Zach Johnson Wins the 2015 Open Championship

After delays on top of delays and a four hole playoff in what has been the longest Open Championship in history, we finally have a winner of the 144th Open Championship at the Old Course at St. Andrews. That's right, Zach Johnson defeated Louis Oosthuizen and Marc Leishman in a four hole playoff to win the second major of his career, his first being the 2007 Masters. This is also the Iowa native's 12th PGA Tour victory and first win since last year's Hyundai Tournament of Champions.

Things got a bit hectic towards the end of today's final round. Zach Johnson and Marc Leishman set the playoff bar high, both shooting 66 today to get to 15-under. Johnson birdied the 18th hole to set that score and had a feeling it would be just enough if a playoff was to happen. He was right as shortly after Marc Leishman posted the same score. Johnson played an excellent round today that consisted of eight birdies and two bogeys. He definitely deserved this win.

Chasing them (a few groups back) were Jordan Spieth, who was looking for his third straight major win, Jason Day, who was looking for his first major win, and 2010 Open Champion Louis Oosthuizen, who was looking for a repeat win at the Old Course. Spieth needed a birdie on the par 4 18th to get into the playoff, but hit his second shot short and off the green. He missed the putt and the playoff chance to make history. Day hit his second shot to the middle of the green and had a long putt to make the playoff. His putt was just a couple of feet short and he too failed to get into the playoff. Day and Spieth were in the second to last group, ahead of Oosthuizen. So it all came down to Louis, who was in the same scenario as Spieth, except he hit an excellent second shot wedge to a couple of feet. He made the birdie putt and off to the playoff he went.

The playoff was a four hole aggregate, where Louis, Marc, and Zach played the 1st, 2nd, 17th and 18th. Whoever had the best combined score after the four holes won. Oosthuizen and Johnson birdied the first while Leishman bogeyed. Johnson took the lead after another birdie on the second while Oosthuizen and Leishman parred. But on the third hole, Johnson's chances of winning became slim, after hitting his second shot on the 17th way left of the green, just behind a deep greenside bunker. Oosthuizen and Leishman both were short of the green and Johnson bogeyed, as did Leishman. Oosthuizen putted for birdie but came up short, and unfortunately missed his par putt. On the final 18th hole, Oosthuizen needed a birdie to force a sudden death playoff, but missed his putt by inches. Johnson won the playoff and the Open Championship by a single shot.


As I mentioned before, this was the longest Open Championship in it's entire history, taking 5 days to complete. Regulation play ended at about 7pm local time and the playoff finished about an hour and a half later. Of course this felt even longer due to the weather delays. Today's round did have a bit of rain as predicted and it fell pretty hard on a few holes, while others remained dry. We still saw a few low scores but the scoring average was probably around 69 or 70.

The low amateur of the tournament was not Paul Dunne, who led the tournament as of yesterday. Instead, American Jordan Niebrugge (T6) was. Despite great play all weak, Dunne unfortunately shot a 78 today and finished the tournament T30.

Finally, here's how our picks finished up:

1) Dustin Johnson: T49 at 4-under
2) Rickie Fowler: T30 at 6-under

Dustin shot another 75 today and quickly fell out of contention yet again in a major. Fowler shot a 73 today and finished okay.

And just like that, this season's third major has come and gone. This concludes our coverage in Europe for now as this week we'll be covering our national open, the Canadian Open. Stay tuned for our picks on Wednesday.


-Nick
Toronto Golf Reviews

Zach Johnson: The 2015 Open Champion

Day 1 of the 2015 Open Championship

The last of the opening rounds of the 144th Open Championship are just wrapping up and the leader is none other than our pick Dustin Johnson, with an incredible round of 65 (7-under). He leads with a one shot lead over many players such as 1999 Open Champion Paul Lawrie, Zach Johnson, Jason Day (to no one's surprise), etc..., at the Old Course at St. Andrews. Dustin carded five birdies and an eagle during his morning round to take the lead early.

Today we saw many contrasts all over the course. To start, in typical links fashion, the front nine of the Old Course moves away from the clubhouse, whereas the back nine moves towards it. Add the wind to this scenario and you get two opposite playing nines. In this case, the front nine was playing easier than the back nine. For example, Sweden's David Lingmerth was making headlines early after he shot a 29 on the front nine. However, as with most players, he struggled on the back nine, shooting a 40 there.

The next contrast was the time of play. The morning players saw a more benign Old Course that was vulnerable at times, especially on the front nine. This is where players like Dustin Johnson were able to go low and get ahead early. As the day carried on, weather conditions deteriorated drastically. Stiff winds blew in, the course became firmer, and the temperature dropped, resulting in much more difficult conditions for the afternoon players. To put things in perspective, scoring average in the morning was about 71, while the scoring average in the afternoon was 72.8. The hardest hole of the day was the par 4 nearly 500 yard 17th AKA the "Road Hole". This is the famous hole where players have a blind tee shot and hazards such as deep bunkers and even a tarmac road along the way. It played with a scoring average of 4.83 and year after year has ranked as the toughest hole on Tour (when the Old Course is playing in the rotation).

Conditions are predicted to worsen for Friday, which will wreak havoc on the leaderboard; the Old Course wasn't going to let players get off that easily. As Zach Johnson said, when the conditions are predicted to be that bad, it's best to get rid of all expectations during your round. But for the fans, worsening weather conditions are always a spectacle and great to watch. It's to be expected at the British Open.

In other news, Tiger Woods sits at T140 at 4-over. He struggled all day with his clubs and often strike was to blame; he fatted a few of his shots, most notable his 2nd shot on the 1st, which found water. His putted also wasn't too hot and he made only half the GIR's. Better luck tomorrow.

Another notable round was that of 2010 Open Champion (the last time the Open was played at the Old Course) Louis Oosthuizen, who shot a 67 and sits at T8 on the leaderboard.

Finally, here's how our picks are doing:

1) Tommy Fleetwood: T18 at 3-under
2) Dustin Johnson: 1st at 7-under
3) Rickie Fowler: T64 at even par

Like most players today, Fleetwood had an excellent front nine and a couple of bogeys on the back nine. He continues his streak of excellent rounds at St. Andrews. Dustin said during his post round interview that the front nine played relatively easy for his game, but he was also under par for the back nine (when most players weren't). Fowler's score doesn't accurately reflect his play today. He teed off during the worst of conditions and made pars mostly, except for a couple of bogeys and a rare eagle at the 10th.

It's been a great opening day and there much more exciting golf to come. Check out our Day 2 recap tomorrow!


-Nick
Toronto Golf Reviews

 Dustin Johnson is looking for redemption this week at the Open Championship

Matt Every Defends at the 2015 Arnold Palmer Invitational

In just his second win on tour, his other being last year's rendition of the tournament, Matt Every has won the Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill again, successfully defending the title from the likes of Henrik Stenson, Matt Jones, and Morgan Hoffman. He won with a final score of 19-under (-19) with 66 on today's round, good enough for a one shot lead over Stenson. This win gets Every into the Masters in a couple of weeks, as well as putting into the Top 40 for the World Golf Rankings.

The leaderboard was looking slightly different with just a few holes to play. Stenson, who was in the final group, was at 19-under until a bogey on the 15th. Every, on the other hand, was putting for birdie on the 18th hole. He holed a downhill 18-foot putt that was barely on the green, which ended up just being enough. Stenson needed a birdie on his last hole to force a playoff, but was unable to. This is a huge contrast to Every's win last year, where he bogeyed the 18th hole after missing a four foot putt and had to hope no one would catch up to him.

The Florida native is just the fourth winner of the AP Invitational since 2008. Since then, Tiger's won four times, Every twice, and Martin Laird and Ernie Els once. This tournament also marks the ninth tournament in a row in which the 54-hole leader has failed to win the tournament.

In other news, two players each made an albatross this week, Daniel Berger and Zack Johnson. Berger's came during yesterday's round, where he holed out on the 6th hole (par 5) to mark the first albatross in the history of the AP Invitational. Just a day later, Johnson would hole out from about 200-yards away on the 16th hole. Johnson was 8-under on his round at that point, but finished off with a 66. Incidentally, 1979 marks the last time an albatross was carded at Bay Hill.

Finally, here is how our picks finished off:

1) Billy Horschel: T43 at 5-under (-5)
2) Henrik Stenson: 2 at 18-under (-18)

Like I said, it's only a matter of time before Stenson wins again. Horschel finished okay also.

And that's the end of another tournament as well as the end of the Florida Swing. Be sure to join us next week for the Valero Texas Open.


-Nick
Toronto Golf Reviews

Matt Every after holing the putt that would win him the tournament on the 18th hole 

(Michael Cohen/Getty Images))

2014 US Ryder Cup Team Confirmed

Just a few minutes ago, 2014 US Ryder Cup Captain Tom Watson confirmed his twelve man squad for the 2014 Ryder Cup at Gleneagles, Scotland, which is being played from September 26th to 28th.

Here is the full squad on the US side:

2014 US Ryder Cup Team
Captain:
Tom Watson

Vice-Captains:
Raymond Floyd, Steve Stricker, Andy North

Team (qualified):
Rickie Fowler
Jim Furyk
Zach Johnson
Matt Kutchar
Phil Mickelson
Patrick Reed
Jordan Speith
Jimmie Walker
Bubba Watson

Captain Picks:
Keegan Bradley
Hunter Mahan
Webb Simpson


The US side also has a great team and will definitely not let the Europeans win without a fight. Let's start with Rickie Fowler, who is making his second appearance (2010 - captain's pick). As we've said many times on this site, Rickie is almost as hot as McIlroy at the moment, or it certainly shows that way. He's an asset to the team for sure. Jim Furyk brings experience to the team, making his ninth appearance this year, as does Phil Mickelson, who is making his eleventh appearance, and Matt Kuchar, making his second appearance. The US team this year also has a few rookies who have played their way onto the team this year in spectacular fashion; Patrick Reed, Jordan Speith, and Jimmie Walker (Speith is the second youngest team member in American history). Zach Johnson and Bubba Watson round out the nine who qualified, and are also assets to the team as well.

As for the picks, Keegan Bradley's game is consistent and very good at the moment, as he makes his second appearance. Hunter Mahan, is the most experienced of the picks and has experienced the highs and lows of the Ryder Cup, having lost the winning point to Graeme McDowell back in the 2010 Ryder Cup. Despite this, his match play record is outstanding and he'll be a valuable player to the team if he can put his bad memories behind him. Webb Simpson rounds out the picks as another consistent player and one with a very good record in his last inaugural Ryder Cup (2012).

It may be played only once every two years, but the Ryder Cup is without a doubt one of the most anticipated events in golf. As always it is sure to make for some great entertainment and feature a type of golf that we might not see on the regular tours.

We know the full teams now, but it's still hard for me to make a pick on who will win the 2014 Ryder Cup. As of now, I'm giving the edge to Europe, but just barely. It's hard to beat the spirit they bring to each Ryder Cup (as Poulter would probably agree). Don't count the US out though, they'll be looking for redemption after the 2012 Ryder Cup AKA the "Miracle at Medinah".

What do you think of the picks? Who do you think will win come the end of September? Leave a comment and let us know,

-Nick
Toronto Golf Reviews