Zach Johnson wins British Open in playoff

Steve DiMeglio | USA TODAY Sports

ST ANDREWS, Scotland – It was only fitting a playoff would bring to a close the 144th British Open at the Home of Golf.

Torrential rain closed the Old Course on Friday, gale-forced winds stopped play Saturday and amateurs ran amok of the yellow leaderboards during only the second Monday finish in the tournament’s history.

Late on the fifth day of play, Zach Johnson, Marc Leishman and Louis Oosthuizen took to the first hole for a four-hole playoff with the best aggregate score claiming the Claret Jug.

Forty-five minutes later Johnson joined Jack Nicklaus, Tiger Woods, Sam Snead, Seve Ballesteros and Nick Faldo as the only players to win the Masters and a British Open on the Old Course.

Pretty good company for the man who says he’s just an ordinary guy from Cedar Rapids, Iowa.

"I can’t. I’m at a loss for words," an emotional Johnson said in a TV interview moments after the playoff, with tears in his eyes.

"I’m grateful, I’m humbled, I’m thankful. I’m honored, this is the birthplace of the game, and that jug means so much in sports, specifically this tournament and golf. It hasn’t set in yet ... I felt great, I was patient, I had some scripture going in my head and I thank the Lord, I thank my friends, I thank my family. I’m just in awe right now."

Johnson, after making a 22-footer for birdie on the 72nd hole to earn a spot in the playoff, made birdies on the first two playoff holes. After a bogey on the third hole – the par-4 17th known as the Road Hole – Johnson’s par on the last hole proved enough to win after Oosthuizen lipped out with his birdie from 12 feet that would have sent the match to a sudden death playoff.

Leishman made bogeys on the first and third holes.

"Both Louis and Mark, two great champions in their own right, phenomenal players. They could be standing here right now too," Johnson said.

World No. 2 Jordan Spieth and Jason Day finished one shot out of the playoff in a tie for fourth. Spieth would have become the No. 1 player in the world with a win and he would have joined Ben Hogan as the only players to win the Masters, U.S. Open and British Open in the same year.

Four players finished in a tie for sixth at 11 under, including Sergio Garcia.

Johnson began the day three shots behind leaders Oosthuizen, Jason Day and amateur Paul Dunne.

Both Johnson and Leishman shot 66 while Oosthuizen shot 69 in the final round to get to 15 under and in a playoff.

Johnson went out in 31 and birdied the last from 22 feet. Leishman, who shot 64 in the third round, missed his chance to win outright when he left his birdie putt on the last a foot short. Oosthuizen made birdie from five feet on the final hole.

PHOTOS: Monday at the British Open