Jordan Spieth’s victory at last month’s Open Championship was one of the most spell-binding in recent major history, with the 24-year-old American recovering from a calamitous front nine on the final day at Royal Birkdale to claim the Claret Jug by three shots after playing the last five holes at the famous Lancashire links in five under par.
Spieth’s fortunes changed at Birkdale’s par-four 13th hole, where he hooked his drive 50 yards left of the fairway, with his ball ending up in thick rough on the other side of a mountainous dune.
Declaring an unplayable lie, Spieth then spent the next 17 minutes running up and down the slope, and discussing with rules officials where he might be best placed to take a drop.
Using his detailed knowledge of the rules, the guidance of R&A officials, and the expertise of his caddy, Michael Greller, Spieth took a line of sight ruling and dropped his ball a further 100 yards back, next to the equipment trucks on the practice ground, which was judged to be in bounds.
Hitting a 3-iron back over the dune, Spieth managed to find the fairway with his third shot, and then got up and down from 75 yards to drop just a single shot. He then went on to birdie the next hole to get back on level terms with playing partner Matt Kuchar, his only serious challenger for the Claret Jug, and then produced a miraculous eagle, birdie, par, birdie finish to wrap up a stunning three-shot victory.
While many questioned the time it took for Spieth to play the 13th hole, and the legitimacy of his dropping zone, rules officials were adamant that he had followed the Rules of Golf to the letter and no infringements had been made.
That didn’t stop a number of critics from venting their disproval, with Tron Carter from golf website No Laying Up making public his thoughts on his Twitter feed, @TronCarterNLY, suggesting that Spieth took advantage of his three-wood and used it as an alignment aid.
Regardless of what went on at the 13th hole, Spieth’s third major title at the age of just 23, has moved him alongside the game’s greats, including Tiger Woods and Jack Nicklaus, as the youngest player to win three of the four majors at such an early age. However, Woods took his total to eight majors by the time he was 27, so Spieth has to maintain his major strike rate if he to stand any chance of staying ahead of Tiger’s record and come anywhere close to Nicklaus’s career record 18 major titles. And with so many other players vying for the top titles in the modern era, if he comes close to dethroning these two legends, he’ll be doing well.
There are a lot of expectations resting on Spieth’s shoulders over the next few years of his career. Because of this, he starts out as the favourite in almost every bookmaker’s odds whenever he lines up to play, and has been since he went on his amazing run almost three years ago.
He started out as a co-favourite for the Masters and the US Open in 2015, with odds of +1400. Despite his back-to-back wins, his odds remained the same for the following year’s US Open. He was similarly generously priced up for last month’s Open Championship, where he shared favouritism with Dustin Johnson at the start of the 2017 British Open. Rickie Fowler and Spanish sensation Jon Rahm were also hotly tipped, with both priced at +1600.
Following his dramatic victory at Royal Birkdale, the bookmakers have finally woken up to the true chances of him winning majors, and his odds shrunk accordingly, with the latest UK betting offers making him the outright favourite to add to his tally, pricing him up at -375. Birkdale bridesmaid Matt Kuchar is also strongly fancied to break his duck soon, priced at +400, with Brooks Koepka, winner of the US Open, at +2200.