Fifteen months ago, Jordan Spieth suffered a meltdown at the 12th hole at Augusta. At Royal Birkdale he exorcised some of those demons and did so in dramatic fashion.
What Jordan’s Open redemption means:
– The win moves him to second in the official golf world rankings. Although Dustin Johnson still maintains a commanding lead, the win lifts Spieth above Hideki Matsuyama and Rory McIlroy at the top of the standings.
– 18 going on 19? Phil Mickelson and Rory McIlroy both need one Major to complete the career slam of Majors. Add Spieth to the list after his 2015 wins at The Masters and the US Open. 18 have done it before, in 17 days time Spieth will attempt to join the illustrious club at the PGA Championship at Quail Hollow.
– It’s been written a lot, but Spieth now joins Jack Nicklaus as the only two to have won 3 unique Majors before the age of 24. A feat of epic proportions.
– Spieth has only played in 19 Majors as a professional. He has won three, led or shared the lead in 14 rounds since the start of his remarkable run in 2014.
– No player has won The Open at Royal Birkdale with four rounds in the 60s – Spieth shot 65, 69, 65, 69, and the final 69 was despite three bogeys in the first four holes. He went bogey-free in rounds one and three to set up a famous win.
– Only five players have led from start to finish at The Open before Spieth made that six today. They are Ted Ray (1912), Bobby Jones (1927), Gene Sarazen (1932), Henry Cotton (1934), Tom Weiskopf (1973), Tiger Woods (2005) and Rory McIlroy (2014).
Credit: The Open website
