Spieth wins in a breeze
Pebble Beach walk in the park for Texan
PEBBLE BEACH, Calif. — Jordan Spieth soaked up every step of scenery on the 18th hole at Pebble Beach, one of the prettiest places in golf and even more spectacular on a Sunday when the only work left is to hoist the crystal trophy.
All that was missing from the AT&T Pebble Beach ProAm were the highlights.
That’s just how Spieth wanted it.
Staked to a six-shot lead, Spieth never gave anyone much of a chance by putting for birdie on all but one hole. The lone highlight was his 30-foot birdie putt on the 17th
hole with the Pacific Ocean as a backdrop, and by then it was already over.
“Played a lot of boring golf today,” Spieth said, “which was exactly what we needed.”
The only disappointment for Spieth was not winning the pro-am with country singer Jake Owen. They tied for third, four shots behind Ken Duke (Arkadelphia, Henderson State) and Carson Daly.
Spieth closed with a 2-under 70 for a four-shot victory over former U.S. Amateur champion Kelly Kraft, a
close friend from Dallas who couldn’t get a putt to fall that might have put a little pressure on Spieth.
As easy and clinical as Spieth made it look, it was no less special.
“This is a bucket-list place to win — here, Augusta Na- tional, St. Andrews, there’s only a few in the world. It feels really special. It was amazing walking up the 18th green knowing that we were going to win. It’s just such a unique position. I tried to soak in.”
It was his first 54-hole lead on the PGA Tour since the Masters, where he lost a fiveshot lead on the back nine. On this day, Spieth thought back to the 2000 U.S. Open at Pebble Beach and the way Tiger Woods closed out his record 15-shot victory by trying not to drop a shot in the final round. Woods didn’t make a bogey over the final 26 holes in severe conditions. On a course saturated by rain, Spieth played the final 28 holes without a bogey. His longest par putt Sunday was 5 feet.
“That’s a dream round when you’re leading by a bunch,” Spieth said.
The 23-year-old Texan won for the ninth time in his PGA Tour and became the first player since Woods with that many victories before turning 24. Woods won 15 times. Equally impressive is that Spieth won for the fifth time by at least three shots.
“He didn’t have his best stuff, but he did exactly what he was supposed to do and played a great round of golf,” said Brandt Snedeker, a twotime Pebble winner who played in the final group with Spieth and shot 70 to finish fourth. “Sometimes those are the hardest rounds of golf, when you have the lead that he had. It was fun to watch him do his thing out there.”
Kraft, who closed with a 67, settled for a couple of consolation prizes. The $777,600 for second place was nearly double his earnings from his rookie season last year. He also earned a spot at Riviera next week in the Genesis
Open.
U.S. Open champion Dustin Johnson closed with a 68 to finish alone in third, enough to have a chance to reach No. 1 next week if he were to win.
Spieth became the seventh consecutive PGA Tour winner in his 20s, and he got back into the hunt for No. 1. He had fallen far enough behind that even by beating a strong field at Pebble Beach, it will not move him from No. 6.
Jason Day, the world No. 1, bounced back from his 75 on Saturday with a 67 to tie for fifth with Gary Woodland (65) and Torrey Pines winner Jon Rahm (68).
Duke finished 23rd overall after a 3-under 69 left him at 6 under and a $56,520 paycheck.
Tag Ridings (Arkansas Razorbacks) shot a 4-under 68 on Sunday and earned $38,040 for his 5-under finish which left him in a tie for 33rd.
CHAMPIONS TOUR Eagle boosts McCarron BOCA RATON, Fla. — Scott McCarron eagled the par-5 18th hole to win the Allianz Championship for his third PGA Champions Tour victory in his last 17 starts.
McCarron, 51, hit a 7-iron shot from 179 yards to 6 feet to set up the eagle, his second of the day after an 80-foot putt on the par-5 seventh. He closed with a 5-under 67 for a one-stroke victory over Kenny Perry and Carlos Franco.
McCarron finished at 17-under 199 on The Old Course at Broken Sound. He opened with consecutive 66s to take a share of the lead into the final round.
Franco shot a 65, and Perry had a 66, with each making birdie on 18.
Glen Day (Little Rock) finished tied for 73rd at 3 over and won $1,190.
John Daly (Dardanelle, Arkansas Razorbacks) withdrew after seven holes Sunday, citing a back issue according to Golf Channel. Daly made back-to-back bogeys on Nos. 6 and 7 and reportedly threw his putter into a lake behind the seventh green before leaving the course without comment.
EUROPEAN TOUR Zanotti closes strong KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia — Paraguay’s Fabrizio Zanotti closed birdie-eagle for a 9-under 63 and a onestroke victory in the Maybank Championship.
Zanotti made a 15-foot eagle putt on the par-5 18th to finish at 19-under 269 at Saujana Golf and Country Club. American David Lipsky was second after a 67.
The tournament was sanctioned by the European and Asian tours.