Make no mistake, American Zach Johnson was a worthy winner of the 2015 Open Championship after 5 fascinating days of exciting golf and weather delays at St Andrews.
Johnson has been able to maintain his position in golf's elite for a decade by performing ruthlessly in final rounds of tournaments. He is an excellent putter and relishes pressure, with a Masters win in 2007 testament to that. His win at the Open was the 12th of his PGA Tour career. Not only did he hole a lengthy putt on 18 to post a total of 15 under par, but he achieved the best score of the play off by making 2 birdies and a decent bogey at the Road Hole, as Louis Oosthuizen's stroke deserted him.
In terms of the Irish challenge, amateur Paul Dunne will never forget the week and will take major positives into his professional career despite the 78 carded on Monday. To share the lead going into the final round of golf's oldest major as the likes of Tiger Woods and Shane Lowry missed the cut was a remarkable achievement. This was a global event, remember, not college golf. Let's hope we see Paul Dunne shine on the European Tour over the coming years.
Padraig Harrington has made an admirable return to form in 2015, winning the Honda Classic and remaining relevant at the age of 43. He put himself in a position to win, but his double bogey on 6 on Monday was fatal, as the course was allowing such good scoring and the field was too bunched for him to recover.
And spare a thought for Jordan Spieth. His already legendary putting touch failed him at St Andrews. He four putted 8 on Monday and had 5 three putts over the week. And yet, he still nearly won, finishing a shot out of the play off at a course which he had little experience of. And all of this came after he won the Masters and US Open this year. It's easy to forget that he is only 21. His status in the game is worthy of great admiration, because he is proving himself as a true fighter. Rory McIlroy has a serious and worthy adversary in the battle for golfing supremacy in the years to come.
