The Jordan Spieth that won the 2015 Masters and U.S. Open returned to life Sunday afternoon on the back nine at Colonial Country Club.
Playing in his third event since his devastating loss at the Masters, Spieth showed off his extreme short game talent, closed with a 65 and wiped out the other would-be contenders at the Colonial Invitational. Spieth birdied his first three holes on the final nine then the final three with an incredible display of shots that made it clear he is gearing up for the approaching U.S. Open.
“Our third tournament back, what a great week, to win in front of our home fans,” said Spieth, who holed a curling 20 footer for birdie at 16 then chipped in from over the green at the 17th then punctuated his eighth PGA Tour victory by holing his final putt of the day from 34-feet for birdie at the 72nd hole.
In the process, he crushed all hopes for Harris English, who stepped up to challenge Spieth over the final six holes but could not overcome Spieth’s short game magic.
Spieth was biding his time with nine straight pars on the front nine but he quickly made his intentions clear with birdies at 10, 11 and 12. He had just one blemish, a bogey at the par three 13th where he failed to get up-and-down from a greenside bunker. Spieth kept his momentum with a clutch par putt at the 14th from 12 feet that saw him give a big fist pump. A par at 15 then set the stage for his magnificent finish.
Spieth shot 65-65 for the weekend and his three-shot victory came without his best stuff from tee-to-green. But his short game was nothing short of intimidating for the rest.
The win was even more special in the fact that Spieth is a Texas-born champion. That last happened in 1996 when Ben Crenshaw took the title.
