UNIVERSITY PLACE — On a day of heart-stopping suspense and stunning emotional swings, Jordan Spieth won the 115th United States Open at Chambers Bay on Sunday with two birdies over the final three holes, followed moments later by an inexplicable three-putt by rival Dustin Johnson on the 18th green.
The result was a one-stroke victory for Spieth, who pocketed the winner’s paycheck of $1.8 million despite letting a three-stroke lead vanish with a shocking double-bogey on the par-3 17th hole. That mishap, coupled with a subsequent birdie by Johnson on the same hole, left the two golfers tied with one hole to play.
On the decisive par-5 18th, Spieth played a marvelous second shot to 15 feet from the pin and two-putted for a birdie. But Johnson, playing in the final twosome, played an even more marvelous second shot, stopping his ball 12½ feet from the cup.
At that point there were three possible outcomes. Johnson could sink the putt to win. He could two-putt for a tie and an 18-hole playoff Monday. Or he could miss and make Spieth the winner.
Johnson slid his first putt about 3½ feet past the hole, eliminating the first possibility. When he missed the comeback try, with his ball just kissing the left lip, it made a winner out of Spieth, who was watching on television in the nearby scorer’s tent with his caddy, Michael Greller of nearby Gig Harbor.
“I’m still in shock,” said the 21-year-old Spieth, who also won the Masters in April. “It’s a cliché to say, but I’ve never experienced a feeling like this. It’s just kind of total shock.”
“I thought that I had won it on 16. I didn’t think I had lost it after 17, but I thought I needed to play 18 well just to play (in a playoff today). And then after (Johnson) hit is second shot (to the green) I thought, ‘Shoot, I may have just lost this tournament.’ And then utter shock at the finish.”
As he watched the final dramatic moments unfold, “I was probably more nervous than I was on the course at any point. … I’m still trying to wrap my head around the finish,” Spieth said. “This was just an odd deal, very odd, and I very much feel for Dustin. He deserves to be holding the trophy just as much as I do.”
Spieth, who finished the day at 1-under-par 69 and the tournament at 5-under 275, is just the sixth golfer in history to win both the Masters and the U.S. Open in the same year, joining Craig Wood, Ben Hogan (twice), Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods. In addition, Spieth is the youngest golfer to win the U.S. Open since amateur Bobby Jones in 1923, and the youngest to win two career majors since Gene Sarazen in 1922.
Hearing all those names recited at the post-tournament press conference, Spieth could only smile and shake his head.
“Those names are the greatest that have ever played the game and I don’t consider myself there yet. But I’m certainly off to, I think, the right start in order to make an impact on the history of the game,” said Spieth, who won for the third time this season and is ranked second in the world to Rory McIlroy.
“Jordan played tremendous golf,” said playing partner Branden Grace, who finished two strokes back after a round of 1-over 71. “He’s a great talent obviously. You have to be something special to win the Masters and (the U.S. Open) back to back. He’s a huge talent, and exactly what golf needs behind Rory and Tiger (Woods).”
Second place went to Johnson and Louis Oosthuizen, who tied at 4-under 276. Johnson closed with an even-par 70 while Oosthuizen, who birdied six of his final seven holes, had a 3-under 67.
Johnson led for much of the early part of Sunday’s round. But he started the back nine with three bogeys on the first four holes, and a three-stroke deficit with two holes to play made him seem an unlikely winner. One hole later he was tied, and with a reasonable eagle putt on the 18th green he seemed poised for his first major championship.
But it was not to be. With his fiancée, Paulina Gretzky, looking on, along with their young son Tatum, Paulina’s dad Wayne Gretzky, the former hockey great, and her mother Janet Jones, a former actress, Johnson twice missed putts left of the hole. Dazed, he tapped in and then left the green, just as Spieth emerged from the scorer’s tent, looking equally dazed.
“I’m disappointed that I three-putted the last hole,” Johnson said. “Other than that, I had a damn good week. I’m happy with the way I played. … I gave myself chances all day long. If I’d rolled the putter halfway decent today, I win this thing by a few shots.
“I did everything I could,” he said. “I tried my damnedest to get the ball in the hole (on 18) and I just couldn’t do it.”
The low score of the day — indeed, the low score of the entire tournament — belonged to Australian Adam Scott, who put together a bogey-free round of 6-under 64.
“I played really well,” Scott said. “I took advantage of some of the holes playing a little bit shorter, I didn’t have any disasters out there, and I hit a few good shots and took advantage of them. It’s kind of what I needed to even think of having a chance.”
McIlroy made a charge with six birdies over his first 13 holes — including a 72-foot birdie putt on No. 13, one of the shots of the tournament — to pull within a few shots of the leaders, but a deficit of eight strokes to start the day was just too much. McIlroy had bogeys on two of the last four holes for a round of 4-under 66 and a tournament total of even-par 280, putting him in a three-way tie for ninth.
“When I look back at this tournament, that’s where I’ll rue some missed opportunities,” McIlroy said. “I feel like it’s sort of one that got away, especially with the way I putted this week. But I don’t think I’ve ever hit the ball as well in a major championship.”
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