Dramatic finish at Chambers Bay – US Open part 2
Let’s be honest, despite dropping four shots to par on Saturday, Joost Luiten, the only Dutch player in the field, teed-off on the final day of the US Open on 1-over par with still everything to play for. If Louis Oosthuizen (SA) could recover from a first round 77 and shoot 66-66 to get into a tie for 5th, then Joost’s 74 was also not unsurmountable. Four players were bunched at the top of the leaderboard on 4-under par: Jason Day (AUS) and Americans Branden Grace, Dustin Johnson and US Masters Champion, Jordan Spieth. Four others shared 5th spot on 1-under par, then came Joost Luiten along with five other players in a share of 9th place. Yes, Holland’s glory was just five off the lead going into the final round of the US Open. Chambers Bay was unknown US Open territory, so anything could happen. And it did.
Meanwhile back in Holland a few hours earlier, Christel Boejlon was playing perfect, clockwork golf. The player from Alkmaar, who lives in Texas when touring the US, held onto her lead shooting another sub-par round in difficult conditions for a tournament score of 10-under par to win the Deloitte Ladies Open by four clear shots. Dutch golf fans were delighted. For only the second time in history a Dutch player had won the title. (See Blog/The Dutch Opens: Christel sparkling again!)
Now all we needed was for Joost to work his way back up the leader-board in America and it would be a double Dutch victory celebration. Whether word had reached Joost of Christel’s victory before he teed off, I don’t know. Perhaps he was nervous. Perhaps he was too keen to make his mark, too early. Whatever the cause, the result was four dropped shots within the first five holes from which he never recovered. A closing round of 75 (5-over par) saw him descend dramatically down the leader-board to finish tied 39th on 6-over par.
After the great feeling of elation with Christel’s win, and the anticipation of what Joost might do in the US Open, now came the disappointment – a feeling of absolute deflation. Poor Joost! A top-ten finish would have been more to his liking and have made the ideal Father’s Day present for his dad, Nico too. However, let’s cast sentiment aside and look to the positives. Joost should be proud of his performance in the US Open. He produced two cracking opening rounds. He is there, playing in America, with the big boys and proving that he can compete at that level. Victory for him in the States is just a matter of time … and patience.
And the winner … It was Jordan’s day! Jordan Spieth (USA) became the US Open Champion with a score of 275, 5-under par. He snuck his 2nd Major title this year from under the nose of Dustin Johnson as the fellow American missed a 12-foot eagle putt to win the championship outright and then failed to hole the 4-foot return birdie putt to force an 18-hole Monday play-off. Johnson’s 3-putt drama on the 18th hole left him on 276, 4-under par and so joint runner-up with Louis Oosthuizen (SA). Rory McIlroy (NIR) and Shane Lowry (IR) were the best-ranked Europeans (tied 9th) on level par.
Wendy Hoad