Halfway to Grand Slam for Spieth


Jordan Spieth survived a tense and sun-baked Sunday afternoon to win the 115th U.S. Open at a hard and fast Chambers Bay in University Place, Wash. The 21-year-old from Dallas closed with a 1-under 69 to finish at 5-under 275, a stroke ahead of Dustin Johnson and Louis Oosthuizen, to win his second straight major.

A birdie on the par-4 16th gave Spieth a three-stroke lead after playing partner Branden Grace double-bogeyed the hole. But Spieth doubled the par-3 17th to drop into a tie with Johnson and Oosthuizen, who had rallied with six birdies on the back nine en route to a 29.

On the par-5 18th, Spieth struck a beautiful approach from the fairway that landed close to the hole and he two-putted for birdie to re-take the lead at 5-under. Playing in the final group with an ailing Jason Day, Johnson also hit an outstanding second shot on the closing hole. Needing a two-putt birdie from 12 feet to send the U.S. Open to an 18-hole Monday playoff, Johnson couldn't deliver, sending his first putt 4 feet past the hole and missing the comebacker for a par. Ironically, Johnson finished tied for fifth in putting during the week at 1.71 putts per round (Spieth averaged 1.75).

Spieth, the Masters winner in April, was shocked at the outcome. "I can't seem to wrap my head around the finish of today. I've tried to think about it since it ended and boy, I feel for Dustin. It's the same feeling I had on 17; I just was able to have another hole to rebound. I mean, this is incredible. It's incredible. It will take a little bit to sink in. I didn't think this would be over and I would be holding the trophy. Definitely didn't think that at the time. Obviously pleased."

Spieth was particularly happy for his caddie, Michael Greller, a resident of Tacoma who taught school near Chambers Bay and was a caddie there during the summers. Greller was married at Chambers Bay and Spieth attended the wedding.

Spieth related how he and Greller dealt with the tense moments as Johnson finished up. "I closed the door and we went away from any cameras when it was happening, when the finish was happening with Michael. He just said, Dude, be positive. I was sitting there going, I think Dustin is going to make this, what did I do? How did I possibly let this happen? He said, Be positive. You just never know. I was sitting with him when that second putt missed. I just - my eyes were wide looking at the TV screen and he was silent as well.

"We didn't really know what to do. Then he got up. He said, Dude, give me a hug, you did it. It was really cool. It's amazing. What a special place for Michael. He was married here. He shares arguably one of the best moments of his life here. I was able to add to that history that he has at Chambers Bay. That was probably the best work Michael has ever done this week to get me through. At Augusta I was on and making everything and striking the ball fantastic. He was the one that got me through this week when I wanted to get down when things weren't going well."

Greller later told reporters: "I told him all week that I have nothing but great vibes here, starting with my marriage two years ago up there on the top of the hill. The best day of my life. Then it really jump started my caddying career five years ago working with Justin Thomas, and also those good vibes. Honestly, coming down the stretch today, I was replaying shots from our second round match against Scott Strohmeyer.

"At the time I thought it was the most dramatic thing ever and then today happened. But, you know, ultimately as far as my local knowledge, it really wasn't worth anything, I didn't think, because Jordan's Jordan. He's one of the best players in the world, and I was just trying to stay out of his way. I've worked hard the last couple of weeks, but I haven't been out here in five years. The course has changed. The guys that I've caddied for usually can't break 90, or it's myself playing and I can't break 80. I throw out any - I'm sure he's being nice, but it comes down to Jordan just being one of the best players in the world."

With his victory, Spieth achieved several milestones:

• He is the sixth player (and youngest at age 21) to win the Masters and U.S. Open in the same year. He joins Craig Wood (1941), Ben Hogan (1951 and 1953), Arnold Palmer (1960), Jack Nicklaus (1972) and Tiger Woods (2002).

• Spieth is the youngest two-time major champion since Gene Sarazen in 1922. He joins Young Tom Morris, John McDermott and Gene Sarazen as players who have won two majors before the age of 22.

• Spieth is the youngest U.S. Open champion since Bob Jones in 1923.

• Spieth is the first player to birdie the 72nd hole to win the U.S. Open by one stroke since Bob Jones in 1926.

• Spieth is the 16th player to win the Masters and U.S. Open in his career.

• Spieth is the third player to win the U.S. Junior Amateur and the U.S. Open. The others are Johnny Miller and Tiger Woods.

• Spieth has played eight rounds in major championships this year and has led or co-led after seven of them.

Johnson, who entered the final round tied for the lead with the heroic Day, was succinct about his feelings. "Disappointed," he said. "I played really well. I didn't make any putts today, I really didn't. I had all the chances in the world. I'm really proud of the way I hit ball. Proud of the way I handled myself all day. I gave myself chances all day long. If I rolled the putter halfway decent today, which I did roll it well, just any putts go in the hole, I win this thing by a few shots, it's not even close. It's just how it goes. I thought I played really well. I did everything that I could. I tried my damndest to get in the hole I just couldn't do it."

Added the long-hitting South Carolinian, "I'm disappointed I three-putted the last hole. Other than that I had a damn good week. I'm happy with the way I played. I'm happy with everything in my game right now. I had a chance to win again a major on a Sunday. I thought I handled myself very well. I hit the shots when I needed to. So I know what it takes to get it done, it's real simple. I need to get in the hole faster."

Day, who experienced spells of vertigo all week, struggled to a 74 and ended up at even-par 280. "I started feeling a lot better after the 12th hole. That was a plus. I think I hit 13 greens and just didn't capitalize at all on the stuff that I had. It's unfortunate because I felt like I gave myself enough opportunities. Couple of putts, 11 and 12, go in and it's a different story, I feel different and opportunities come down the line. If you don't hole those, it doesn't go your way," the Aussie said.

Oosthuizen was simply spectacular on the back nine, finally solving the Chambers Bay riddle with his six-birdie string between Nos. 12-18. His only par over that stretch came at the 17th. "It's great," the South African said of being in such a zone. "I hope I get it every week. It's good. I actually had a lot of opportunities from the 7th. I just couldn't get my speed right to get the ball to the hole. I missed that short eagle putt on 12. 13, I made a nice long birdie putt. I pushed myself to really go for it. Just had to hack it out of the bunker on 14.

"And when I held that wedge, I knew with the holes coming up, 16 and 18, I might get three more in if I can make an eagle somewhere and birdie. It was a great feeling when you go more aggressive at putts and it goes in. It doesn't always work, but I begged myself a bit on the last few holes to really have a go at it."

Two Aussies, Cameron Smith and Adam Scott, carded rounds of 69 and 64, respectively, to rise into a share of fourth with Grace, who finished with a 71. Scott's 64 was the low round of the championship and set a new course record.

With former caddie Steve Williams' return to his bag this week and for several big upcoming events, the 34-year-old from Adelaide was flawless on the dangerous course, recording three birdies on the front nine and three more on the home half, with perhaps the most remarkable stat of all - no bogeys.

Of his performance, Scott, the 2013 Masters champion said, "I needed to make a run today and it was interesting as I went along just to see how the course was set up. It was set up quite short I thought today. And look, I played really well and I took advantage of some of the holes playing a bit shorter and didn't have any disasters out there and hit a few good shots and took advantage of them.

"It's kind of what I needed to even think about having a chance. But you never know what can happen in these events. And even though it's not playing long and tough to finish and the wind is down, it's tough to hole out down the stretch of a major. So it will be fun the next couple of hours for me to watch."

As for the gutsy performance this week by his friend and fellow Aussie Day, whose vertigo bouts this week forced him to go to the hospital after Friday's round, Scott added, "It's a hell of an effort. I really have no idea what he must be dealing with because I've never done it. When you're not feeling well at all, playing a U.S. Open isn't a lot of fun. And something very serious like that, you know, he's a tough, tough kid. He's got a lot of heart and he's always showing that … he's just proving it again today."

Grace was also steady throughout the championship, carding rounds of 69, 67, 70 and 71. "I thought I played well, I thought I handled myself well," said the six-time European Tour winner. "Gave myself the opportunity to actually have a chance to win it and just one bad swing cost me at the end. I was hitting my 3-wood great the whole day. Some good under pressure shots with the 3-wood when I had to do it. A straightforward shot, just spun out of it and that's costly.

"I still had a chance. I had the hit a great putt on 17, which I thought would stay in the cup. It was one roll short and things are done with it. Jordan played tremendous golf. From tee to green he was good. Had a lot of putts that looked like it was going to go in and didn't. He could have walked away with it a little bit and he didn't. Congrats to him, great effort."

Another South African, Charl Schwartzel, closed fast with a 66, giving the 2011 Masters champion solo seventh at 278. Schwartzel said Chambers Bay was a superior test. "There's not these slopes in Africa. You don't get them. The courses are a lot flatter. I don't know, maybe just -- for myself I feel like the tougher the golf course, the better feel on it, you know, when you really have to grind it out. It feels like it's not really a putting contest.

"So maybe it's the same for the other guys, when they're playing well, Louis plays really good golf. And Branden, I think he's new to you guys, but he's won a few -- quite a few tournaments. He's used to winning. He has a great attitude when he plays and he's very good with keeping the ball down, sort of rolling shots, which is great for here."

Brandt Snedeker had a 68 to finish at 279, making among only eight players to finish under par through 72 holes. He liked how the USGA set up the course, especially on the back nine. "The USGA did a great job setting up the golf course. The golf course was very fair, very gettable if you could shoot 3-, 4-, 5-under par," said the Nashville native. "With that being said, if you weren't on you were going to struggle. The greens rolled great. The pin positions were awesome. I thought moving the tees up was really cool. They did a great job setting the golf course up today."

Rory McIlroy (66), Ireland's Shane Lowry (71) and Day shared ninth place at even-par 280. No. 1-ranked McIlroy had it going Sunday, posting six birdies through 13 holes - highlighted by a 70-foot birdie putt on the par-4 13th that elicited loud roars by the huge gallery - to rise up the leaderboard. But bogeys at the 15th and 16th halted the Northern Irishman's momentum. He ended up with a 4-under 66 for a 72-hole total of even-par 280.

McIlroy said of his day, "Got off to a good start. I hit some good shots early on, made some nice putts, and just got a little bit of momentum going there. And I really thought when I held that long putt on 13, I had 16 and 18 coming in. If I could post 4-under par, birdie those two holes coming in, then I thought I had a great chance really, really did. Especially with the way the greens are getting out there, they're getting baked. At least it would be a number for guys to really think about. But I felt I had a good shot on 15 and it just came up short. I had a good first putt and second putt, I lacked a bit of speed. And 16 and 17 killed me as well."

The 26-year-old returns home Sunday night and will stay through next month's Open Championship at the fabled Old Course at St. Andrews. McIlroy said that his final round was encouraging. "It bodes well for the rest of the summer the way I've hit the ball this week. And I've got a couple of weeks to work on my putting and get that up to the shape that it has been in and especially the way it was last year. If I can do that, keep the long game where it is, I'm really excited about what can happen over the summer."

2006 U.S. Open champion Geoff Ogilvy had a nice ending to the championship as the 38-year-old Aussie closed with a stellar 3-under 67 to finish at 3-over 283, the same number as Spain's Sergio Garcia. "I hit a lot of good shots" Ogilvy said. "Sometimes it's hard to get a measure of that because I had lucky ones that ran off the banks and came back to the hole. It's definitely set up that -- it changes so much from morning to afternoon, it's really hard to tell. I played quite late yesterday and it felt really, really hard."

After noting some of the logistical problems - including the far distances between the fans and the players - Ogilvy believes Chambers Bay is a worthy championship site and was pleasantly surprised with the experience.

"Logistically it seems to have its issues," he said. "But I didn't have to follow me, you know what I mean? Which apparently is quite difficult. (The course is) pretty stunning … I didn't expect it to be this beautiful here, I guess. Maybe I was expecting it to rain and be cold like everyone says Seattle rains all the time. I had a good time. As I said, logistically it seems to have its problems, but as far as the holes and the golf it asks you to play, I think I told someone earlier in the week, whoever wins is going to be a quality player."

Ogilvy also commented on the controversial putting surfaces at the all-fescue Robert Trent Jones, Jr.-designed layout. "The 13th green, the 7th green, they're immaculate, they're great to putt on. It's one of the best surfaces to putt on. But they're the new ones that haven't been infested with different sort of grasses. I'm sure (the USGA) is not excited with how it ended up. There are definitely issues. But I think good putters putt well on bumpy greens. It's not what you want to a national championship, but I don't think it will affect the tournament."

South African Thomas Aiken and American Morgan Hoffman each posted 66s. Tacoma-area native Troy Kelly also had a nice Open, ending up at 6-over 286 to end up as the low finisher from Washington.

"I just made a few more putts than I did the first few days," said Aiken. "To be honest, my long game has been fantastic all week. I've driven the ball unbelievably and hit a lot of greens, but just struggled on the greens. But today hit a few closer and made a few more putts and that's really the difference."

Cheng-Tsung Pan, a recent graduate of the University of Washington and All-American turned pro before the Open. The Taiwan native shot 76 and 74 over the weekend to end up at 293. Also at 13-over was Scotland's Colin Montgomerie, a three-time major winner on the Champions Tour who won the Senior PGA Championship three weeks ago.

Five-time major winner Phil Mickelson will have to wait until Oakmont next year to win a U.S. Open, the only title missing in his quest for a career Grand Slam. The 45-year-old carded 77 and 73 over the weekend to end up at 13-over.

Lefty was characteristically classy to the end. "I enjoyed coming to Washington to play a major championship event. The people here appreciate the PGA Tour players and the U.S. Open and have really supported it. It was fun to play here. The community helped run a really first-class event, and I wish I had played better."

For all the scores, visit http://www.usopen.com/en_US/scoring/index.html.