British Open 2015: Leaderboard Scores and Highlights from Monday

Jordan Spieth came up one shot short, Jason Day just a few feet. In the end, Zach Johnson bested them both along with Louis Oosthuizen and Marc Leishman in a four-hole playoff to take the 2015 Open Championship.

Johnson shot a six-under 66 on Monday, tying with Oosthuizen and Leishman at 15 under overall to send the already-elongated Open Championship to extra holes. The 39-year-old American played the abbreviated course, which consisted of holes No. 1, 2, 17 and 18, at one under to beat Oosthuizen by one stroke and Leishman by three.

Oosthuizen, who won the 2010 Open Championship at St. Andrews, had a chance to send the playoff to sudden death, but his putt lipped out. 

The win is Johnson's second major championship, joining his 2007 Masters crown. The eight-year drought saw him miss the cut more often than he finished inside the top 10. He opened the week just 25th in the World Golf Rankings.

Opening the day in sixth place, however, it was clear from the outset that Johnson was firing on all cylinders. He had seven birdies in his first 12 holes to ascend to the top of the leaderboard early, and while bogeys on No. 13 and 17 nearly knocked him out of contention, a clutch makeup birdie on No. 18 put him in the clubhouse at 15 under. He then watched on with Leishman as the field tried and failed to eclipse their score. 

Johnson hit consecutive birdies on the first two holes to give himself a one-shot cushion over Oosthuizen heading into the second half of the playoff. Given a chance to make up a stroke when Johnson faltered on the difficult par-four 17th, neither Oosthuizen nor Leishman could take advantage. Both matched him with bogeys, which effectively took Leishman out of the running. The 31-year-old Aussie could never quite find his rhythm in the playoff, overshadowing a two-day ascent that saw him go 14 under in 36 holes.

Down to essentially a two-man playoff on No. 18, Oosthuizen and Johnson were both given a moment to shine on the biggest stage. First, it was Johnson, who had an opportunity to hit a winning putt outright only to barely miss the line. Oosthuizen did the same on his subsequent putt to come up just short of his second major.  

Opening the day among three golfers tied for the lead, Oosthuizen overcame occasional struggles to shoot 69. Fellow leaders Day and Paul Dunne came up short, with the former falling one stroke shy of the playoff and the latter shooting six over. Spieth, the other member of the day's final two groups, tied with Day in fourth place. The top five golfers were at least three strokes removed from the remainder of the field. 

For Spieth, who was attempting to become the second player in history to win the year's first three majors, Monday ended in heartbreak. The 21-year-old Texan was tied for the lead heading into hole No. 17, positioned in most people's eyes to birdie one of the last two holes and win.

David J. Phillip/Associated Press

Instead, Spieth came up a little short. He missed a critical par putt on No. 17 to drop one stroke behind the leaders, and his second-shot approach on No. 18 did not make it over the green slope and slid backward to knock him out of contention for good. He wound up finishing 14 under in a tie for fourth place.

"It stings a little bit, but ultimately I thought we gave it a really good run," Spieth said, per SportsCenter's Twitter feed.

As noted by Kevin Van Valkenburg of ESPN, Spieth still has quite the support group despite the loss:

Perhaps even more heartbreaking was the effort by Day, who nearly nestled his way into the playoff. The Australian, who now has nine top-10 major finishes without a victory, left his birdie opportunity on No. 18 short by a couple of feet. CJ Fogler captured the moment:

"

Jason Day just left his putt to join the playoff short pic.twitter.com/kMxpazyS8n

— CJ Fogler (@cjzero) July 20, 2015"

Day's wife, Ellie, live-tweeted her emotions down the stretch:

Among the other notables near the top of the leaderboard were Sergio Garcia (-11), Justin Rose (-11) and Adam Scott (-10). After birdieing six of his first 10 holes, Scott was atop the leaderboard and seemingly positioned to win at 16 under. He then played his final five holes at five over, including an ugly double bogey on No. 18.

“It's hard to digest it all at the moment,” Scott said, per Rex Hoggard of Golf Channel. “Maybe it was too much to ask today.”

In the end, Johnson's ability to not backslide in the day's most pivotal moments wound up paying huge dividends. It's a testament to his perseverance, which has been on display since late May. He had four missed cuts and was without a top-five finish in his first 15 tournaments this season. He's since rebounded with three top-fives and a sixth-place outing in his last five events.

No surprise, but Monday was the sweetest of them all.