Jordan Spieth's nightmarish start to Sunday's final round has left the door open for a dramatic finish on the back nine at Royal Birkdale.
Spieth's iron play has been immaculate throughout the week, but he struggled to hit greens to begin Sunday's round, bogeying three of the first four holes to fall back into a tie with Matt Kuchar.
After stuffing his approach inside 15 feet on the fifth hole, Spieth rolled home a birdie to get things back on track after the rocky start, and a Kuchar bogey stretched his lead to two.
The 39-year-old immediately hit back with a birdie on the ninth, and Spieth's three-putt for bogey leveled the players at 8-under-par with nine holes to play.
While Spieth has turned eight of his last nine 54-hole leads into wins, the one event he didn't finish was the memorable 2016 Masters. The 23-year-old held a five-shot advantage heading to the back nine, but ended up losing to Danny Willett. While Birkdale doesn't have the water hazards Augusta National has, it has plenty of thick rough that could prove troublesome on the closing stretch.
