USA TODAY International Edition
Spieth snags RBC Heritage playoff
Despite struggling with his putter all week, Jordan Spieth sank the putt when it mattered most. In the shadow of a 90foot- high, candy cane- striped lighthouse rising behind the 18th green, he nailed a 10- foot birdie putt to shoot 5under 66 at Harbour Town Golf Links on Hilton Head Island, South Carolina.
That was enough to overcome an embarrassing miss from 18 inches on Saturday, finish at 13- under 271 and return to 18 and make a par at the first playoff hole to defeat Patrick Cantlay and win the PGA Tour’s RBC Heritage.
Spieth earned his 13th PGA Tour title and first as a father. When Cantlay missed a 35- foot putt to extend the playoff, Spieth’s wife, Annie, rushed on the green with son Sammy in tow.
It was an unlikely win after Spieth struggled with the short stick Saturday, making just 29 total feet of putts and nothing longer than 3 feet. He missed that tap- in par putt at the last hole and entered Sunday trailing by three.
“I thought about it all night. Just like how am I going to get that back?” Spieth admitted. “Then just came out today
and said I’m not going to leave one putt short. And if they miss, they miss, and just try to be a little bit more aggressive, and made just enough to cap it and win.”
Spieth, 28, made his move early with eagles at two of the first five holes. First, he holed out a bunker shot at the par- 5 second and followed by draining a curling 24- foot putt at the fifth.
Just when it looked as if Spieth might be off to the races, he drove up against the lip of a greenside bunker at the ninth hole, had to play out sideways and missed a 5- foot par putt. When he was too aggressive with his birdie putt at the 11th, Spieth missed the comebacker from 5 feet to drop to 11 under.
“The fact that I can hit it this well for four days consistently and not rely on a putter to win a tournament is a good feeling,” he said.
So many players had a shot at the title on Sunday, but Spieth dodged one pursuer after another. At one time nine players were within a stroke of the lead.
Third- round leader Harold Varner III failed to make a birdie on the back nine, including a miss from 35 feet to join the playoff, and shot 70.
Cantlay, the reigning FedExCup champion, tied Spieth with a 9- foot birdie at the 17th and had a 13- foot birdie putt at the last that missed to the right. He signed for a final- round 68. On the first playoff hole, Cantlay was doomed by a plugged lie and exploded to 35 feet and missed the putt.
Spieth claimed his first title since the 2021 Valero Texas Open, also on Easter.