Spieth Comes Up Just Short

By Steve Lansdale

How many people have talked about how cruel a game golf can be? Or how golf is a game of inches?

Jordan Spieth, who already had the attention of the golf world before The Open Championship even started at The Old Course in St. Andrews (Scotland), almost won his third major championship of the season when he raced back to take a share for the lead late in the tournament’s final round.[s2If current_user_can(access_s2member_level2)]  

But when it was over, Spieth watched three other players — Zach Johnson, Louis Oosthuizen and Marc Leishman — finish 72 holes one shot ahead of him; the trio finished the final round 15 under par, while Spieth finished at 14-under, shooting a 67-72-66-69 to finish at 274. Johnson went on to win the four-hole playoff and hoist the Claret Jug awarded to the tournament champion.

Officially, Spieth was tied for fourth place. But it was closer than that. Spieth came within one stroke — within a few inches on a missed putt on the final hole of regulation — from making the playoff a four-man race.

Not surprisingly, Spieth took to social media to congratulate Johnson on the victory, tweeting:

Wow.. Almost. Nothing quite like @TheOpen at St Andrews. We fought hard. Very proud of a role model and friend of mine @ZachJohnsonPGA

— Jordan Spieth (@JordanSpieth) July 20, 2015

Texas men’s golf head coach said that he and his wife, Pearl, have great pride in the performance by the former UT star, and said Spieth’s performance captivated golf fans across the state.

“Pearl and I are so proud of Jordan,” Fields said. “I know the Texas Athletic Department, (athletic director) Steve Patterson, our alumni and the entire state of Texas share our sentiments. Jordan’s play this week at The Open exhibited the heart and soul of Texas. We can’t wait to see him continue to represent all of us in the most prideful of ways.”

The Open meant the end of Spieth’s chance for golf’s grand slam (winning all four majors in one season), and he fell short of joining fellow Texan Ben Hogan as the only players ever to win the Masters, the U.S. Open and the British Open in the same season. The season’s fourth major, the PGA Championship, will be played Aug. 13-16 at Whistling Straits in Kohler, Wis.

The only Longhorn ever to win the British Open is Justin Leonard, who accomplished the feat in 1997.

For the season, Spieth has won four of the 18 events in which he has played, finished second three times, in third place once and in the top 10 11 times.

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