Spieth, fans will remember this victory for a long time

CROMWELL » All Daniel Berger could do was offer Jordan Spieth a weak smile and thumbs up from across the green.

He still had a birdie putt left for a chance to continue Sunday’s Travelers Championship. But Spieth is a tough enough act to follow. And with the 18th green still shaking with excitement after Spieth’s 61-foot wedge from the bunker found the hole for birdie, Berger knew he needed to match a miracle.

It simply wasn’t in the cards.

“Jordan does Jordan things,” Berger said. “There’s not really much you can say.”

Spieth’s star power drew massive crowds all weekend to the TPC River Highlands, where he led wire-to-wire until leaving the door open with a couple of late bogeys. Berger, three shots off the lead to start the day, birdied three of the final six holes to force a playoff.

The high drama that unfolded on the first and only playoff hole will not only be locked into the minds of all lucky enough to witness it, but will undoubtedly stand the test of time with one of the greatest young golfers of all-time. Spieth knows it, too.

He should have put things away in regulation. He even acknowledged he probably didn’t deserve to be in a playoff given the breaks he caught on the back nine — the easy missed birdie putts; the tee shots that narrowly avoided getting wet.

And then he holes out from the bunker to win, in front of one of the loudest galleries, bar none, on the tour.

When he saw it roll into the hole, Spieth tossed his club away like a tomahawk, then leapt and bumped hips with his caddie as the crowd roared with delight.

This was a victory to remember.

“That was fun,” Spieth said. “I don’t know how many or if I’ll ever have a moment equivalent to that again; something like that to win a tournament. But, yeah, that was very memorable, and I certainly soaked it in.”

Berger, for his part, handled disappointment well. He spent the first 12 holes treading water — not a bad thing considering Spieth was doing the same and no one else in contention made a serious challenge.

Boo Weekley, the selfproclaimed good old boy from the Florida panhandle, entered Sunday a shot off the lead. The consistency that propelled him to the final pairing failed him, and he finished plus-2 for the day. Charley Hoffman, Patrick Reed and Danny Lee all enjoyed strong rounds, but were too far off the pace at the outset to make a serious challenge.

Berger was the only one to make a move on Spieth. He opened the day going bogey-birdie before running off 10 straight pars. He’d make up three strokes starting with the 13th hole, and an 8-footer on 17 pulled him even for the lead.

On the playoff hole, he drove left into the rough, yet recovered with a decent approach that left him 49 feet from the hole.

Spieth simply made a miraculous shot.

“I knew I needed to hit a bunch of good shots (to pull off a win) and I did,” Berger said. “But you can’t do anything about that. It’s incredible.”

Spieth and Berger have known each other since their days on the junior golf circuits. Both were born in 1993, part of a young stable of rising stars who graduated high school in 2011 and are primed to take over for Woods as the face of the sport.

In victory, however improbable, Spieth felt for his friend, who came darn close to pulling off a jawdropping putt in the playoff.

“I’m like is he really going to make this? Which is just terrible for me to think because I was so much more out of position than he was,” Spieth said. “But at that point I’m like, okay, nothing crazy, Daniel. I need this to be over now. I guess I won it in style, but didn’t win it the proper way for competing against a buddy.”

Proper or not, this will go down in the annals with the best tournaments in Travelers history, an event quickly earning a reputation for Sunday dramatics. From Jim Furyk’s record 58 last year to Kevin Streelman’s tour-record seven birdies in seven holes to win in 2014 to the many playoffs — seven in the past 13 years, now — our state’s PGA stop has gone from insignificant to a summer highlight in a flash.

Spieth, making his Connecticut debut, is already intent on returning to defend his title. He told the crowd he just might buy a house here, and why not? After the unconditional support he received this weekend, he’s in love with the tournament.

“What an amphitheater,” Spieth said. “What a tremendous last four holes, finishing holes, where you can get the crowd super involved with an amphitheater setting. (The roar) yesterday on 15 was pretty loud, but that one (on 18 Sunday) was pretty ridiculous. That was as loud as I think I’ve ever created. It’s up there. Sixteen at Augusta (when Spieth won in 2015) was really a loud one too.”

Yep, he’ll remember this one. And so will everyone else lucky enough to see it in person.