Open runner-up Jordan Spieth blamed a pair of “silly mistakes” late in his third round for costing him the chance to win a second Claret Jug.
The 2017 champion was 11 under par when he walked off the 17th tee on Saturday, the same score as eventual champion Collin Morikawa.
However, he bogeyed both shots (missing a par putt on the last from a couple of feet) and walked off the course after a 45-minute session on the green, furious with himself.
“Yesterday’s finish was one of the worst I’ve ever had in a round,” he said after a round of 66 that matched Morikawa’s on the final day at Royal St George’s.
“I went in and said, ‘Is there anything I can break?’ I knew that was very important because I would have been in the final group.
“I’m upset because I really felt like I played well enough to win and I made a couple of really dumb mistakes that possibly if I had played the week before, I wouldn’t have made.
“Like just going in and missing a couple of feet on the 18th hole yesterday, without really thinking about it.
“I finished two over par on those holes, which was frustrating as there would have been three of us (plus overnight leader Louis Oosthuizen) separated by at least three shots from the group and I would have been in the final group.
“It was kind of a double whammy. But at the same time, I did everything I could in the last few hours to win this championship.
“What’s the point of being upset? Today you go out thinking: ‘Yeah, I should be leading the tournament.’ That’s how I felt.
“But then I can play with the mentality of a chaser, which sometimes allows me to have a little more freedom.”
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