AMERICAN Zach Johnson claimed his second major title with victory in a three-man play-off on a thrilling final day in the 144th Open Championship.The 2007 Masters winner finished a shot ahead of South African Louis Oosthuizen and three ahead of Australian Marc Leishman over four extra holes.
Earlier, the three ended on 15 under to lead a competitive field at St Andrews.
Jordan Spieth’s hopes of a Grand Slam were ended as a 69 left him 14 under along with Australia’s Jason Day (70).
Joint halfway leader Danny Willett and fellow Englishman Justin Rose both carded two-under 70s, as did Spaniard Sergio Garcia, to finish joint sixth on 11 under.
American Jordan Niebrugge also hit a 70 to finish 11 under and claim the silver medal for leading amateur ahead of Ireland’s Paul Dunne, the joint overnight leader, who shot a disappointing 78 to drop to joint 30th on six under.
Australian Adam Scott was in contention but a poor back nine gave him a one-under 71 and a share of 10th on 10 under.
Ireland’s Padraig Harrington, who claimed back-to-back Open titles in 2007 and 2008, started well with three birdies from his first five holes but struggled after a double-bogey on six and ended up carding a three-over 75 to finish joint 20th on seven under.
Johnson struck just 15 putts over the first 12 holes of his final round yesterday to record seven birdies and his skill on the green again came to the fore in the play-off.
The 39-year-old holed challenging putts on the first and second to claim a birdie and a par and go one shot clear of Oosthuizen and two ahead of Leishman.
Leishman, who had followed his stunning third-round 64 with a six-under 66 yesterday to head the leaderboard after missing the cut by a shot, fell out of contention with two pars.
This left 2010 Open winner Oosthuizen, whose birdie on the last gave him a 69 and a shot at the Claret Jug, to challenge Johnson but after a par on the third extra hole he pushed his putt on the last just wide to give the American the win.