After a nightmare start to his final round of the Open at Royal Birkdale, Jordan Spieth was involved in a highly controversial incident that almost saw him throw the title away.

The Texan had already lost his three-shot overnight lead to Matt Kuchar, who had managed to become co-leader despite only going round at level par at that point.

Having hit his tee shot on the 13th completely off line to the right of the fairway, his ball ended up in an unplayable lie at the top of a small hill.

He consequently took a penalty drop, leaving him just two shots to get up and down, but the drama was far from over.

The rules state that he could go back as far as he wished, as long as it was in a direct line to the original place of the ball, to find a more favourable position for his third shot.

Spieth moved the ball to the practice green between holes 13 and 15, but television equipment and vans parked in the way meant he had to be given a free drop due to the immovable obstruction.

This resulted in a long delay while Spieth and the officials sought the proper outcome of the issue, with play being stopped for a shade over 17 minutes.

Eventually, Spieth managed to hit a wonderful shot to just off the side of the green, from which he was able to chip and putt for an excellent bogey.

The ordeal actually proved to be the catalyst for Spieth's turnaround, with a run of birdie-eagle-birdie-birdie following in the next four holes to restore his lead over Kuchar to two shots going to the 18th.

Spieth got a par on the final hole but Kuchar could only bogey, meaning Spieth secured his third Major title with a score of -12, becoming the youngest American to lift the famous Claret Jug in the process.

The golfing sensation now has the opportunity to complete the career Grand Slam at the age of 24 at the PGA Championship in North Carolina in three week's time.