Yawn, it’s Spieth again

Jordan Spieth won his fourth tournament of the 2014-15 PGA Tour season, capturing the John Deere Classic for the second time in three years. Spieth barged into the lead with middle rounds of 64-61, then made like he didn’t want to win with 1-over par through his first 12 holes on Sunday. In the interim, names like Tom Gillis and Zach Johnson shot up the leaderboard. Then, Spieth woke up.

The double-major winner of 2015 squeezed four birdies out of the final six holes to tie Gillis above all others. Gillis stood six-under through eight on the day, but bogeyed the ninth to miss out on a 29. That bogey foreshadowed another collapse late in the round, one that would resign him to a playoff with Spieth. Gillis made three birdies on the back nine, then once again bogeyed late, this time on the 16th. That second gaffe opened the door for Spieth, who made short work of the playoff, winning with par on the second extra hole.

For Gillis, though, there was a silver lining behind the cloud of oh-so-close. By virtue of being the highest-finishing golfer not yet eligible for the oldest of the majors, Gillis secured the final golden ticket to St. Andrews for the 144th playing of The Open Championship.

Fowler steals the show

On Sunday, Rickie Fowler outright stole the Scottish Open from countryman and Ryder Cup teammate Matt Kuchar. Birdies did not flow on Sunday for anyone, unless your name was Marc Warren — who made seven birdies for a 64 and T4 finish. Fowler found his birds when they mattered most. The Californian stood at an indifferent 1-over on the day when he birdied 15 and 16 to tie for the lead. From the 18th fairway, tied for the lead, Rickie Fowler staked an 57-degree wedge to 20 inches, then made the putt to emerge as the 2015 Scottish Open champion.

Although Raphael Jacquelin could not preserve the lead he held midway through the final round, the Frenchman emerged with a consolation prize: entry into next week’s Open Championship at St. Andrews. Joining Jacquelin in the tournament field are Daniel Brooks of England and Sweden’s Rikard Karlberg. Karlberg also posted seven birdies on the final day for 64.

U.S. Women’s Open: Dumbo and the Roller Coaster

In Gee Chun, a 20-year-old golfer from South Korea, backed up a Saturday 68 with an electric Sunday 66 — tied for low round of the day — to bring home the major championship victory. And she has one of the most weirdly interesting nicknames in sports.

[quote_center]BACK IN KOREA MY NAME WAS KNOWN AS DUMBO AFTER THE FIRST WIN, AND EVERYONE CALLS ME DUMBO. WHEN I CAME OVER HERE, SOME AMERICAN FANS RECOGNIZED THAT NICKNAME AND CALLED ME DUMBO. AND SOME EVEN SHOUTING IT, ‘LET’S GO, DUMBO,’ THAT HAS MADE ME REALLY ENJOY THE GAME. THANKS EVERYBODY.[/quote_center]

It would be a harrowing thing to describe how this tournament of hot-potato unrolled over the final two hours. First, Amy Yang had a safe lead. Next, Chun staged an early run with birdies on three of her first seven holes. Then Yang made a pair of birdies. Then Stacy Lewis made a birdie, a double bogey, two more birdies, another double. Oh, and Yang bogeyed four out of seven holes in the middle of the round. And on and on.

Let’s fast-forward to the last three holes, where Chun birdied 15 through 17 to take a lead, then bogeyed the last to offer Yang a chance at the U.S. Women’s Open title. Yang eagled the short, par-four 16th, birdied the par-three 17th to tie, then twitched away a chance at the title with a final-hole bogey. Once again, an unheralded golfer had claimed the National Open championship of the USA. For every Annika Sorenstam, you have a Birdie Kim. For each In Bee Park, there is a So Yeon Ryu. And now, you have Michelle Wie and Dumbo in consecutive years.

Other Events

After the Encompass Championship, Jerry Smith might ask the North Shore Country Club in Glenview, Ill. for a framed photo of their 16th hole. The second-year Champions Tour golfer made birdie there on Friday, reached it in two and made eagle on Saturday, then holed out a greenside bunker shot on Sunday for another eagle. That 3 provided enough cushion for Smith to earn a three-stroke victory over David Frost and status on the tour as a tournament winner.

Until the Albertsons Boise Open, Martin Piller was recognized more as half of the Touring-Pro couple of Gerina and Martin Piller. Creatively-sequenced rounds of 61-63-65-67 gave the Texan a six-stroke margin of victory over Jorge Fernandez Valdes and a 48-space bump (from 52nd to 4th) in the chase for a PGA Tour card. Piller eagled a hole every day but the first, when 10 birdies led to nines of 32-29. Over the course of the week, Piller made 24 birdies, 3 eagles and 2 bogies. As if the rest of the field had a chance!

Cheng Tsung Pan turned pro after the 2015 NCAA Championships. The Taiwanese export spent four years in Washington state, at the University of Washington and got used to a certain amount of travel. Over the past four weeks, he has criss-crossed the continent with his golf clubs, and now has a tournament title to show for his efforts. Manitoba isn’t exactly in Washington, but it has the same northwestern feel and at The Players Cup, Pan took advantage of third-round leader JJ Spaun’s Sunday inconsistency (six bogeys and five birdies) to secure a three-stroke victory over Sweden’s “other” Robert Karlsson.

Let it fly

A few big names had some trouble holding onto their drivers this weekend: Ian Poulter in Scotland and Michelle Wie in Pennsylvania.