Redemption, Interrupted

Meet the new DJ, same as the old DJ....

That was quite a day, and not just the last few holes... Mike Davis is well-equipped to defend his site

selection and set-up process, but all credit for allowing the golf course to yield some scores on Sunday.  Of course you had my assurance that the winner would come from the lead pack, and locks are rarely mortaler than that, but we were treated to the waves of top-tier players making charges...

First Rory got it to -2 and was on a modified-limited 63, watch, only to suddenly remember that it wasn't his week and come crashing back to Earth.  Then Adam Scott snuck in with a 64 to post -3, and did anyone see where that came from...

Then my man Louis Oosthuizen blistered the back nine for a 29 and posted -4....just a reminder that King Louis was saddled with two amateurs as playing partners on Thursday and Friday, guys named Woods and Fowler, that struggled to break 80.  Louis was +9 after 20 holes on Friday, and played his final 52 holes in -13....

As for the leaders...WOW!.  DJ looked in complete control early, giving himself chance after chance....Yes, he wasn't making much, but he gave himself more chances than anyone else.  Then someone flipped a switch and he stopped hitting fairways and greens, and the misses were for par instead of birdie.

It was officially declared a two-man horse race between Branden Grace and Jordan Spieth as the reached the driveable 16th, when Grace inexplicably launches his tee shot right of right.  Did anyone hit it that far right all week? And of course Spieth then makes that long birdie putt to give him a three-shot lead heading to the 17th tee, so it's officially over...except that he hits one on No. 17 every bit as bad as Grace's, was just fortunate to have a shorter club in his hands.

So, what do our scribes think of our winner?  First, Dave Kindred:

He won in the paradise called Augusta National and now he has won in Chambers Bay’s chamber of horrors. He’s the youngest this and he’s the youngest that. Whatever comes next for Jordan Spieth, this much is certain: his name belongs in a sentence with Hogan and Palmer, Nicklaus and Woods. They, too, won the Masters and, two months later, won the U.S. Open. Next up, the British Open at St. Andrews. The way this is going, there’ll soon be a sentence involving Spieth, Bobby Jones, and the Grand Slam.

OK Dave, let's not get ahead of ourselves....though it is impressive that he's won by running away as well as by sheer grit without his best stuff.

Gary Van Sickle had this take from the Tour Confidential gabfest:

Spieth is Destiny's Child. The fortunate son, not the rock group. He's got the clutch gene – see the putt at 16, the second shot at 18 – but he's not perfect and he's not a dominating type player. He's just a winner who, it seems, can do no wrong. He's an opportunist in the mold of Nick Faldo, who racked up six nice majors.

Errr, yes and no...... there is some similarity in the games (though Spieth is far more mistake-prone), but comparing the two requires ignoring the Fold-o years.  It took Sir Nick a long time to win his first, whereas it took Jordan about an hour-and-a-half...

Now we can all agree that St. Andrews got a lot more interesting....and it was plenty interesting before yesterday.

But what to make of our tragic hero DJ?  Granted he's blazed new trails in how to give away majors, but surely hat's not the legacy he's after....I'm certainly glad that after this one he had this:

Instead of holding the Open trophy on the 18th green, he was looking for a quick exit from the chamber of horrors that was Chambers Bay. Instead of resting up for an 18-hole playoff on Monday, he was heading home wondering how it could have all gone wrong.

He tried to keep it in perspective the only way he knew how.

"I'm proud of the way I played and I'm most proud of my family," Johnson said outside the locker room. "So I did get to hold up my trophy at the end of the day, which is my son."

Let's hope he really means it, 'cause I'm guessing he's gonna feel worse today (irong alert, it's his birthday) than he did yesterday.  Your must read of the day is this Shane Ryan item, in which no punches are pulled.  See if this doesn't remind you of our earlier discussion about his need for a take-charge caddie:

I felt I had learned something about Dustin anyway -- something debilitating and a little

The miss heard 'round the world.

bit sad -- stemming from the fact that he rarely spoke with his brother and caddie Austin. It presented a stark contrast with Spieth, who kept up a neurotic monologue with Michael Greller all day, constantly seeking and receiving reassurance about the wind, the terrain, the distance, the break, and god knows what else.

With Dustin, though, there's a sense of anarchy that doesn't go very well with the tension of a major championship. Austin is not the caddie with the exhaustive plan, or the supportive word. On Sunday, he didn't even serve to loosen his brother up at critical moments -- it was all silence and a few awkward laughs. I've heard a theory going around the media center that -- let's just put it bluntly -- Dustin is too dumb to be affected by nerves. But nerves are like water seeping through the cracks in a rock, and they will always find a way. The idea that a lack of intelligence makes someone immune is nonsense, and Chambers Bay proved it for the third time in Johnson's career. What he needed instead was a comprehensive plan.

Is it really only the third time, 'cause this seems more like the eighth sequel... Kinda like the Scream movies, no?  Do read the whole Ryan piece, as it's a very personal, highly-opinionated take on the day and the personalities.  You can thank me later...

But need a laugh?  How about this from the oh-so-young Jessica Marksbury:

That was probably the most shocking and unexpected thing I’ve ever witnessed in a major championship. His ballstriking was so clutch, especially on No. 18, but his putting just wasn’t there at all for the final two rounds. If he made just 20 percent of the putts he missed inside of 10 feet this weekend, he would have run away with the championship.

Let me throw a few names at you, Jess...Doug Sanders, Scott Hoch, Arnold Palmer (lifetime achievement award), Jean Van de Velde....shall I do on?  GVC was closer to the mark:

Dustin missed a handful of shortish putts Sunday alone. He's not a great putter. Under pressure, he's really not a great putter. It's that simple.

OK, but it's not just a balky putter...this guy wrote the book on meltdowns.  And the misses all day were fanned strokes that missed right.  Over-correction?  Who knows...but none of us are completely shocked.

I'm going to leave things here, as my attention is needed on the home front.  We'll circle back and talk more about the golf course, it's greens and other thoughts on the Open.