Jordan Spieth’s first PGA Tour win came courtesy of a holed bunker shot that got him into a playoff at the 2013 John Deere Classic. On Sunday at the Travelers Championship, he updated the script, holing another bunker shot to beat Daniel Berger on the first hole of sudden death. Here’s how things unfolded in Cromwell, Conn.:
Leaderboard: Spieth (-12) (won with birdie on first extra hole), Daniel Berger (-12), Charley Hoffman (-10), Danny Lee (-10), Patrick Reed (-9), Paul Casey (-9), Boo Weekley (-9)
What it means: For the time being, anyway, we can all stop asking “What’s wrong with Jordan Spieth?” This was Spieth’s second win of 2017, joining the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am.
.@JordanSpieth has won the @TravelersChamp in INCREDIBLE fashion.
UNBELIEVABLE!#QuickHits pic.twitter.com/qkeeaCg3ye
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) June 25, 2017
Round of the day: Spieth’s even-par 70 was far from the day’s lowest round at TPC River Highlands (Rory McIlroy, Brandt Snedeker and Kevin Streelman all shot 64), but it was the most significant – and probably the most interesting. After birdieing his first two holes, Spieth didn’t make another birdie until the 15th. He hit two tee shots – at the 13th and 15th – that barely stayed out of the water, flirted with the water again on his approach to the 17th, and hit a tree off the tee on the playoff hole. Fortunately the ball bounced into the fairway, but he left himself 227 yards to the pin. His 5-iron approach found the same front bunker he had hit with a wedge on the 72nd hole, but this time he holed the shot. When Berger missed his long birdie bid, it was over.
Biggest disappointment: Weekley. Just one shot back and in the final pairing with Spieth, Weekley had plenty of crowd support but couldn’t put enough pressure on Spieth, even though the latter was not playing especially well. Weekley holed a 71-foot bunker shot at the seventh, but otherwise couldn’t capitalize.
Shot of the day: Obviously Spieth’s extra-hole winning bunker blast gets the nod. Until then the most likely candidate was a 71-foot bunker shot that Weekley holed on the seventh hole to get within one shot of Spieth.
BOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!
Wow.#QuickHits pic.twitter.com/DH0Qp8Vt5q
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) June 25, 2017
Quotes of the day: “For the bunker shot to go in, it was awesome. I don’t know if I’ll ever have a moment like that again.” – Spieth. “It was just Jordan doing Jordan things.” – Berger
Source: Internet
