SHAKING OFF A Masters meltdown as he prepares to defend his US Open crown, world number two Jordan Spieth birdied the last three holes last night to win the Dean and Deluca Invitational.
The 22-year-old Texan won his first home-state US PGA title in astonishing fashion, firing a five-under par 65 final round at Colonial to finish on 17-under 263 for a three-stroke victory.
Spieth led last month’s Masters with nine holes remaining and appeared set for a second consecutive wire-to-wire victory at Augusta National, only to collapse on the back nine and hand England’s Danny Willett the green jacket, literally doing so at the award ceremony with a grim facial expression.
“I knew it was going to be tough to put the Masters behind me,” Spieth said. “I don’t wish that on anybody. It’s no fun out there when you hear people yelling, ‘Remember the Masters’.
“To get over that hurdle in our third tournament back says a lot about our character out there.”
Since his major stumble, Spieth has battled back in May, missing the cut at the Players Championship and falling out of the hunt with a last-day fade at last week’s Byron Nelson Championship only to save his best for last at Fort Worth.
“As much as you play it off, that’s a tough hump to get over, after Augusta,” Spieth said.
Spieth, who defends his US Open title next month at Oakmont, curled in a 20-foot birdie putt at the par-3 16th yesterday to seize the lead for good, pumping his right fist with excitement.
At 17, Spieth found the rough on his first two shots but chipped his third into the cup, a stunning 42-foot pitch that brought a shocked smile to his face.
To complete his closing hat-trick, Spieth dropped a 34-foot birdie putt at 18 and raised his arms in celebration.
“It was difficult to stay patient but that’s the thing we told ourselves to do,” Spieth said.
Later this week Spieth will face top-ranked Jason Day of Australia and third-ranked Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland at the Jack Nicklaus-hosted Memorial tournament.
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