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Tuesday, 23 June 2015 00:06 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}
REUTERS: Masters champion Jordan Spieth added another chapter to golf’s record books with a nerve-jangling, one-shot victory at the US Open on Sunday after Dustin Johnson blew his chance to force a playoff by three-putting the last.
American young gun Spieth sank a curling 28-footer to birdie the 16th and forge three ahead, then shrugged off a double-bogey at the 17th before becoming just the sixth player to slip into a green jacket and hoist the US Open trophy in the same year.
Though Spieth birdied the par-five 18th to end a wildly fluctuating final round of high drama with a one-under-par 69, he then had to watch as fellow American Johnson, in the last pairing, had a 12-foot eagle putt to win it at the 18th.
Johnson’s putt slid past the cup and he then missed a four-foot birdie putt coming back to squander the chance of forcing an 18-hole playoff on Monday at Chambers Bay.
The 21-year-old Spieth posted a five-under total of 275 on a challenging links-style layout that firmed up under a baking sun as he became the youngest winner of the US Open since Bobby Jones in 1923.
“I’m still amazed that I won, let alone that we weren’t playing tomorrow,” Spieth told reporters. “So for that turnaround right there, to watch that happen, I feel for Dustin.
“But I haven’t been able to put anything in perspective yet. When I finished, I was just hoping to be playing tomorrow. I can’t seem to wrap my head around the finish of today.”
The victory saw Spieth join Tiger Woods, Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer, Ben Hogan and Craig Wood as the only players to have won the Masters and US Open in the same year.
“It’s cool to be able to have two legs of the grand slam now, and to conquer golf’s hardest test,” said Spieth. “The US Open is conquering the hardest layout in all of golf. “The fact that we did it is amazing. We really grinded this week. Didn’t have my best stuff ball-striking at all and we really grinded over those four or five-footers ... that was the difference.”
Spieth, who stunned the golf world with a wire-to-wire victory by four shots at the Masters in April, became the youngest player to win back-to-back majors since Gene Sarazen in 1922 (US Open and PGA Championship).
