British Open: Ranking the 25 most dominant performances of all time
By Bill Felber
7. Jordan Spieth, 2017, -3.25
For much of the 2017 British Open championship at Royal Birkdale, Jordan Spieth looked like a sure winner. Then for a brief stretch on Sunday he looked like a sure loser, only to pull himself together at the critical juncture and lock the championship away.
Spieth breezed through the first three rounds in 199, three strokes better than Matt Kuchar. Through the first dozen holes, however, Kuchar wore away at Spieth’s lead, gaining a tie by the turn. Then on the difficult 13th hole, Spieth lost his drive well right.
He found the ball in an unplayable lie in practice area with more than 200 yards of hills and heather separating him from the hole. Forced to take a penalty stroke, Spieth proceeded to get up and down for a miraculous bogey to trail by only one.
What happened over the next four holes showed Spieth’s championship mettle. Steadying his game, he nearly made an ace at the par 3 14th, following his tap-in birdie with a 40-foot putt for an eagle at the par 5 15th. Spieth rolled in a 20-footer for birdie at 16 and birdied the 17th as well.
When a desperate Kuchar gambled and bogeyed the 18th, Spieth’s margin of victory stood at three strokes.
The inspiring back nine charge gave Spieth his third major championship and placed him only the PGA short of a career grand slam. Spieth did all that in just 19 major starts. Since creation of the Masters in 1934, only Jack Nicklaus, with three wins in his first 16 major starts, did so quicker.