Jordan Spieth could not drive, chip, putt or do anything remotely resembling a world-class golfer for about 12 holes of the final round of the British Open, but yet, the American found a way to clinch his maiden Open title and become the youngest man to lift the Claret Jug since 1979.
Leading by three strokes heading into the final round, it was only a question of "by how many would Spieth win this British Open," at Royal Birkdale. However, as we moved into the 13th hole, it seemed like the scriptwriters had other ideas.
That feeling only increased when Spieth saw his tee shot on the 13th go woefully wrong. However, the 23-year-old somehow managed to only bogey the hole, even if that meant his compatriot Matt Kuchar was now in the lead by one stroke with just five holes to play.
This was when Spieth found that gear everyone expected him to stay on from the beginning. A beautiful tee shot on the 14th gave him a birdie, which was then followed by a couple of extraordinary putts on the 15th and 16th.
With those three holes, Spieth went from disaster to ecstasy and the American was on his way to his first British Open title, with Kuchar, at 39 years of age, made to wait for his maiden major win.
Spieth, who shot a 69 in the final round, finished the tournament on 12-under, three better than Kuchar, who took the lone second spot. Haotong Li was third on six-under, while Rory McIlroy and Rafa Cabrera Bello finished tied for fourth on five-under.
"This is as much of a high as I've ever experienced in my golfing life," a beaming Spieth said. "And I'm going to enjoy it more than I've enjoyed anything that I've accomplished in the past."
Kuchar will be sitting right now, looking back at how that final round played out, wondering what he could have done differently to break his major duck. At the end of the day, he just ran into an unstoppable Spieth, who showed he is made of champion material by turning it on in the final holes.
"Matt didn't lose the tournament at all today," Spieth added. "He played well down the stretch. I just had my long putts go in, (and) his didn't. That was simply it.
"I believe Matt Kuchar will win a major championship and I believe that he'll do it sometime soon.
"He's a great champion and a great individual to look up to. When I talk about having great role models on the PGA Tour, he's at the top of the class. And you're able to see it with how he handles that kind of situation right after just a crazy day."
