The final round of the 144th Open Championship is primed for an historic finish. Sunday’s third round was worthy of a final round with many players challenging for the lead.
A Monday finish for The Open isn’t ideal but if there had to be an extra day the players certainly did their best to provide a final round worth watching. This is only the second time in its long run that The Open has closed on Monday and it is certainly has any number of thrilling possibilities.
Jason Day, Louie Oosthuizen and amateur Paul Dunne lead the Open at -12 but at least a dozen players are within striking distance and each could provide a wonderful finish.
Nine players are just three strokes off the lead and they include major winners Adam Scott, Justin Rose, Zach Johnson and a resurgent Retief Goosen.
Newcomers Danny Willett, Robert Streb, Marc Leishman and another amateur Jordan Niebrugge are also at nine under and the group is rounded out by perennial major contender Sergio Garcia.
Just two shots off the lead is another former major champion, Padraig Harrington who won back to back Open Championship and has a PGA Championship on his resume also.
Louie Oosthuizen will have a distinct advantage when he tees it up with Dunne having won here in a runaway back in 2010. Oosthuizen says he just seems to find his swing when he walks on these grounds.
Dunne, a twenty–two year old amateur who ranks 80th in the world, in the amateur world not professional will be trying for the mightiest of tasks. It would be an Jonesian accomplishment if this lad could out duel the world’s best.
Jason Day, possibly the best player never to have won a major with a resume full of close calls certainly is capable of making the Open his breakthrough moment. He is as solid a golfer as there is in St. Andrews and a victory wouldn’t be a surprise.
But this Monday finale is all about one player and one player’s quest to do the unthinkable.
Jordan Spieth is only one shot off the lead after he bounced back from a mediocre 72 second round with a superb 66.
Spieth found a flaw in his putting setup during Sunday’s round and it got him back on track to continue his pursuit of the greatest feat in modern golf, The Grand Slam.
Spieth’s Masters win was his breakthrough and the U.S. Open was his provenance but a win at St. Andrews will catapult him from just one of the greatest golfers of the day to one of the greatest of all time.
Can a twenty-one year old be an all-time great? With three straight majors to start the season he certainly can. Ben Hogan who unlike Spieth was a late bloomer, won the first three and other greats have tried to no avail.
Palmer, Nicklaus and Woods all had a chance to match Hogan but failed. If Spieth finds his way to being Champion Golfer of the Year he instantly becomes one of the greats even if his resume is barely two years old.
Trying to make history isn’t in Spieth’s game plan, it’s just a by-product of successful execution. At the beginning of the week he said he was treating this Open like any other week and he would utilize his plan to try and just win the tournament, not the Slam.
But after his third round he did acknowledge that there could be some extra pressure coming down the stretch but he won’t shy away from it but rather welcome it.
”If I have a chance coming down the stretch, if it creeps in, I’ll embrace it,” he said. ”I’ll embrace the opportunity that presents itself. As far as handling it, I don’t look at it as a negative thing. I look at it almost as an advantage. Why should it add more pressure in a negative way?
”If it adds more pressure, it just makes me feel like this is something that’s a little more special,” he said. ”Let’s go ahead and get the job done.”
True to his winning formula he isn’t about to play things safe. He goes for it and knows that he’ll need to have a special day if he’s going to win the Claret Jug.
”I’m going to play to win,” Spieth said. ”I’m not playing for a place. I don’t want to place third tomorrow. I want to win. And so I’m going to play my game – to stay in the mix if it’s not all there at the beginning, and if it is, I’m going to continue to play that way to try and get out in front. It’s going to be hard.”
While any of the top players, professional or amateur will provide us with a worthy winner and a magnificent story this final round is all about Jordan Spieth. It starts and ends with Spieth and his pursuit of the greatest challenge in golf.
It’s all about Jordan and he may just be the man to get it done.
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