British Open 2015 results: Recap and highlights (Video)

The British Open is in the books, and it was a thriller for the ages that featured a lot of rain and even more golf.

It was a weekend full of golf and rain at St. Andrews, as the Open Championship needed an extra day and an extra round of golf to decide things. Rain washed away most of the early weekend play, which forced a rare Monday finish to the British Open.

Not only did we technically get an extra day of golf, but we needed an extra round to determine a winner. Heading into Monday’s final round, the world was glued to names like Jordan Spieth, Dustin Johnson, Marc Leishman and Paul Dunne. Only one of those names would end up making a run to the playoff round and it was the least likeliest of the group.

Dustin Johnson crashed on Sunday as he finished his third round and never fully recovered in the final round. Ditto for Paul Dunne, who actually had a fantastic third round on Sunday but looked every bit the amateur he is on Monday when push came to shove.

The biggest disappointment on the afternoon was Jordan Spieth, who made it interesting down the stretch but ulaitmely came up short in his quest for a this straight major victory.

After trailing down the stretch of the final round, Spieth drained a doozy of a putt, tying the lead in thrilling fashion.

"Final round. #TheOpen at St Andrews. Spieth ties for the lead with this putt on 16. https://t.co/sTpPo83TCl— The Open (@TheOpen) July 20, 2015"

This seemed to set up an improbable comeback for the kid from Texas, but there was to only be one American in the playoff.

Spieth nearly was able to jump in and earn a spot in the playoff round, but he mucked it all up on the last hole at St. Andrews. After hitting the green only to watch it roll back off, Spieth attempted a long birdie chip that came close but wasn’t meant to be.

Jason Day flamed out in similar fashion to miss the playoff round, and Paul Dunne was done well before he reached the 18th hole. That set up the playoff round we saw with Zach Johnson, Marc Leishman and South African Louis Oosthuizen to determine the 144th winner of the British Open.

Johnson was the sole American to make it into the playoff round, using a thrilling buzzer-beater style putt to earn a berth in the extra round of golf.

The pressure was on right out of the gate, Oosthuizen birdied the first playoff hole to take a lead, but he was quickly followed by Zach Johnson.

"Oosthuizen birdies the first playoff hole to share the lead with Johnson. Now LIVE on SS1. http://t.co/FhLqqWNJM6 #SSGolf #TheOpen— SuperSport (@SuperSportTV) July 20, 2015"

Johnson birdied the second hole of the playoff round to move to 2-under and take the lead from Oosthuizen.

"A birdie for Johnson on play-off hole No. 2 moves him into the lead. Johnson -2 Oosthuizen -1 Leishman +1 #TheOpen https://t.co/w8yh6UXNXo— The Open (@TheOpen) July 20, 2015"

Oosthuizen didn’t do himself any favors later on when he missed an easy putt that further set him back against the surging Johnson.

"A birdie for Johnson on play-off hole No. 2 moves him into the lead. Johnson -2 Oosthuizen -1 Leishman +1 #TheOpen https://t.co/w8yh6UXNXo— The Open (@TheOpen) July 20, 2015"

Leishman fell back quickly in the playoff, finishing two-over and leaving it all up to Johnson and Oosthuizen to duke it out for the British Open jug. Oosthuizen was plagued by poor putting all afternoon, and that ended up doing him in. He missed back-to-back putts that could have helped him or at least tie him for the lead at the Open, but neither went in.

As a result, Zach Johnson took home the win at the British Open, which is his second major championship and comes eight years after he won The Masters in 2007.

It was one of the best weekends of golf we’ve seen all season long, and the bonus of it ending in the middle of a workday helped get everyones Monday off to a better start than it otherwise would have been. Of course, it was a rough start to the week for Spieth, Dunne and Day but all three men are primed to bounce back in their next tournament and for the rest of this thrilling year of golf.

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