Monday, July 24, 2017
Over the years, sports fans have been mesmerized by a myriad of never-to-be forgotten moments that have occurred in each of our major sports. Willie Mays' over-the-head basket catch in the World Series; Bill Buckner's muff of the ground ball that allowed the Mets to win game 6 of the 1986 World Series; Derek Jeter's catch which propelled him into the seats behind third base; Dwight Clark's catch of a Joe Montana pass to win the Super Bowl; Steve Bartman's catch in the stands with Moises Alou trying for the ball just below him. Those are just a few that are indelibly etched in the minds of most fans.
Add to the list the mis-adventures of Jordan Spieth on the 13th hole at Royal Birkdale yesterday. For those who didn't get to see it, here's what happened. Jordan hit what Johnny Miller called the worst tee shot he had ever seen. It wound up on the side of a hill so deeply buried it took all of the spectators in the area several minutes to find it. At the time, Jordan was tied for the lead at 8 under par with Matt Kuchar, his playing partner.
What followed was a 25-minute odyssey during which Jordan and his caddy decided to take an unplayable lie, and walked a long way back toward the tee before finding an acceptable spot to drop, thanks to several Open officials. All the while, Kuchar was patiently sitting on the fairway, waiting to hit.
After clearing away several hundred fans in his path, Jordan ripped an iron safely onto the fairway on the par-4 hole. He hit his fourth shot onto the green, then calmly drained the putt to take a miraculous bogey and lose just one stroke to Kuchar, who made par. Then, appearing very calm despite his troubles, Jordan promptly went birdie, eagle, birdie, birdie on holes 14 through 17 to get to 12 under and virtually wrapping up his third Major title and 11th title overall.
Kuchar wound up second at 9 under, and Rory McIlroy closed with 67 for 5-under 275 and tied for fourth. The Seminoles finished well, Brooks Koepka (65-72-68-71-276) deadlocking for sixth and Daniel Berger (68-76-70-67-281) tying for 27th.
But it was Jordan Spieth's journey on the back nine that will be remembered for all time.
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