Washington: World number two Jordan Spieth birdied the last three holes in astonishing fashion on Sunday to win the US PGA Dean and Deluca Invitational, his first victory since a Masters meltdown.
Spieth, who defends his US Open title next month at Oakmont, fired a five-under par 65 final round at Colonial to finish on 17-under 263 to capture his first career PGA crown in his home state of Texas.
Spieth curled in a 20-foot birdie putt at the par-3 16th 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 in arms in celebration.
Harris English fired a 66 to finish second on 266 with Ryan Palmer and Webb Simpson on 267 and Kyle Reifers fifth on 268.
The only non-US player in the top 10 was India’s Anirban Lahiri, who shared sixth on 271 after a 68. The 28-year-old produced a superb front nine for a score of 68 in the final round to finish with a total of nine-under 271 at the Colonial Country Club on Sunday.
With this performance, Lahiri not only bettered his previous best of tied 21st at the CIMB Classic in Malaysia, which is PGA Tour’s only stop in Asia but has also moved to 88th on the FedEx Cup table.
Next week will see Spieth face top-ranked Jason Day of Australia and third-ranked Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland at the Jack Nicklaus-hosted Memorial tournament.
Last month, Spieth led the 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.
“As much as you play it off, that’s a tough hump to get over, after Augusta, to win in your third tournament,” Spieth said.
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.
Spieth opened with nine pars, making a 32-foot par putt at the par-3 eighth for his most amazing rescue, then began the back nine with three birdies in a row to seize the lead.
The 22-year-old American sank a 20-foot putt at 10 and short ones on the next two holes, but a bogey at the par-3 13th after finding a greenside bunker dropped him into a share of the lead with English.
At 14, Spieth found a fairway bunker and had to make a testy 13-foot putt to save par, setting the stage for his sizzling finish. Spieth had not broken 70 in the last round since February and had been under par only once in the last round in his past five tries.
