British Open 2018: Top five takeaways from Carnoustie

To say Jordan Spieth had a rough Sunday at The Open would be a massive understatement. Heading into the final round at Carnoustie, Spieth was in a three-way tie for the lead. He was playing in the final pairing of the championship, and coming off a fantastic Saturday round of 65 that made him the favorite to retain the Claret Jug.

The wheels came off surprisingly early, as Spieth went bogey-double on the Nos. 5 and 6 to drop three shots before it even felt like the day had started. At that point, he was a shot behind Tiger Woods for the lead, so all wasn’t lost.

Spieth quickly steadied the ship, making eight straight pars before a bogey on the par-4 15th all but sealed the deal. Unlike his historic run to the Open title in 2017, there would be no late-round magic, no fortunate bounces. This was a straight-up defeat for Spieth, and it’s one that will likely sting for a while.

Of course, that’s not all bad, in the big picture. Keep in mind that Spieth, on the eve of his 25th birthday, still has three majors already under his belt, and he still tied for ninth here. It was his third top-ten at the British Open in the last four years, and it came at the championship’s toughest course.

Then, remember that Spieth wasn’t “supposed” to be a major factor here. His putting has been off this year, and he has struggled to find a comfortable, confident swing for much of 2018.

What he did, though, was rethink the way he approached the game, and he found a new confidence in what he was doing. He didn’t find the “perfect” swing – if such a thing exists – but he found one that worked for him.

That’s the type of emotional and mental maturity that will continue to spur him on to greatness on the game’s biggest stages. There’s a whole lot more winning in Jordan Spieth’s not-so-distant future, even if it took this loss to bring out more of his best.