Ex-Longhorn Jordan Spieth Finishes Second At Open Championship
Former Texas Longhorns golfer Jordan Spieth fired a 4-under 66 in the final round of The Open Championship on Sunday, but it wasn’t enough to win at Royal St. George’s.
Spieth finished 13-under for the tournament, but ended up in second place, two shots behind Collin Morikawa. Like Spieth, Morikawa shot a 66 and took over the overall lead midway through the final round. It was Morikawa’s second major title after winning the PGA Championship last year. He became the first player to win two major championships in his first try at that event.
For Spieth, it was a strong second-place finish in the tournament he won in 2017 at Royal Birkdale. But it might have been his finish on Saturday that did him in. Spieth had bogeys on the final two holes of his round on Saturday, part of what left Spieth three shots behind the lead after three rounds.
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Fellow Longhorns Dylan Frittelli and Scottie Scheffler also played on Sunday, and while remained ended up in contention, both finished in the Top 10.
Spieth started the day 9-under, but bogeys at No. 4 and No. 6 dropped him to 7-under. His eagle at No. 7 launched him back into contention at 9-under. Right after Spieth left that hole, Morikawa birdied No. 7 and Louis Oosthuizen bogeyed No. 7 for a two-shot swing, putting Morikawa in the lead at 12-under.
Spieth wrapped up the front nine with a birdie at No. 9, which moved him within two shots of Morikawa. Right after Spieth’s birdie at No. 9, Morikawa birdied No. 8 to move to 13-under and protect his three-shot lead over Spieth. Morikawa then wrapped up his front nine with another birdie at No. 9 to move to 14-under at the turn, which put him four shots ahead of Spieth and the field.
But, moments after Morikawa’s birdie, Spieth answered right back with his own birdie at No. 10 to move to 11-under and move into second place by himself.
Spieth did his best to keep the pressure on Morikawa, as he dropped a birdie on No. 13 to move to 12-under and two back as Morikawa continued to crank out pars on the back nine. Spieth then rattled home another birdie on No. 14 to cut Morikawa’s lead to one stroke. At that point, Spieth had birdied four of the previous six holes and was 13-under.
But Morikawa added to his lead with a birdie at No. 14, shortly after Spieth, to push himself to 15-under and a two-shot lead. At No. 15, Morikawa put together a brilliant up-and-down out of the rough to save par and keep his two-shot lead, while Spieth faced a favorable approach shot at No. 17, which he hit to about 15 feet above the hole. Spieth missed the putt and his best chance to put more pressure on Morikawa.
On 18, Spieth’s drive found the rough on the left side of the fairway, and his 153-yard punch shot landed on the green but sailed well pass the cup. He two-putted for a par to wrap up his round and he watched as Morikawa finished off his round.
Frittelli, after a slow start, including a bogey at No. 3, surged into the Top 3 after birdies at Nos. 6, 7 and 10, with that last birdie a long, testy left-to-right putt that slipped in the high side of the cup to move him to 9-under and tie him with Spieth at the time.
He finished the day with a 2-under 68 and the event at 9-under. It was a terrific finish for Frittelli, who was the final qualifier for the tournament on Monday.
Scheffler did not get off to a good start on Sunday, falling off the pace with a bogey at No. 1 and another at No. 4. He bounced back with a birdie at No. 7. But he bogeyed once again at No. 8 and was 2-over at the turn and 6-under overall with nine holes to play. He bounced back with birdies at Nos. 13 and 14, but he fell into a tie for eighth place as he finished with a 1-over 71 on Sunday and at 7-under for the Open.
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You can find Matthew Postins on Twitter @PostinsPostcard.