Jordan Spieth has survived a roller-coaster final round at the British Open to claim his third major title after beating fellow American Matt Kuchar by three strokes in a thrilling duel at Royal Birkdale.
Spieth carded a 1-under-par final round of 69 to finish on 12-under for the tournament but, after three days of consistent golf by the American, it was a remarkable day of highs and lows for the 23-year-old.
The Texan, who won the US Masters and US Open in 2015, joined Jack Nicklaus to become one of only two players to win three legs of the career grand slam before turning 24. Tiger Woods was 24 when he won his third different major.
Spieth began the day with a three-stroke lead but saw that evaporate on the front nine, where he made four bogeys and a birdie to enter the turn sharing the lead with Kuchar on 8-under, before he steadied himself and surged to victory.
Clutching the Claret Jug awarded to the winner, Spieth, the youngest American to win the British Open and the youngest from any country since a 22-year-old Seve Ballesteros in 1979, said his victory was “a dream come true”.
“I drank some wine from the Claret Jug when Zach Johnson won it two years ago and people said that was bad luck. I started to believe them too after nine holes today,” he said.
“I’m going to take this back to America which may upset a few of you all but I’ll return it. Thank you very much, what an incredible honour.”
Real drama follows on back nine
After his struggles on the front nine, the real drama began when Spieth drove wildly into the dunes on the 13th hole…
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