The Open Championship (Rounds 3 & 4)

Round 4 report

-12 Spieth (US); -9 Kuchar (US); -6 Li (Chn); -5 McIlroy (NI), Cabrera-Bello (Spa)

Jordan Spieth won The Open at Royal Birkdale by three shots after an enthralling battle with Matt Kuchar.

Spieth, 23, blew a three-shot overnight lead by the turn and trailed Kuchar after dropping a shot on the 13th.

But he wrestled back the lead with a run of birdie, eagle, birdie, birdie to finish on 12 under and win his third major after the Masters and US Open.

The American is the second player after Jack Nicklaus to win three of golf's four majors before the age of 24.

The world number three is the youngest Open winner since 22-year-old Seve Ballesteros won the first of his three titles in 1979.

Spieth, who either led or tied for the lead after every round, carded a one-under-par 69, with fellow American Kuchar's 69 leaving him on nine under.

Spieth will have the opportunity to complete the career Grand Slam at the PGA Championship in August.

"This is absolutely a dream come true," said Spieth, who receives $1.8m (£1.4m) in prize money.

"I drank some wine from the Claret Jug when Zach Johnson won it two years ago and people said that was bad luck.

"I started to believe them too after nine holes today."


Round 3 report

-11 Spieth (US); -8 Kuchar (US); -5 Connelly (Can), Koepka (US); -4 Grace (SA), Matsuyama (Jpn); -3 Johnson (US), Stenson (Swe), Kim (US), Cabrera-Bello (Spa); -2 Fisher (Eng), McIlroy (NI), Ramsay (Sco), Poulter (Eng)

Selected others: -1 Fowler (US), Bland (Eng); E Day (Aus), Casey (Eng), Johnston (Eng), Fitzpatrick (Eng), Garcia (Spa); +1 Fleetwood (Eng); +3 Plant (a) (Eng)


Jordan Spieth will begin the final round of The Open with a three-shot lead over his American compatriot Matt Kuchar and six shots over the rest of the field as he once again stormed Royal Birkdale's defences.

On a day when Branden Grace became the first man in history to card a 62 at a major championship, Spieth strengthened his overnight grip on the championship with a bogey-free 65 to move to 11 under par as his big-name rivals struggled to stay in touch.

Canadian debutant Austin Connelly, 20, sits in a tie for third with US Open champion Brooks Koepka at five under, while Grace and Japan's world number two Hideki Matsuyama, who shot a fine 66, are a shot further back.

But it was a disappointing afternoon for home favourites Rory McIlroy and Ian Poulter, McIlroy's chances effectively over after a messy 69 left him two under, nine shots off Spieth and tied for 11th with his Ryder Cup team-mate.

Texan Spieth, 23, blew a five-shot lead going into back nine at The Masters 15 months ago, but with this links course in far less punitive mood than the Augusta National he is odds-on to add the oldest major to his Masters and US Open titles from 2015.

Kuchar, 39, has never finished in the top five at an Open and has only one top-10 finish in 12 previous attempts, and he will rue the three putts on the 16th green that cost him critical momentum this time around.