Marathon man Zach
Some claim that golf has been played on the land occupied by the Old Course at St Andrews for five hundred years. Not consecutively mind you, for at one stage play was banned so that those in the pay of King James II could practice their archery. To the modern day golfer, armed with the technology and power to overwhelm it, the course is in many ways an anachronism. Yet no one can doubt its ability to provide drama and as a setting in which to celebrate a major triumph it is unrivalled. It is for that alone that all those who play amongst the professional ranks dream of claiming the Open at the” haem of golf”. To a long list of notable victors is now added the name of Zach Johnson.
And what a victory. Five shots off the leaders as he commenced his final round he was something of a sideshow to the main talking points of the morning. Would Jordan Spieth claim the title and with it his third major of the year? Could Jason Day finally cross the line and claim his first major? Would Louis Oosthuizen win a second consecutive Open at St Andrews? Or could Paul Dunne hold on to become the first Amateur to win the title since Bobby Jones in 1927?
Thus was it that over his opening nine holes Johnson flew under the radar. Yet by the turn he was thirteen under par and going well. Suddenly folk were starting to sit up and watch. In a similar vein did the Australian Marc Leishman progress. Lesser known than Johnson he too reached the turn in 31 blows but both now faced the daunting prospect of negotiating a fiendishly difficult back nine, played predominantly into the wind.
As for the favourites it was a case of two steps forward one step back. Spieth was going beautifully until four putts at the par five 8th dented his progress. Day couldn’t hole a putt and Oosthuizen presented himself with three excellent birdie opportunities only to three putt them all. Meanwhile Johnson and Leishman were negotiating the back nine with skill and determination. Only at the Road Hole did Johnson drop a shot which he immediately retrieved by birdying the 18th to set a clubhouse target of -15. Leishman would shortly follow with a similar score and it looked for all the world that Spieth would be joining them when he holed an outrageous birdie putt on the 16th to take him into the joint lead. However a dropped shot at 17 and only a par at 18 meant that his chance of emulating Ben Hogan, was dashed. With Paul Dunne suffering nerves and a ragged final round, of those still on the course only Louis Oosthuizen could force his way into the play-off. Smiling at misfortune and playing as if it were a Sunday afternoon friendly with mates, the South African - who strikes the ball as well as anyone in the game - finally found his putting stroke. Displaying not a shred of nerves the clutch putts that he held over the closing three holes put him into a three way playoff with Johnson and Leishman. One sensed that the momentum was with him.
But Zach Johnson is nothing if not resilient and perhaps, on the day, the better putter. He was also brave, his attempted flop shot at the 17th not one that many would have attempted. From a tight lie, with the fearsome Road Hole bunker lying between him and the green the odds on him either skinning it beyond the green and onto the famous road, or dunging it into the dreaded bunker, were high. As it was his shot was just a tad too strong rolling off the back of the narrow green into a more forgiving lie from where he made an excellent up and down to drop only a single shot. This was the defining moment of the play-off as Oosthuizen failed to capitalise, three putting from the front of the green. With Leishman too far back, having dropped shots at both the first and the seventeenth, it was Johnson’s to lose. Meanwhile Oosthuizen required a birdie at the last to draw level. His drive at the 18th was superbly struck but it finished too close to the green leaving a tricky second shot. With Johnson safely on the green Ousthuizen could get his pitch no closer than eight feet from the flag. The American then two putted for a cast iron par which meant that the former champion had an eight foot put to prolong the five day marathon. Struck slightly too firmly it clipped the hole before lipping out, and as it did so the camera panned to a meditative Johnson. I’m not sure even he believed he had actually won.
Magnanimous in victory Johnson acknowledged that he is no student of the game. Yet he recognised the history of St Andrews and the magnitude of what he achieved. He now adds the Claret jug to the green jacket he won back in 2007.
This was the 144th Open Championship. Whilst the BBC has not been televising the event for quite that long they have been delivering it to our homes for a very long time. This week was their penultimate stab and I for one will be sorry when coverage moves to Sky in 2017. Though Peter Allis may (like the Old Course) be something of an anachronism, in these too easily offended, politically correct times, he and his fellow commentators have a humanity which is so missing from the all too clinical presentation on Sky. Unafraid to voice an opinion, often with delightful whimsy, their absence will be a sad loss.
©Mark Brennand