World number one Rory McIlroy withdrew prior to the tournament due to an off-course ankle injury; he was the first defending champion absent from the Open in over sixty years, since Ben Hogan opted not to participate in 1954. Masters and U.S. Open champion Jordan Spieth attempted to win a third consecutive major and take over the top ranking.[2][3] He finished one stroke out of the playoff, in a tie for fourth.[4]
Inclement weather – which included heavy rain and very strong winds – forced play to be suspended twice, on Friday and Saturday, with the latter having play suspended for nearly most of the day. The third round was held on Sunday and the final round (and playoff) on Monday.
This was also the last Open Championship played under the then present TV deals with the BBC and ESPN each having their swan song. NBC and Sky Sports would take over coverage the following year at Royal Troon.
This was the final Open appearance for five-time champion Tom Watson and three-time champion Nick Faldo who played in his last major championship.
The 2015 event is the 29th Open Championship played at the Old Course at St Andrews. The most recent was in 2010 when Louis Oosthuizen won his only major title and became the second South African to win an Open Championship at St Andrews (Bobby Locke is the first, having won at St Andrews in 1957).
8. First 5 European Tour members and any European Tour members tying for 5th place, not otherwise exempt, in the top 20 of the Race to Dubai on completion of the 2015 BMW International Open
14. First 5 PGA Tour members and any PGA Tour members tying for 5th place, not exempt in the top 20 of the PGA Tour FedEx Cup points list for 2015 on completion of the 2015 Travelers Championship
The Open Qualifying Series (OQS) consisted of 10 events from the six major tours. Places were available to the leading players (not otherwise exempt) who finished in the top n and ties. In the event of ties, positions went to players ranked highest according to that week's OWGR.[13]
The Final Qualifying events were played on 30 June at four courses covering Scotland and the North-West, Central and South-coast regions of England. Three qualifying places were available at each location.[14]
To make up the full field of 156, additional places were allocated in ranking order from the Official World Golf Ranking at the time that these places were made available by the Championship Committee. Any places made available after the 5 July 2015 used the week 27 rankings.[7]
From the Week 26 (week ending 29 June) Official World Golf Ranking:[15]
Dustin Johnson posted a seven-under-par 65 on day one to lead by one shot from a group of six golfers.[17][18]Jordan Spieth was two shots off the lead after carding a 67.[19][20]
*The last group completed play at approximately 9:36 pm. BST (UTC+1)
Second round
Friday and Saturday, 17–18 July 2015
The first group teed-off at 6:32 am BST on Friday, but heavy rain caused localised flooding and play was suspended at 6:46 am. Restarted at 10 am; later tee times were delayed over three hours . The tee time for the 52nd and last group was delayed from the original 4:13 pm to 7:27 pm. The second round was not completed on Friday and 42 players returned early Saturday to finish their rounds.[21][22][23]
Dustin Johnson was the overnight leader on 10-under-par after 13 holes, a stroke ahead of Danny Willett.[24] The day marked the final Open appearance of five-time champion Tom Watson at age 65.[25]
Play resumed on Saturday at 7 am, with the third round due to start at 11 am. However, play was soon suspended at 7:32 am because a strong wind was moving stationary balls on some of the greens. Because it was a non-dangerous situation, players were allowed to complete the hole they were playing. Dustin Johnson had bogeyed the 14th to move back to 9-under-par, tied for the lead with Willett.
After a delay of several hours, it was decided that only the remainder of the second round would be competed on Saturday, with the third round scheduled for Sunday and the fourth round for Monday. Play finally resumed at 6 pm, a 10½ hour delay, and was completed after 9 pm. The 36-hole cut was at even par 144 and eighty players advanced to the third round.
Amateur Paul Dunne was in a share of the lead after the third round along with Louis Oosthuizen and Jason Day.[26] No amateur had led the Open after three rounds since 1927.[27]
Marc Leishman carded a 66 in the final round to have the lead in the clubhouse at −15 while the final pairings were beginning their back nine. Zach Johnson then birdied the 18th to also card a 66 and tie the clubhouse lead with Leishman. The second to last group of the round were Jason Day and Jordan Spieth. Day and Spieth both headed to the par-4 16th at −14, one shot back of Leishman and Johnson. Spieth hit a difficult putt to birdie to get to -15, while Day parred. On the famous par-4 17th "Road Hole," an errant approach shot by Spieth resulted in a bogey and he was back at −14. Day was unable to convert a difficult birdie putt and remained at −14 as well. At the 18th, Spieth's approach shot was short, in the "Valley of Sin" below the green; he almost holed the chip for birdie, but settled for par and 274 (−14). Day was left with a 15-foot (4.5 m) birdie putt to join the playoff, but could not convert and also ended a stroke back at 274.
The final pairing was Louis Oosthuizen and amateur Paul Dunne, who was at even par 36 out, but was four-over on the next four holes, fell out of contention, and tied for thirtieth place.[28] Oosthuizen played a solid round and needed a birdie at 18 to get into the playoff with Leishman and Johnson. His approach shot left him with a 10-foot (3 m) birdie putt, which he sunk. The Open Championship's rules dictated there would be a four-hole aggregate score playoff between Johnson, Leishman, and Oosthuizen. Johnson took the early lead on the first and never looked back, winning by a stroke over Oosthuizen.[29][30] The win was Johnson's second major championship victory; he won the Masters eight years earlier in 2007.[31]
This was the ninth four-hole playoff at the Open Championship, first used in 1989. The last playoff at St Andrews was twenty years earlier in 1995.
Johnson and Oosthuizen birdied the first while Leishman bogeyed; Johnson birdied the second and then the routing switched over to the Road Hole (#17), which all three bogeyed. All three made par at 18 and Johnson won the Claret Jug by a stroke.
Zach Johnson
