British Open 2017: Leaderboard, live coverage, results and more from Sunday’s final round at Royal Birkdale

It did not take long for video to surface of Jordan Spieth enjoying his first beverage out of his Claret Jug. A few hours after receiving the most prestigious trophy in sports on the 18th green of the British Open, Justin Thomas snapped the first video of Spieth chugging ... something? from the new hardware.

Thomas and Spieth are, you may have heard, close friends going all the way back to their days playing junior golf against and with each other. The two often share houses and travel together at these majors, along with a few others like Jason Dufner, Zach Johnson, and Rickie Fowler. We know Spieth was sharing a house with at least ZJ this week and it’s possible they’re all on the same charter back to the States. Rickie and JT already posted a photo trying to abscond with the trophy.

It’s the oldest and most prestigious trophy in golf. It comes with the traditional “champion golfer of the year” announcement that runs in highlight packages for years to come. Phil Mickelson has put $40,000 bottles of wine in it. Ernie Els has “disappeared with it for a few days” after winning. Darren Clarke showed up hungover with it after winning in 2011. It’s the best trophy in the game and now Jordan Spieth gets to keep it, drink out of it, and strut with it for the next year as The Open Championship winner.

Spieth, of course, has touched the Claret Jug before, which he was told was bad luck. Back in 2015, when he just missed winning at St. Andrews and preposterously taking the first three majors of the same season, Spieth flew home from Scotland with Zach Johnson. Spieth and ZJ have become friends over the years and stayed in the same house this week at Royal Birkdale. But back in 2015, it was Spieth’s photo with it on the private jet with ZJ that made the most immediate waves.

Jordan Spieth early into Sunday’s final round tried to give away the British Open. But the 54-hole leader put a dismal start behind him as he won the British Open by three shots over Matt Kuchar to become the second-youngest player to win three legs of the career grand slam.

Only Jack Nicklaus, at 23, lifted the Claret Jug at an earlier age than Spieth, who will turn 24 on Thursday and finished with a 1-under 69 and 12-under for the tourney.

[Panting...heavy breathing...sucking for air]

We’re just catching our breath from what was one of the wildest Sunday back nines we’ve ever seen at a major championship, but Jordan Spieth is your 2017 Open Championship winner. Spieth is the champion golfer of the year and now holds the Claret Jug, the oldest and most prestigious trophy in golf, for the next calendar year. But all the titles and awards and sundry items that come along with winning his third major tell nothing of the story of the final two hours at Royal Birkdale.

Jordan Spieth won the 146th Open Championship on Sunday at Royal Birkdale. In addition to the Claret Jug and a place in the history books, he’ll get $1.845 million. That’s out of a total championship purse of $10.25 million.

For the first time ever, tournament organizer The R&A is delivering its payouts in American dollars. It’s a big change, but it makes sense for the tournament that bills itself as the most international one in golf.

The Open Championship turned into a summer hike across the English countryside on Sunday afternoon when Jordan Spieth sent his tee shot at the 13th hole miles right of the fairway.

The entire ordeal lasted a half-hour, and started with a drive that had Spieth in the surrender cobra position as Protracer showed his ball sailing off the entire hole.

The Open Championship is all tied up as the final pairing of Matt Kuchar and Jordan Spieth head to the back nine at Royal Birkdale. After making just four bogeys in the first three rounds, Spieth has given four back on the front nine alone on Sunday. The last bogey in this shaky stretch came at the ninth hole, where Spieth stood over a little bunny putt just a tad too long and then lipped it out.

It was a stunning miss, and emblematic of the entire front nine for Spieth. It just seemed like he was constantly holding on for dear life, whether it was off the tee or on the green. Kuchar has applied pressure in spots, including with a dart into the second green that closed the gap from three shots to one in two holes. But this has largely been about Spieth coming back to the field, or his playing partner. The putt at the ninth was the final blow that has to have his head scrambled going to the back nine.

The golfer who wins The Open Championship on Sunday at Royal Birkdale will get the Claret Jug. He’ll also take home $1.845 million in prize money out of a total purse of $10.25 million. That payout will come in American dollars for the first time ever.

“We are operating in an increasingly global marketplace and have made the decision to award the prize fund in US dollars in recognition of the fact that it is the most widely adopted currency for prize money in golf,” R&A chief executive Martin Slumbers said. He didn’t mention that the British pound is down considerably from last summer.

The 146th Open Championship may not be the runaway Sunday we were hyped on Saturday night. When Jordan Spieth poured in a birdie putt at the 18th in the third round, the coronations started flowing. Sunday would be a stroll to his third major championship and nothing was going to stop him.

But two holes into the final round, Spieth’s three-shot lead was promptly cut down to just one. Matt Kuchar is playing in the final pairing of a Sunday at a major for the first time in his career, which features a boatload of money won and tournaments conquered. But he’s never really been in the hunt late at a major, despite occasional appearances on leaderboards and constant ribbing about the propensity for a “backdoor top 10.”

The 146th playing of The Open Championship concludes Sunday at Royal Birkdale, the famous course in northwest England. There’s a great chance that an American will win the Claret Jug for the 10th time since the turn of the millennium (and the first since 2015, when Zach Johnson’s win preceded Henrik Stenson’s last year.)

The 54-hole leader, by three strokes, is Jordan Spieth. If he holds that advantage, the Texan will conquer a third leg of the career grand slam, less than a week before he turns 24. It’d be the latest chapter in an already brilliant young career.

Just as they did on Saturday, Americans Jordan Spieth and Matt Kuchar will play together in the final round of the 146th Open Championship on Sunday. Spieth is the 54-hole leader at Royal Birkdale with a score of 11 under par, and Kuchar’s 8-under mark is right behind him atop the leaderboard. Spieth is trying to complete the third leg of the career grand slam at 23 years old. Kuchar’s gunning for his first major win.

Twenty-year-old Canadian Austin Connelly and U.S. Open winner Brooks Koepka are still in the picture at 5-under. It’s not impossible that one of them makes a charge. Branden Grace and Hideki Matsuyama, both at 4-under, are still nominally in it, too. (Grace is coming off the lowest-scoring major round ever shot.) It’s still possible that someone outside the final group wins. This situation isn’t quite like last year’s at Royal Troon, where Henrik Stenson and Phil Mickelson were a country mile ahead of the rest.

Jordan Spieth leads The Open Championship after 54 holes. If Spieth can hold his advantage for 18 more, he’ll win his third career major — and complete a third leg of the career grand slam — less than a week before his 24th birthday.

Spieth has had a brilliant young career, and that’s included both extraordinary highs and devastating lows on major Sundays. Closing out these championships is difficult, but Spieth is now so experienced in these situations that it’s hard to bet against him. He finished his third round by sinking a birdie putt from the fringe on No. 18.

At long last, we finally have a 62 at the men’s golf major championships. After years of challenges and multiple 18th hole interventions from unseen forces that made it seem like we’d never get a 62, Branden Grace finally delivered the magic number at The Open Championship.

Grace is a super talent and has contended at multiple majors in his young career, but this was flawless from start to finish and the biggest moment of his career. Grace called it a “special day” and he didn’t even have to sweat it out on the 18th hole as we’ve seen on an almost annual basis with all the 63s over the years. Grace needed only a tap-in par to set the new record and post an 8-under 62 that has him now tied for second place at the 146th Open.