Spieth in Woods-like feat with Travelers win
Becomes 10-time winner of PGA Tour victories before age 24
Jordan Spieth holed a bunker shot to win the Travelers Championship in a playoff on Sunday and become the second youngest player in the modern era behind Tiger Woods to post 10 PGA Tour victories.
In a finale that would have done Woods proud, Spieth sank his 60-foot sand shot at the first extra hole for birdie to edge fellow American Daniel Berger at TPC River Highlands.
The precise execution enabled Spieth to overcome a back nine meltdown in which he putted poorly and almost allowed fast-finishing Berger to steal victory. Spieth carded a closing 70 to Berger’s 67, the pair finishing at 12-under-par 268, two strokes ahead of compatriot Charley Hoffman New Zealander Danny Lee.
“For the bunker shot to go in, that was awesome. I don’t know if I’ll ever have a moment like that again,” an excited Spieth said in a greenside interview and after clinching his 10th victory at the age of 23 years, 10 months and 29 days.
Woods was the youngest since detailed records began in 1983 to reach 10 victories. He was 23 years, six months and
(Par 70; USA unless noted) 268 —
Daniel Berger 68-67-66-67, x-Jordan Spieth 63-69-66-70
Charley Hoffman 69-67-68-66, Danny Lee (NZL) 68-67-68-67
Patrick Reed 67-66-72-66, Paul Casey (ENG) 68-68-66-69, Boo Weekley 66-68-65-72
Kevin Streelman 69-70-69-64, Troy Merritt 65-68-73-66, Webb Simpson 70-68-66-68, David Hearn (CAN) 67-70-66-69, Keegan Bradley 67-70-6669, C.T. Pan (TPE) 70-68-64-70
Brandt Snedeker 70-67-72-64, Xander Schauffle 66-70-70-67, Brendan Steele 68-68-69-68
Rory McIlroy (NIR) 67-73-70-64, Mackenzie Hughes (CAN) 67-70-71-66, Anirban Lahiri (IND) 73-63-71-67, Hunter Mahan 68-71-68-67.
270 — 271 — 272 — 273 — 274 —
four days when he posted the milestone. A flair for the dramatic is nothing new for Spieth, who also holed a bunker shot for his first victory at the 2013 John Deere Classic.