Spieth, 21, claims second major in row after Johnson 3-putts

UNIVERSITY PLACE, Wash. – Of all things, it came down to a putting contest on the 72nd hole on Chambers Bay’s greens, a hot-button topic all week.

Co-leaders Jordan Spieth and Dustin Johnson, both 4 under, both smashed drives on the par-5 18th, both launched clutch approach shots, both had midrange putts for eagle. Spieth, in the penultimate group, had the first crack but his eagle try missed just left. Birdie.

Johnson, in the last group, needed eagle to win, birdie to force an 18-hole playoff Monday. Par didn’t seem to be in the equation, but his speedy eagle putt raced 4 feet past the hole. He missed the return putt on the low side.

Spieth had his second major championship in three months. Johnson had another major heartbreak, after stumbles in the 2010 U.S. Open and PGA Championship and 2011 British Open.

“I’m still amazed that I won, let alone that we aren’t playing Monday,” said Spieth, who closed with a 1-under 69. “For that turnaround right there, to watch that happen, I feel for Dustin.”

Spieth, 21, is the sixth player in history to win the Masters and the U.S. Open in the same year, the first since Tiger Woods in 2002. Spieth became the youngest Open winner since Bobby Jones in 1923. He’s also the youngest player to win two majors since Gene Sarazen in 1922.

The title carries added significance for Spieth and Michael Greller, the one-time Chambers Bay caddy who began working for Spieth in 2011. Spieth skipped a tour event two years ago to be in Greller’s wedding, which was held at Chambers Bay. Prior to the wedding, Spieth, Greller and two family members played the links-style course.

“Kind of knowing what to say to him and what not to say, I feel like I have a good feel for that,” Greller said. “What he did on 18, though, I think captures his mentality.”

The 115th U.S. Open had more twists and turns over the last few holes than Chambers Bay’s bumpy, undulating greens, which were ridiculed all week by the players.

There was a two-way tie at the top after the first and second days and a four-player tie after 54 holes. Spieth and playing partner Branden Grace were tied after 15 holes Sunday but the South African sprayed his drive out-of-bounds and made double bogey. Spieth buried a 26-foot birdie putt and suddenly he led by three.

But Spieth made a mess of the 17th hole, finding the high fescue right of the green and three-putting for double bogey. At 4 under, he was tied with Louis Oosthuizen, who completed his round earlier with birdies on six of the last seven holes.

Johnson joined the leaders with a birdie on 17, setting up the last-hole theatrics. Spieth complained Friday that 18 as a par 4 was “the dumbest hole I’ve ever played.” Most expected it would be a par 4 on Sunday, but the USGA kept it as a 601-yard par 5, citing a change in wind direction.

Johnson led by two strokes after a near flawless 2-under 33 front nine. He wobbled with bogeys at 10, 11, and 13 before rallying and giving himself a chance on 18.

“They do bounce and when they are fast and bumpy, it’s tough to get it in the hole. I might have pulled it a little bit but still to me it looked like it bounced left,” said Johnson, a frequent visitor to North Idaho. His fiancée is Paulina Gretzky, whose parents, Wayne and Janet, own a home at Gozzer Ranch on Lake Coeur d’Alene.

Oosthuizen, who shot an opening-round 77, Adam Scott and Rory McIlroy all made Sunday charges. McIlroy was 6-under through 13 holes and within two of the lead. He stalled with three-putt bogeys on 15 and 17. Scott fired the tournament’s best round, a 6-under 64.

“It was set up quite short,” said Scott, referring to the 7,384 yardage, shortest of the four days. “I took advantage of some of the holes playing a bit shorter and didn’t have any disasters out there.”

Jason Day, feeling better but still not 100 percent in his battle with vertigo, fell off the pace with a 1-over 36 on the front and two bogeys early on the back.

Spieth turns his attention to the next major, the British Open next month at St. Andrews.

“I’ve proven to myself that I can win on a British-style course,” he said. “Now I take it to the truest British-style course of any in the world.”