It was odd enough to see the world's best golfers out on the course again on Monday, let alone what would follow throughout the day. At a time when the players should have been heading home after four days of golf, it was impossible to pick a winner right until the end on the extra day, as new names continued to appear atop the leaderboard.

Several lead changes came as the men were sorted from the boys. Paul Dunne, the amateur who made his name almost household on Saturday, dropped off the pace. However, that wasn't the end of the headlines for the non-professionals. Jordan Niebrugge finished as the best of the rest, after a two-under par round left him 11-under for the tournament. The top three, including Oliver Schniederjans and Ashley Chesters, recorded the top three scores of amateurs in Open history.

Five names stood firm at the end, in contention right until the very last hole.

Spieth and Day edged out

Zach Johnson was on a one-way street to victory from the first hole. The American didn't drop a shot until the 13th and ended his round with the joint-best score of the day, a six-under par 66, to hold the clubhouse lead on 15-under par. Australian Marc Leishman was the other to shoot a 66. He would drop only a single shot on his way to a 15-under par overall score, to confirm his spot in a playoff with Johnson.

The third man is still becoming just that. Twenty-one-year-old Jordan Spieth, already a two-time major winner, made sure his name would be involved at the top once again, but it could've been different. Spieth was cruising having hit three birdies through seven holes, before hitting a double-bogey on the eighth. He showed the calm and mature mindset we've come to expect and recovered from his worst hole of the tournament, leaving himself needing a birdie on the last to reach the sacred 15-under par score.

Spieth couldn't deliver this time, however, ending one shot behind the leaders. But two out of three majors so far in 2015 isn't a bad effort. Jason Day did the same as Spieth, ending with a par to finish a shot behind the leaders. His two-under par round of 70 was not enough in the end. Louis Oosthuizen, the Open champion at St. Andrews five years ago, was the last to try his luck, also needing a birdie to enter the playoff. The South African did what Spieth and Day couldn't and birdied the final hole, meaning a three-way playoff would decide it.

A magic Monday

It was only the third three-way playoff in Open history, on a day that was not scheduled for play before the start of the championship. The format of the playoff was such that one hole would not decide the winner. The first, second, 17th and 18th holes would all be played, with the lowest combined scorer over the four being declared champion. If scores were level, sudden death on the final hole until a winner emerged was the plan.

Oosthuizen and Johnson began with birdies on the first, whilst Leishman three-putted on the green and fell two shots behind immediately with a bogey. On the second, Johnson kept his composure again, sinking a birdie to go a shot clear of Oosthuizen, who held par along with Leishman.

On the penultimate hole, all three players struggled. Three bogeys scored and so heading to the final hole, the 18th, Johnson sat one shot ahead of Oosthuizen, with Leishman a further two shots behind. Johnson, in the end, could not be caught by Oosthuizen - with Leishman a spectator - and the American clinched his second major title and the Claret Jug, alongside his Masters title from 2007, with a par on the last.

"I feel blessed to be the champion," an emotional Johnson said afterward. "Humbling and surreal are two words that come to my mind. A week of courage and bravery. I had my opportunities and fortunately, I took them."