Amid the real-life horrors of the last week and the frustration and fear and raw feelings, Monday across the pond we got a chance to smile and a chance to see what’s possible.
At the birthplace of golf, a man few gave a chance delivered a major victory at his sport’s oldest major championship.
Zach Johnson, he of the normal distance off the tee and the crooked smile in between on brilliant wedge after the other, survived the longest British Open ever for a one-shot win Monday.
It was high drama on the glorious stage that is the Old Course at St. Andrews. It was highly enjoyable and a high moment for a high-character man who landed the second major championship of his career.
Johnson, who edged Marc Leishman and Louis Oosthuizen in a four-hole playoff, will be remembered for his poise under pressure and his celebratory victory lap high-fiving fans and letting them touch the most famous trophy in the sport. He will be remembered far longer for his grace and perspective, something that is in such short supply in far too many places these days.
In the moments after he won his second major and likely punched his ticket into the golf Hall of Fame, Johnson’s clarity and wisdom were even more impressive than his 10 birdies in 22 holes of Monday’s final round or his $1.8 million paycheck.
“As a golfer I’m going to relish this,” Johnson said. “But I don’t want to make it more than it is. It won’t be my legacy. That’s my kids, my family.”
It’s a championship sentiment for all of us from the champion golfer of the year, as the British Open winner is widely known.
United States’ Jordan Spieth drives the ball from the 18th tee during the third round of the British Open Golf Championship at the Old Course, St. Andrews, Scotland, Sunday, July 19, 2015.
Ireland’s Paul Dunne follows his putt on the 16th green during the third round of the British Open Golf Championship at the Old Course, St. Andrews, Scotland, Sunday, July 19, 2015.And it’s an exclamation point on a blissful golf weekend that despite the weather was a much needed release for all of us here still wrestling with the too-fresh and too-real ripples from the terrorist I won’t name and his acts none of us can believe.
But Johnson’s championship demeanor and delivery were the perfect final chapter for a nearly flawless conclusion to a golf championship overflowing with interesting entry points.
In an era when golf’s grand poobah has surrendered his fez and everything this side of his delusional confidence, golf has moved forward. Tiger Woods is a non-factor in today’s game – a scary thing for the sport and an unimaginable proposition for those of us who once believed Woods was going to walk away with every record ever – and the game is spinning forward.
Yes, the harsh conditions forced a Monday conclusion, but even that was flipped to a positive.
And a tip of the tam o’shanter to the R&A, the group that runs the Open Championship. Since a host of the folks who traveled to the tournament had to catch flights and head out, the R&A allowed locals to enter for 10 pounds – with free parking and free admission for kids – to help the crowd and give it a major championship feel.
Plus, we so seldom get a chance to have Monday major championship golf.
The last time we had a Monday finish in a major, it was Woods topping Rocco Mediate in the 18-hole playoff of the 2008 U.S. Open and Woods’ most recent major title. The last time it happened at the British Open, it was 1988 and Seve Ballesteros won.
Like Tiger’s career, Ballesteros is no longer alive.
So a fireworks-filled third round Sunday had the feel of a major stage and a major championship, but it was only the third round that set the ultimate stage for Johnson’s dramatic heroics.
The conditions may have forced the extra day, but there were enough story lines to fill up an extra week.
There was Paul Dunne, the amateur from Ireland via UAB who stole the show Sunday.
There was Dustin Johnson, who looked ready and capable for his first major championship before turning the final two rounds into a nightmare that changes his narrative. D.J., who three-jacked the 72nd hole of the U.S. Open last month to lose by a shot, now will have helicopter-sized butterflies in major championship weekends. His story becomes more about can he win one mentally, because there’s few who hit the ball better.
And there was, of course Jordan Spieth, the Texas kid who was in position until his final putt for an unthinkable 3-for-3 in majors this year.
After wins at the Masters and the U.S. Open, Spieth joined Arnold Palmer (in 1960) and Jack Nicklaus (1972) in coming up a shot short of a third straight major. And while there are several unknowns in this world, we are fairly certain that if your name is the third one on a golf list with Jack and Arnie, well, that’s a good thing.
Spieth was there until the end and had as much a hand in Johnson’s victory – Spieth had three times as many three-putts in the British as he did in the U.S. Open (2) and the Masters (0) combined – as Johnson did.
In fact, Spieth’s place atop the leaderboard and his presence on and off the course leave the game in a promising place. His game – as area amateur ace Mike Jenkins has said for years – is built to avoid slumps and contend every week, regardless of the weather or whether it’s at the John Deere Classic or Augusta National.
So we enter a state of the game of golf without the looming heavyweight that was Tiger Woods, who missed the cut this past weekend and likely will be ranked in the 250s in the world.
But we have the promise of Spieth and the grace of Zach Johnson and the passion of fans across the globe.
That should be more than enough as we enter the next chapter to leave golf in secure hands – even as the rest of the world searches for answers.
Contact Jay Greeson at jgreeson@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6343. Follow him on Twitter at jgreeson@timesfreepress.com. Read his online column “The 5-at-10” weekdays starting at 10 a.m. at timesfreepress.com.