Texas triumph snaps Spieth’s dry spell
Holds off ex-rebel Hoffman with 6-under 66
SAN ANTONIO — Jordan Spieth tapped in for par to win the British Open for his third major and 11th victory in just five years on the PGA Tour. He never imagined he would go 1,351 days before he felt that way again.
He went 82 events without winning. Once the No. 1 player, he was headed out of the top 100 in the world. Now he’s back.
Spieth ended a mystifying slump Sunday by giving himself birdie chances and making most of them, closing with a 6-under 66 to hold off Charley Hoffman for a two-shot victory in the Valero Texas Open.
“There’s peaks and valleys in this sport, but I never expected to go this long,” Spieth said. “Back then, in between wins, maybe I took things more for granted than I should have. It’s very difficult to win out here, and I’ll certainly enjoy this one as much as I have any other.”
The only surprise was that he figured he would be more emotional. He was too busy holding off Hoffman, the former UNLV standout who went from a threeshot deficit with six holes to play to one shot behind. Spieth all but sealed it with a wedge to a back pin to 5 feet for birdie.
“This is a monumental win for me,” Spieth said. “It’s been a long road. There were a lot of times that I didn’t know I would be here.”
Now he heads to Augusta National as one of the favorites at the Masters.
The 27-year-old from Dallas showed signs of turning it around after starting the year by missing the cut at Torrey Pines. He was tied for the 54-hole lead in Phoenix. He led by two going into the final round at Pebble Beach. He was two behind going into the last day at Bay Hill. He reached the weekend of the Dell Match Play.
“I’ve had a chance on Sundays three or four different times in the last two months, and today was by far the best that I played,” Spieth said. “Just to see those putts go in, I felt like I was doing everything right those other Sundays and I hit good putts and they wouldn’t go in. Today I hit a couple that I didn’t quite strike very well, but they went in.”
Spieth built a three-shot lead with a birdie on the 12th hole, and then Hoffman made him sweat.
He chipped in for birdie on the par-3 13th and holed a 20-foot birdie putt on the par-3 16th to get within one shot. But he found a bunker off the tee on the par-4 17th and had to settle for par as Spieth moved two shots ahead. They both made par on the closing hole.
“I’ve lost golf tournaments, I’ve won golf tournaments, but today Jordan won the golf tournament,” Hoffman said. “Hats off to Jordan.”
■ LPGA: At Rancho Mirage, Calif., Patty Tavatanakit survived Lydia Ko’s final-round charge to win the ANA Inspiration for her first LPGA Tour victory.
Five strokes ahead entering the final round and six in front after an eagle on the par-5 second, Tavatanakit shot 4-under 68 to beat Ko by two strokes in the season’s first major.
Ko matched Lorena Ochoa’s tournament record with a 62, shooting 7-under 29 on the front nine for the best nine-hole score in event’s 50-year history. The New Zealander began the day tied for seventh at 6 under, eight strokes behind Tavatanakit.
Winless since 2018, Ko, 23, played the first 11 holes in 9 under and added a birdie on the par-4 15th. On the par-5 18th, she drove into rough near the water that lines the left side, laid up and hit a wedge 30 feet long and right. Her birdie try missed to the left, stopping inches away.