2015 Open Championship Final Round Notes & Comment Thread
An extra day should be worth the wait as any number of players stand a chance to win the 2015 Open Championship.
The weather forecast continues to look ominous during the key hours the leaders are on the course, though the gust numbers have come down, mercifully.
The traditional leaderboard.
The final round hole locations are here and maintain the streak of four straight days avoiding Peter Dawson's new second hole bunkers.
Geoff
**Just in from a walkabout of the entire course and the front nine is there for the taking, while the back is currently playing incredibly tough (as some of the early tough starters have shown). The hole locations at 11, 12 and 13 will make that stretch unusually difficult.
The crowds are large considering the Monday situation and weather, but the only food options are coffee and ice cream (no pints). The 18th hole grandstand is also developing into an embarrassing situation, as all public stands have been full since 10 am while the reserved section immediately above the green remains empty as of 2 pm.
Reader Comments (192)
My Iowa born wife is thrilled with the result.
The Champion golfer of the year just confessed he won because his wife was praying to an imaginary friend who can not be bothered to cure children of bone cancer.
Why didn't she pray to me? I would have done something!
The best tournaments are on courses with lots of 'half-par holes' where things can happen.
Geoff, did Zach and Jordan make you rethink your 'he should not play the Deere' stance? We all get it wrong sometime.
They might have to think about playing a composite course when they return in 2020.
If I were lucky enough to be a 2-time major champion (like Zach) and had the luxury of picking which two it would be The Masters and The Open Championship (like Zach)...IMO these two stand head & shoulders above the others. The R&A certainly made some missteps this week but this Championship is clearly about so much more than whatever personality may be sitting in the executive chair at any given time.
Poseidon...and he was so close to the finish line, but the thump crept in.
"When all was said and done, the golf course was not long enough to test a worthy champion for Champion Golfer of the Year, with current equipment."
Huh? Are you kidding?
Does not compute.
Jason Day is of course a really good player, hard to find fault with that effort. Scott and Garcia, though.... I thought maybe this would be Sergio's day, but maybe the sight of Harrington up in front of him brought back too many painful memories.
Azinger's "you can throw out the statistics" bit before Spieth's putt on 17 is of course untrue, athletes in all sports are good in the clutch at things they're good at, poor in the clutch at things they're poor at. (If you're going to win a golf tournament, and you don't have a safe lead, what putt isn't clutch?) The wider golf community just hasn't gotten the memo yet. (Unlike for example the wider baseball community, which has).
Speaking of "not getting the memo," the ESPN guys kept harping on Spieth's 3-putts. When he was asked about that, Spieth himself harped on his "proximity to the hole." Some of those putts at St. Andrews should be counted in the scrambling statistics, not the putting statistics.
I thought Azinger or Strange did make a good point about seeing two good wedge players at the top, while the "overpower the course" guys ended up fading....
I feel so badly for Spieth, to make such an incredible putt on 16 and then bogey 17 from the fairway. He was in good company on that hole for sure though. All three bogeyed it in the playoff with the major on the line. Still, it hurts for those who know these chances come around about as frequently as Halley's Comet. And to have fallen but one shot short...tough. What a player.
I think just going by top tens is a little too simple though because of those 4 Westwood had from 97-00 the best was T5 and it included a T10 (Brooks Koepka finished T10 this week did he contend?) and in the later years you had Torrey and a couple of times at Augusta where he was right there and also the Watson Open year. Every major has a couple of guys that finish top ten that were really never a factor. Everybody's different maybe he will get one and be a Lehman with only a handful of wins but a major and a bunch just misses who knows.
Leishman now has 7 missed cuts, 3 top 10's and a 12th place in his 17 majors.
GregV, what were you looking for differently? As exciting a finish, at least regulation, as could be asked for? Isn't that ultimately what we want as fans? The final score should not matter. If we can get the leadership to see that, and accept that, we can move forward. The best in the game were in the mix. Tons of great storylines.
Z. Johnson was not the guy I hoped to win, but he is a worthy champion and deserves all the spoils of winning a second major. Congrats, Zach!
Adam Scott-Damn. Adam had it going and that third shit into 14. What happened there mate?
Louie O. Si close Louie. Well played. Nearly joined Jack and Tiger, back to back St. Andrews Opens.
Jordan Speith. Wow! What a performance. I missed his second and third shots on 17 but only wished he had positioned his par putt to be more straight and uphill. To think this guy is really a kid still, and had the triple crown in his grasp. He makes that 7' par putt on 17, and maybe makes birdie to win on 18 or pulls off a playoff win. Great stuff. How bout this kids bounce back on 9 and 10 making birdie after that horrific four putt. To make a four putt on that hole for a double bogey at that stage; most all players would not recover as he did. Incredible bounce back there. Eight from the tee looks so benign but that green has some tilt, is huge, and the wind and green tilt make it tough to get it pin high below the hole on the left.
What an amazing run of challenges out there today. Mark Leishman. So sad he missed that putt for par on 16 after that spectacular long sand shot missed. He likely wins if he makes that putt. He would have been a worthy champion. An Adam Scott win- that would have been a popular one. Good guy.
Sergio? Will he ever sneak through to win a major? Great talent, but scarred.
D.Johnson.WTF happened there? That weather delay did him in big time. Whew! Whistling Straights just may owe him one next month.
Too talented. Amazing how an early success can really transforms a players resolve and fortify ones confidence to win majors. Hope
DJ turns this thing around. He could dominate, if only, Paulina wasn't always distracting him.
Oh? Please share.
Speaking of Mickelson, he had the worst score on #18 in the 4th round of the 2015 U.S. Open (to go along with his tied worst on 17 mentioned above and his worst (solo) on #3 at Merion in the 4th round; tied worst on 16 at Pinehurst in the 4th round) -- no wonder he's mad at Mike Davis.
I was watching the Open Championship last week and it was up to the normal high standards.
But during Zach Johnson was about to putt a short distance about 400mm.
This was during the latter part of his final round or in the playoff. The camera was showing a close up of the action from hie rear and slightly to one side.
Zach Johnson was crouched down and about to place his ball and remove his marker, when with his putter in his left hand he tapped the base of the putter on the grass a couple of times between his marker and the hole, then placed his ball and putted.
I thought this action is against theRules of Golf - A player may not repair spike damage if it might subsequently assist him.
Why was he not penalised?
Paulr