Spieth holes out from sand to win in playoff
Jordan Spieth needed an extra hole, a little bit of luck and an amazing final shot Sunday to finish off a wire-to-wire victory in the PGA Tour’s Travelers Championship.
The two-time major champion holed out from 60 feet for birdie from a greenside bunker on the first hole of a playoff with Daniel Berger at TPC River Highlands in Cromwell, Conn.
Spieth, 23, joined Tiger Woods as the only PGA Tour players with 10 victories before turning 24 in the era since World War II. Woods won 15 times before age 24.
“That was one for the ages,” said Spieth, also the winner at Pebble Beach in February.
Spieth held a one-stroke edge after each of the first three rounds. He closed with an even-par 70 to match Berger — who birdied three of the final six holes for a 67 — at 12-under 268.
Berger, the Memphis winner two weeks ago before missing the cut last week at the U.S. Open, just missed a 50-foot putt from off the 18th green that would have forced a second playoff hole.
“Jordan does Jordan things,” Berger said. “So there’s not really much you can say. I’m obviously disappointed, but happy to be in the position I was in today.”
Berger began the round in third place, three shots back.
Berger hit his drive on the playoff hole left and into the crowd behind a fairway bunker. Spieth seemed to clip a tree left landing in the fairway but about 150 yards short of his normal drive and 230 yards from the hole.
Spieth’s approach fell into bunker. Berger’s ran off the green to the left. Spieth had to back up after hitting his bunker shot to see the hole. When the ball rolled straight in the cup, he threw his club and did a flying chest bump into caddie Michael Greller.
“If I was in Berger’s shoes, I’d be cursing Jordan Spieth right now for the break off the tee and then holing a 30-yard bunker shot, that’s a lot of luck,” Spieth said.
Charley Hoffman (66) and Danny Lee (67) tied for third, three strokes back.
Rory McIlroy tried to find his short game this week and used his third putter Sunday to help him shoot a 64, his lowest round on the tour this season. He tied for 17th at 6 under.
Briefly: So Yeon Ryu shot 69 and became the LPGA Tour’s first two-time winner this season, taking the Walmart NW Arkansas Championship in Rogers with a tournamentrecord 18-under 195 total . ... Fred Couples rallied to win the American Family Insurance Open in Madison, Wis., for his second PGA Tour Champions title of the year and 13th overall. Couples, 57, closed with a 6under 66 to reach 15-under 201 for a two-stroke victory over Scott Verplank . ... No. 837ranked Andres Romero picked up seven shots in his last 10 holes to win the BMW International Open in Munich by one stroke. His bogey-free 65 put him at 17-under, one better than three players, including Sergio Garcia (69).