Zach Johnson and Thomas Pieters will be paired together in the final round on Sunday after finishing 54 holes at 9-under 201.
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KAWAGOE, Japan – There’s often an attempt to place Hideki Matsuyama’s achievements in a larger context, to discuss not just his play but also what it means for his home country of Japan. It’s an easy story, especially for English-speaking media, about a man who uses few words in any language. Matsuyama is not a man on a mission, however. Becoming an evangelist whose pulpit is the putting green has never been his goal. He did not leave his homeland nearly a decade ago in order to grow the game in Japan, nor does he keep long hours on the driving range for that purpose. Matsuyama crossed the Pacific Ocean at age 21 to play the PGA TOUR because he wanted to compete at the highest level. The impact position of his famously methodical swing is more important to him than his impact on golf’s popularity in his homeland. RELATED: Leaderboard, tee times | How the format works | How to watch The Olympics are different than any other golf tournament, however. The majors may be of greater importance to most golfers, but at least there are four of them a year. Miss at the Masters and there’s another opportunity a month later. The Olympics only happen once every four years, however. Matsuyama recognizes that this week is unique, describing a home Olympics as a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. “If I say there’s no pressure, I’ll be lying,” he said. There are no spectators at Kasumigaseki Country Club this week, but he was still followed by about 100 people after teeing off Thursday. It was by far the biggest gallery. Many were volunteers clad in matching blue shirts and gray pants. And Matsuyama was reunited with the throng of Japanese media that documents his every move and enquires about every hole. They’ve been absent from the United States since the COVID-19 pandemic began, and this is Matsuyama’s first competition in Japan in some 18 months. Shigeki Maruyama, the four-time TOUR winner who’s serving as Japan’s Olympic coach, said Matsuyama usually “plays much more comfortably” than he did Thursday. His recent COVID-19 diagnosis only complicated things, interrupting Matsuyama’s preparations for this week. “He really likes this course and has special memories, but not being 100% because of what happened in summer, I feel bad for Hideki,” Maruyama said. Matsuyama won the 2009 Japan Junior at Kasumigaseki, then returned a year later to claim the Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship, a win that netted him his first Masters invitation. His win this year at Augusta National, which made him the first Japanese man to win a major, only heightened the expectations for this week. Green and gold perfectly complement each other. Matsuyama hasn’t finished better than T23 in four starts since the Masters, though. He named that as another source of anxiety. “Since my Masters win, I haven’t had the best results so far this summer, so I’m a little bit nervous,” he said in his pre-tournament press conference. His 69 in a low-scoring opening to the Olympics left him six shots behind Austria’s Sepp Straka. Matsuyama, who’s tied for 20th, is four back of bronze. After making birdie on half of his first eight holes, Matsuyama was 2 over par the rest of the way. Maruyama said Matsuyama’s endurance is “night and day” since he contracted COVID-19. Matsuyama had to withdraw from the Rocket Mortgage Classic four weeks ago because of his positive test and also withdrew from The Open Championship. This was his first competitive round since the opening day of the Rocket Mortgage Classic four weeks ago. When asked the most difficult part of competing after such a long layoff, Matsuyama said that his focus faded towards the end of his round. Thursday’s high temperatures only made that task harder. The Games have been played under the shadow of COVID-19, but on the field these Olympics have been a success for the host country. As of Thursday evening, Japan’s 13 gold medals were tied with the United States for the second-most (one behind China). But Japan also has seen one of its star athletes struggle with the pressure of competing at home. Naomi Osaka, who lit the Olympic flame in the opening ceremonies, lost in the third round of the women’s tennis tournament. “I definitely feel like there was a lot of pressure for this,” she said. Like Matsuyama, Osaka was competing after a lengthy hiatus. The Olympics were her first competition since she withdrew from the French Open in June to cope with her mental health. Unlike tennis, Matsuyama has the opportunity to recover from a tough day. Three rounds remain as he tries to win another medal for Japan.
OUTHPORT, England — Jordan Spieth is The Open champion, just like expected. Not like anyone could have imagined. On the verge of another meltdown in a major, so wild off the tee that he played one shot from the driving range at Royal Birkdale and lost the lead for the first time all weekend, Spieth bounced back with a collection of clutch shots, delivering a rally that ranks among the best. A near ace. A 50-foot eagle putt . A 30-foot birdie putt. Spieth played the final five holes in 5 under and closed with a 1-under 69 for a three-shot victory over Matt Kuchar, giving him the third leg of the career Grand Slam and a chance to be the youngest to win them all next month at the PGA Championship. “This is a dream come true for me,” Spieth said, gazing at his name on the silver claret jug. “Absolutely a dream come true.” For so much of Sunday, it felt like a recurring nightmare. Just 15 months ago, Spieth lost a five-shot lead on the back nine at the Masters, coming undone with a quadruple-bogey 7 on the 12th hole. It was more of a slow bleed at Royal Birkdale, with three bogeys on the opening four holes and four putts inside 8 feet that he missed on the front nine to fall into a tie with Kuchar. And then it all fell apart — or so it seemed. His tee shot in the rain on the par-4 13th was so far right it sailed over the gallery, over the dunes behind them and was closer to the practice range than the fairway. When he finally found the ball, it was nestled in thick grass on a hill so steep Spieth could barely stand up. Kuchar was 15 feet away for birdie, waiting — and waiting — on the green. Spieth appeared to be headed for a double bogey at best. But the break of the tournament — and a moment that will rate alongside Seve Ballesteros making birdie from the car park when he won at Royal Lytham & St. Annes in 1979 — was when Spieth discovered the range was part of the course. He took a one-shot penalty for an unplayable lie and took relief as far back as he wanted, onto the range, behind the equipment trucks. Then he received free relief from the trucks. That still left him a blind shot over the tall dunes to a fairway littered with pot bunkers. His 3-iron stopped just short of one of them in front of the green, and he pitched over it to about 7 feet and holed the putt to escape with bogey. Kuchar missed his birdie, but had the lead for the first time. Spieth had momentum from his bogey, and his 6-iron landed in front of the flag and missed going in by inches. He made a 4-footer for birdie to tie for the lead, and then seized control with a 50-foot eagle putt on the 15th hole, looking at caddie Michael Greller filled with playful bravado and barking, “Go get that!” Spieth said his caddie played a massive role in keeping his head in the game. “I was getting down on myself, as I think anyone would,” Spieth said. “This is as much mine as it is his.” Kuchar made birdie from the bunker on the 15th to stay one behind, but he had no answer when Spieth poured in a 30-foot birdie at the 16th. And after Kuchar rolled in a 20-foot birdie on the 17th to stay in the game, Spieth buried a 7-foot birdie on top of him to keep that two-shot lead going to the 18th. The sequence left the crowd — the largest ever this week for The Open in England — simply delirious. And they weren’t alone. “Is Jordan Spieth something else?” Jack Nicklaus tweeted. Zach Johnson, Justin Thomas and Rickie Fowler were among those who waited by the 18th to watch Spieth capture yet another major. Johnson won at St. Andrews two years ago, when Spieth missed the playoff by one shot in his bid for the calendar Grand Slam. Spieth drank wine from the jug that year, which he was told was bad luck for anyone wanting to possess the trophy one day. “I started to believe them a bit through nine holes today,” he said. “It feels good to have this in my hands.” From the driving range to the claret jug, Spieth put himself in hallowed territory just four days before his 24th birthday. He joined Nicklaus as the only player to win three different majors at age 23. Gene Sarazen in 1923 was the only other player with three majors that young. The Squire was 21. Spieth goes to Quail Hollow in North Carolina next month with a chance to get that final leg of the Grand Slam. Kuchar closed with a 69 and did nothing wrong. He just had no answers for Spieth’s final blitz. Kuchar had a one-shot lead leaving the 13th green. He played the next four holes with two pars and two birdies and was two shots behind. Spieth finished at 12-under 268. He became the first player to post all four rounds in the 60s at Royal Birkdale, which was hosting its 10th Open. Li Haotong of China shot a 63 and finished third at 6-under 274. He was on the practice range in case the leaders came back to him, and Spieth joined him there as he tried to figure out how to get out of his pickle on the 13th. Moments later, with one massive roar after another for Spieth’s theatrics, Li got in a cart and left.
