Jordan Spieth comes up just short at British Open with a heart-breaking final three holes
Jordan Spieth was the talk of the golf world going into the final round of the British Open.
Trailing by one on the final three holes of the tournament, Spieth was looking for his third straight major of the year and keeping alive hopes of a grand slam.
On the 16th hole, Spieth nailed an amazing putt for a birdie that tied him for the lead with Zach Johnson and Marc Leishman.
Entering a critical 17th hole where he needed par just to stay in the mix for first, Spieth collapsed, shooting a bogey at the worst possible time:
The 16th and 17th holes may have been a fitting end for Spieth. He ranks second in the tour on putts from 15-25 feet, but only 122nd on putts from within 10 feet.
The miss dropped Spieth to -14, only one off the lead, but put a ton of pressure on him to birdie the final hole and make the playoff a four-man race.
Instead, Spieth's approach on 18 spun back into the Valley of Sin. Needing to sink this putt, he gave it a good run, but just missed and the hopes for a grand slam were gone.
Spieth tried his best to shake off the miss, but in an interview with ESPN after he finished, described his finish as "tough" and "tough to swallow," noting "it stings" to come up that short:
"Just tough ... just tough. You don't expect to make the putt from down in the gulley, but I wanted to give it a good effort. It had a chance to go in, and I was still a little upset about being down there instead of having a really solid opportunity."
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"Right now, it's just a tough feeling to be that close in a major. It doesn't matter about the historical element of it. Just to be that close on our biggest stage and to come up just short ... you know, how many chances do you get?"
Ultimately, if there's a player on the tour that people aren't too worried about, it's Spieth. At just 21 years old, Spieth is golf's next star. As he noted, coming so close to a major stings, but he has ample time to do it.