Jordan Spieth has quashed the Mark Twain adage “reports of my death are greatly exaggerated” as it applies to his golf game with a stunning six birdies on the back nine on his way to 17-under and a three-shot victory at the Dean and Deluca Invitational in Fort Worth.

Colonial Country Club has the storied Wall of Champions next to the first tee and it holds names like Hogan, Snead, Palmer, Trevino, Crenshaw, Watson, and Mickelson. They can now proudly add to it their favorite son’s name as Jordan notched his first professional victory in his home state of Texas.

Ever since his epic collapse on the 12th at Augusta a month and a half ago there have been whispers everywhere that the young knight might never recover from such fall. After missing the cut at The Players people were scratching their heads and with a final round collapse of 74 at last week’s Byron Nelson the growing level of concern turned to full torrent.

But Jordan was determined to right the ship in front of the home town crowd. 67-66-65 was steady improvement and left him with the 54-hole lead coming into Sunday. His record with 54-hole leads is quite impressive for a 22-year old (he has won 4 out of 6 when he led after three round) but then there was that pesky little quad in Amen Corner.

Winning in his own backyard had special meaning to Spieth

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Playing even par over the first nine holes Jordan seem to be ceding his chances to the field but as true champions do Jordan lit it up with three birdies to start the inward nine and sink his nails into the hem of the Red Tartan Blazer that goes to the winner. After a bogey on 13, a huge 14-foot par saving putt on 14 snuck in the corner of the cup to jab fate in the solar plexus. His ensuing par on 15 had him tied for the lead at 14-under with the man with two last names, Harris English.

Here is where championship lore begins once again, a totally improbable finish that will expunge a closet full of demons and put questions of his premature demise to rest. It begins on the Par 3 16th where Jordan hits it into the center of the green leaving a windy 20 footer which he buries for an unlikely birdie. Lead is now 1.

The first fist pump of the trilogy…making birdie on 16…

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On 17 he pulls his drive left seemingly headed for Sherwood Forest only to careen off the leg of a volunteer marshal that propels the ball to a clear line on the edge of the first cut of the rough. From 173 his flyer 9-iron has wings and air mails the green to lodge up against the grandstand. Granted a free drop which makes saving par a possibility Jordan one-ups the field by softly landing his short side pitch on the fringe and feeding it down the short slope into the cup for an earth shattering birdie. Lead is now 2.

Even Jordan was startled by the power of his magic wand on the 17th

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So it only remained to hit it to center of the fairway, center of the green and have three putts to win. Not good enough for the demon dragon slayer, Jordan coolly rolls it in down the slippery slope for one more birdie. Wins by 3.

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One last exclamation point….from 35 feet on the 18th

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@hat we love about Jordan is his realism and humility. Admitting that luck has a lot to do with fate he said of the escapade on 17, “One of the luckiest holes I’ve ever had personally. I hit a guy on the side on the tee ball that goes into the first cut, and then I get that drop and then chip in….If I’m anyone playing against me, I’d be pretty upset at that.”

Anyway you cut it 67-66-65-65 says it all……the Gifted and Talented One Is Back!

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A patriotic look….especially if you hail from the Lone Star State

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May, 2016

They say that truth is so much more interesting than fiction.  When a young American hero story turned into a full blown Shakespearian Tragedy over the back nine at Augusta on Sunday this adage was reiterated in spades.

Jordan Spieth the young Lion King of the PGA Tour led The Masters for three days setting a record having led the Masters over seven consecutive rounds including his wire-to-wire win last year.  But a shaky finish over the last two holes on Saturday night was not sitting well with him.  His long time swing coach flew in from Dallas for a little swing triage in the morning.

It had the desired effect and Jordan,exclusively using his three-wood off the tee, corrected his rightward driving tendency of the day before leaving unobstructed approaches throughout the front nine. He seemed to have a second consecutive Green Jacket in his grasp when he got to 7-under par after a string of four birdies in a row closing out the front nine.  His closest pursuer was five back and was steadily getting smaller in the rear view mirror.

In the midst of Jordan’s birdie barrage on the front nine…everything was going down

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But once he stepped on to the tee for the inward half, that swing flaw revisited and the result was three shots wandering aimlessly right into bother resulting in back-to-back bogies on 10 and 11.  Then standing on the tee at the 150 yard 12^th , one of the most difficult holes in championship golf, the Green Clad Golf Gods must have sensed his mental vulnerability when they stunned him with a pair of taser shots to the midsection.  What  resulted were two balls into the water and a disastrous quadruple bogey 7.   So quickly golf can take a star from fame to infamy and Jordan got the full brunt of that transition in under an hour.

The second of three approach attempts into the 12^th….quite a divot on this one

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As this story goes the White Knight was an unlikely English hero in 28-year old Danny Willett.  Bogey free on the day he seized the moment going birdie-birdie-par from 13 to 15 and then flagged his short iron into the back left pin on the Par 3 16th.  Stoically rolling in the birdie putt to get to 5-under par he built an insurmountable 4–shot advantage over Jordan Spieth in the aftermath of folly on the 12^th.

Hats off to the new Masters Champion walking off the 18^th green

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To those who have followed this young man’s rise to 12^th in the World Golf Rankings this past year this performance is not that much of a surprise.  In 2015 he played steady golf all year taking a share of sixth in the Open Championship on his way to finishing second in the year-long Race to Dubai behind Rory McIlroy.  His 2016 began with a huge win in February at the Omega Dubai Desert Classic against a very strong international field and he followed that with a third in the WGC Cadillac Championship a month later at Doral.

In the tough conditions that prevailed at Augusta this week Danny just seemed to hang around par each day when many with much better golf pedigrees were wilting under the stress of the whipping winds and slick crusty greens.  Jack Nicklaus, who knows a little bit about winning the big one, said of Danny Willett, “What impressed me so much is that when he realized he was in a position to win, he finished it—and that’s the mark of a champion.”

The agony and the ecstasy….from right to left

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To his credit Jordan did not fold up his tent after the 12^th hole debacle he made a couple of scrappy birdies on the two five pars coming in and stuck it inside 10 feet behind the flag on the Par 3 16^th with a chance to close the lead to one.  What a difference a year makes, Jordan had made a longer putt for par on almost the same line to this pin during the final round of his win last year but he over read the break this time and his chances of a heroic rise from the ashes faltered when the birdie putt did not drop.

To the winner the spoils…. a few pieces of memorabilia for the plane flight home

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There is little doubt that the scars from this jarring incident will not heal quickly for young Jordan, but he can take solace in the thought that all great champions have had Major opportunities slip through their fingers early in their careers.  As Tom Watson said in a Masters swan song interview the other day, in spite of all the wins it is the ones that got away that you cannot forget.  Tom did all right for himself down the road.  I am sure that with his competitive constitution Spieth will find motivation in this disaster and do quite fine as well.

April, 2016