After 72 holes of some of the toughest golf played on tour, the 115th US Open at Chambers Bay has now concluded, with 2015 Masters Champion Jordan Spieth emerging as the winner with a score of 5-under. This is Spieth's second major win in just his last two majors. He finished with a one shot lead ahead of Louis Oosthuizen and Dustin Johnson and is the first person to win the Masters then US Open in the same year since Tiger Woods in 2002. He's also the youngest player to achieve this feat since Bobby Jones. The low amateur of the tournament was 22-year old Brian Campbell at 5-over T27.
Coming into this week, you couldn't help but get the feeling that this tournament was going to end in some bizarre fashion. And that's exactly how it went down...
Spieth was leading the tournament going into the 17th hole par 3, with Dustin Johnson chasing and Louis Oosthuizen two shots behind him already in the clubhouse. After a bad tee shot and a few missed putts, he ended up double-bogeying the hole. He was now tied with Dustin and Louis at this point. He redeemed himself with a birdie on the par 5 18th hole. Dustin, who was a hole behind Spieth and in the final group needed at least a birdie on the 18th to force a Monday 18-hole playoff (which incidentally is his birthday) and would win outright with an eagle. Things were looking good for Dustin after he hit an excellent drive and even better when he hit his second shot to within 15 foot. But Chambers Bay had one more trick up it's sleeve...
All that remained between Dustin and his first major win was a downhill eagle putt, a very tricky putt given the extreme slope of the hole and the pressure on him. He missed the eagle putt and watched his ball roll past the hole to about four feet. Then, in a shocking moment to all, Dustin missed the birdie putt which would have force the playoff, resulting in a shocked Spieth winning outright. You couldn't help but feel bad for Dustin Johnson. As most golfers know, three-putting after finding the green in regulation is one of the worst feelings in golf, let alone having a US Open on the line while doing so. This is the 4th time Dustin has come up short in a major, which makes the loss sting a bit more.
On the other hand, Louis Oosthuizen shot an amazing 29 on the back nine of his final round which consisted of six birdies in seven holes to play himself into contention. He started his week off with a 77, but fought back with back to back 66's and a 67 today to give himself a real chance at winning. Shockingly enough, that wasn't the low round of the day; that feat belonged to Adam Scott's 6-under 64. Chambers Bay definitely played easier today than the past two days, as seen in the number of scores in the 60's. It still, however, punished players who dared to test it's limits, as seen by Chris Kirk's 10 on the 1st hole (which played as a par 4 today).
Another notable round was that of World Number One Rory McIlroy. Rory was 6-under at the start of the 14th hole after holing a 72-putt for birdie on the 13th. With a score like that, he was threatening the leaderboard, but he followed up with a few bogeys to finish off the day with a 66 and tied for 9th.
Finally, our pick Justin Rose finished the tournament at 5-over T27. He shot a 71 today in a round that consisted of five birdies, four bogeys and a double bogey.
And there you have it, the second major of the year is now over and boy what a major it was! An interesting note is that the last four majors have been won by only two players (Rory and Spieth), which is a rare feat in professional golf. Congratulations once again to Jordan Spieth and be sure to join us next week for the Travelers Championship at TPC at River Highlands.
-Nick
Toronto Golf Reviews
Jordan Spieth: 2015 US Open Champion
(Ross Kinnaird/Getty Images)
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