Matthew Lewis/R&AMatt Kuchar speaks to the media at a press conference after his second-place finish at the 2017 Open Championship at Royal Birkdale.SOUTHPORT, England — The PGA Tour’s version of Santa Claus got hit by a bus on Sunday night at Royal Birkdale.
The bus was being driven by 23-year-old Texan Jordan Spieth, who was speeding toward the third leg of the career Grand Slam, Champion Golfer of the Year honors and history. He blew through a red light and kept going, running off with the claret jug at the 146th Open Championship.
The victim was 39-year-old Matt Kuchar of St. Simons Island, Ga., the player with the fifth-most wins on the PGA Tour (seven) without a major. Watching helplessly was his wife, Sybi, and the couple’s two children, who had flown in just that day from Colorado. They planned to surprise the happy-go-lucky golfer behind the 18th green when he wrapped up his final round. Instead they found him battered, disoriented and fragile.
The awe-shucks demeanor and chee..

Warren Little/R&ASOUTHPORT, ENGLAND – JULY 23: Jordan Spieth of the United States celebrates his victory on the 18th green with caddie Michael Greller during the final round of the 146th Open Championship at Royal Birkdale on July 23, 2017 in Southport, England. (Photo by Warren Little/R&A/R&A via Getty Images)SOUTHPORT, England — Jordan Spieth was in big, big trouble on the 13th hole on Sunday. Well, somewhere near the 13th hole. After hitting the worst tee shot of his life, taking a tour of some equipment trucks, and finally — and we don't say “finally” lightly — taking a drop on Royal Birkdale's driving range, Spieth faced a long, blind recovery shot. But there was another problem: he had no clue how far he was from the hole.
Enter Michael Greller.
“We took our time getting the line, getting the number,” Spieth's caddie said of the odd situation that took 21 minutes to unfold. “He thought it was about 270, I thought it was 230, so that was alarming.”
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FacebookPinterestCliff HawkinsGrayson Murray celebrates after holing a five-foot putt to win the Barbasol Championship. (Photo by Cliff Hawkins/Getty Images)

The Barbasol Championship has an unfortunate distinction, the PGA Tour event played in the most imposing shadow in golf, if not played in a vacuum altogether.
It is played off Broadway, way off, as it were, in Opelika, Ala., opposite the British Open. And in the wake of Jordan Spieth’s remarkable victory at Royal Birkdale on Sunday, the question is whether anyone would even notice?
Grayson Murray no doubt would ask a different question: Who cares? For Murray, his victory in the Barbasol Championship on Sunday likely was as personally significant as Spieth’s win was in golf circles generally.
Murray, 23, is a PGA Tour rookie of uncommon potential that was under threat of going unfulfilled because of a variety of factors, among them the social anxiety with which he was diagnosed, according to this story by Ryan Lavner of GolfChanne..

Stan BadzSOUTHPORT, England — Cameron McCormick politely excused himself from the gaggle of well-wishers trying to shake his hand beside the 18th green on Sunday at Royal Birkdale. You see his prized pupil, Jordan Spieth, was ushering him over to take his first picture with a certain iconic trophy, and well, you know, that’s kind of a big thing. So big that McCormick pulled out his cellphone and turned on his Facetime app so that friends back in the United States could see him huddle with the new British Open champion for a couple of thrilling moments.
To claim the claret jug and his third career major title, Spieth had to hole a series of momentous putts on the back nine at Birkdale, a succession that will be replayed for years to come. It began with a six-footer for a clutch bogey save on nearly apocalyptic 13th. Followed by a four-foot birdie on the 14th (after nearly holing his tee shot), a 40-foot eagle on the 15th, a 25-foot birdie on the 16th and a six-foot birdie on the 17th. I..

Dan Mullan(Photo by Dan Mullan/Getty Images)Unless you're a masochist, most of the Open Championship's final round was watched with your hands covering your eyes. But, following one of the most bizarre scenes in golf history, viewers' patience was rewarded with a closing stretch for the history books, capped off by one of the game's best reclaiming his throne. Here are the the winners & losers of Day 4 at Royal Birkdale.
Winner: Jordan Spieth
If Saturday was a smooth weekend drive through the countryside, most of Sunday was a battle to keep the car on the road with two flat tires and killer bees coming through the dashboard. But tournaments are not scored by style points; they are decided by will, guts, temerity. Say what you will about his opening nerves, the three-putt on the ninth, his adventures on the 13th, but that finish (birdie-eagle-birdie-birdie) was fortitude incarnate. Spieth became the second-youngest winner to grab three major titles, and the youngest ..