The world fell in love with Jordan Spieth in 2015 when he almost won three majors in a row.
Somewhere, he lost his way in 2016, most will tell you he drowned himself with that horrible Sunday tee shot on the 12th hole at the Masters.
There was nothing horrible this past Sunday on a glorious, bright, beaming sunny day at Pebble Beach. Spieth re-emerged, looking more like the guy who won the 2015 Masters, the 2015 U.S. Open and almost took the Open Championship as well.
Sunday’s Spieth simply wore everyone out over the weekend at the AT&T Pro-Am. He went 65-70 on the historic Pebble Beach Golf Links and walked his way to an easy win, much to the delight of the folks at AT&T, who are one of his main sponsors on the PGA Tour.
Spieth gave them and everyone else a lot to be giddy about. He basically wrapped this all up on Saturday with an amazing 65. “It was nice to birdie 15, 17 and 18,” Spieth recalled after picking up his ninth career victory. “That was a great performance,” observed Clint Eastwood, a Pebble Beach fixture, mayor of Carmel and an American icon. “The handwriting was on the wall.”
After Spieth got it to 17-under on Saturday, he was six in front of Brandt Snedeker. “It’s nice to sleep on a lead like that,” Spieth said. “Gave me a situation where I could make a couple of mistakes (on Sunday).” Spieth buried ’em all with one-putts on eight of the last nine holes and just 23 on the day en route to that Saturday 65. Very much like the Spieth of 2015.
There would be no mistakes over the final 18 holes. He got to 18-under early, hitting the par five second in two and getting a two-putt birdie. From there he rattled off 14 straight pars, no one could really muster enough firepower to make a run at him. He kept contenders Kelly Kraft, Snedeker and Dustin Johnson at bay, easily. At 17 he stared down a 29-footer for birdie then ran it in the hole — vintage Spieth. He slammed the door hard on the rest of those guys.
“Michael (Greller) told me: ‘Keep playing boring golf’ — that’s just what I did to close it out,” Spieth recalled.
Spieth spent this offseason cleaning up his game that saw his iron play get sloppy last season. He also traveled too much, too early in the year.
Now he’s leading the PGA Tour in Greens In Regulation. Looks like the sloppy iron play has been vanquished. The putting is still there, better perhaps. “It’s all speed work,” Spieth said of his work with the flat stick. “Not thinking too much about the stroke.”
Over those final 18 on Sunday, he hit 17 of 18 greens. “A dream round,” he called it.
It wasn’t a dream for the rest.
Kelly Kraft couldn’t make enough putts to threaten but his 67 wrapped up his best finish ever on the PGA Tour — solo second at 15-under par.
Dustin Johnson took solo third and was satisfied with where he is at the moment. He shot 68 to get to 14-under.
Jason Day made his presence felt. He closed with 67 to tie for fifth and had it not been for that miserable 75 on Saturday, he might have posed a bigger threat over the final 18.
But there would be no threats to Spieth. He was too good, too steady, putted too well, had the recovery shots when he made that rare mistake.
“Man, it’s great to win at Pebble Beach,” he said.
He would probably tell you it’s even greater to win at Augusta National. And with a second, a first and a second in his last three Masters appearances, one might think he has to be the guy to beat in April.
Sure looks a lot like the guy who blew everyone away in 2015.
