johnson now has two majors among his 12 PGA Tour victories, an astounding record and an example that a good wedge game and putter can still go a long way in this era of the long ball. Johnson was in tears when he was interviewed off the green, and he cradled the jug after his acceptance speech. " I'm grateful. I'm humbled. I'm honoured," Johnson said. " This is the birthplace of the game, and that jug means so much in sports." On a tense afternoon of shadows and showers on the Old Course, Johnson closed with a 6- under 66 by holing a 30- foot birdie putt on the 18th hole in regulation, and caddie Damon Green strutted and flapped his arms in his celebratory chicken dance. Johnson was the first to post at 15- under 273 with his 30- foot birdie putt. Leishman, who considered giving up golf in April when his wife nearly died of a rare respiratory illness, made one bad swing in the closing holes that cost him a bogey on the 16th hole to fall into a share of the lead with Johnson. He had a birdie putt for the win that stayed wide left. " I'm happy," he said. " I can go home tomorrow and hug Audrey and ( their two young) boys and celebrate a little bit. It would have been nice to have the claret jug to drink out of to celebrate, but I'll find something else. " I was definitely happy with the way I played and gave it my best shot," said Leishman, who also turned in the best round of the week, a third- round 64. " Zach just played really well in the playoff, and I didn't have my best stuff." After Spieth had to settle for par and a 69 to tie for fourth, Oosthuizen made a 10- foot par putt on the Road Hole at No. 17 to stay one shot behind, and he delivered a clutch moment of his own with a wedge to five feet for birdie and a 69 to join the playoff. It was the first British Open playoff since Stewart Cink beat Tom Watson at Turnberry in 2009, and the first involving more than two players since 2002 at Muirfield, the year Woods failed in his bid for the third leg of the slam. Spieth showed guts over the final two hours, and class when his bid was over. He walked off the 18th green applauding the fans and giving them a thumbs- up, stayed to watch the closing hole in the playoff and came back onto the course to hug Johnson. Just two weeks ago, he went to Iowa to take part in a charity event for Johnson before playing - and winning - the John Deere Classic in a playoff for his fourth win of the year. He was questioned for not coming over to St. Andrews to prepare for a rare occasion of attempting the Grand Slam, though Spieth put that notion to rest with a performance that kept him around the lead all week. It was the first British Open to end on Monday since 1988 because of a brief rain delay Friday morning and 10 � - hour wind delay on Saturday. But what a show. With 14 players separated by three shots - half of them major champions - no one seized control the entire day. Eight players had at least a share of the lead at one point. Most of them fell away. Padraig Harrington drove into a gorse bush on No. 6 and made double bogey. Adam Scott was tied for the lead until he found a pot bunker behind the 14th green for bogey, missed an 18- inch par putt on the next hole and hit onto the road and out of bounds on the 18th. He played last the five holes in 5 over par. Sergio Garcia couldn't keep up with his putter. Paul Dunne, the 21- year- old Irishman bidding to become the first amateur since Bobby Jones in 1930 to win the claret jug, started bogey- bogey and closed with a 78. Oosthuizen was a runner- up for the second straight major. He was one shot behind Spieth in the U. S. Open at Chambers Bay. " It's never nice to lose a playoff," Oosthuizen moaned. " He left the door open on 17 ( where Johnson made a bogey), and I didn't take advantage of it." Spieth now goes to the PGA Championship with a tiny piece of history left to chase. No one has ever swept the three American majors in the same year. And he can only hope he gets this chance again. Palmer, Nicklaus and Woods never again won the Masters and U. S. Open in the same year. - The Associated Press BREEZY BEND'S Eric Johnson was the lone man under par on Monday afternoon at the Men's Amateur Championship, shooting a two- under 70 on the challenging 6,952- yard Bridges Golf Course. As beautiful as the day appeared - blazing summer sun with a cool breeze to keep things reasonable - it proved less than ideal for those competing as the first round kicked off. Apart from Johnson, Ben Bandura and Luke Meadows- Birch, who both shot even- par 72, none of the 120 golfers in attendance scored better than 73. " I played really good, I hit it really, really good," Johnson said. " If you can hit under par on this course, that's good no matter what. I thought coming into the week being even par would be good, so I'm pretty pumped to be under par." Johnson drained four birdie putts and dropped a three on the par- 5 11th for eagle. Johnson's round could have been even better if not for a double bogey on the 381- yard, par- 4 17th. " That happens, I played good otherwise," Johnson said. " There are a lot of weird lines off the tees that a lot of guys might not know. On the second hole today I hit a perfect tee shot that went into the water. It was downwind and I didn't know it would get there. I'll hit a three- wood on that hole now knowing that. There's a lot of tricky tee- shot landings that, if you haven't been out here a lot, it's tough." Johnson tees off at 1: 06 p. m. this afternoon. Meanwhile, University of Manitoba Bisons golfer Devon Schade and University of Nevada's Travis Fredborg came in with the early lead, both shooting one- over 73. Fredborg, particularly, cursed his round as he filed into the scorer's table following a par on the 500- yard par- 5 18th. Much of what was said can't be repeated here, and even finding out he was tied for the low round at that point did little to settle him down initially. Fredborg immediately made his way to the practice green to make things right. " I knocked in about 50 four- footers, just to get my confidence back up," he said. " I got it now." After having some time to think over his round, Fredborg found the positives of being three shots back. " It was really good out there, course was pure and in great shape," he said. " The wind obviously played a factor, especially in our front nine. " I played really good. I striped it, I hit it probably the best I could all year, but I could not putt. I had five three- putts. I had 18 greens in regulation. I just got to make sure it's a little better tomorrow." Reigning champion Todd Fanning shot a two- over 74, nestling him four shots off the lead. Charles Boyechko, who made the weekend at the Players Cup two weeks ago, shot a three- over 75. The second round gets underway at 8 a. m. this morning. scott. billeck@ freepress. mb. ca Breezy Bend's Johnson takes early lead at amateur By Scott Billeck Eric Johnson ' I'm grateful, I'm humbled, I'm honoured' JON SUPER / THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Zach Johnson carries the claret jug as he is congratulated by well- wishers after he won the British Open in a four- hole playoff in St. Andrews, Scotland Monday. Johnson steals the spotlight at Open Wins claret jug in extra- hole showdown By Doug Ferguson DAVID J. PHILLIP / THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Runner- up Louis Oosthuizen, left, and winner Zach Johnson shake hands following the British Open as runner- up Marc Leishman looks on. C_ 03_ Jul- 21- 15_ FP_ 01. indd C 3 7/ 20/ 15 10: 15: 08 PM ;