DEAN & DELUCA Invitational:
Overnight leader Jordan Spieth birdied his final three holes en route to an inward 30 and 5-under 65, winning the DEAN & DELUCA Invitational by three over runner-up Harris English.
The 22-year-old claims his eighth PGA TOUR title in his 95th career start and second of the season in 12 events, joining three-time winner Jason Day and two-time winner Adam Scott as multiple champs this season.
It’s his first TOUR win in his home state of Texas and came in his fourth appearance at Colonial CC. The Dallas native and resident was T2 here last year on 11-under, also with a closing-65, and won this year with an aggregate of 17-under 263 (67-66-65-65). He is the fifth Texas native to win the DDI and first since Ben Crenshaw in 1990.
The University of Texas product improves to 6-for-11 when the 54-hole leader/co-leader and 2-for-3 this season. He was the 54-hole leader at the Hyundai TOC by five and won by eight, and was the 54-hole leader at the Masters by one and ended up co-runner-up, losing to Danny Willett by three.
With 500 FedExCup (FEC) points for the win, Spieth jumps from No. 7 in the FEC standings to No. 3; 357 points behind Day, and remains No. 2 in the Official World Golf Ranking (OWGR), also behind Day. Spieth (8) surpasses Tiger Woods (7) for the second-most wins on TOUR by a player 22 years of age or younger – Horton Smith’s total of 14 will forever be safe.
How He Won on Sunday:
Prior to his dramatic run to the finish, Spieth had lost his overnight one-shot lead after opening with nine consecutive pars. However, all pars are not like the other. At the par-3 eighth, he airmailed his tee shot long and left and his pitch barely made the surface.
In a first sign of things to come, Spieth canned the par putt from 32’2”. He followed with a routine two-putt par at the ninth to turn even-par 35. At that point, Spieth trailed English by two.
Leaderboard:
Harris English: -14 (thru 10 holes)
Kyle Reifers: -13 (thru 10)
Ryan Palmer: -13 (thru 9)
Anirban Lahiri: -12 (11)
Jordan Spieth: -12 (9)
Matt Kuchar: -10 (10)
Webb Simpson: -10 (9)
Spieth drilled a 20-footer for birdie-3 at the 10th, sparking a run of three straight circles, before suffering a lone bogey at the par-3 14th on a failed sand save.
In a second sign of things to come, Spieth dropped a 13-foot par-saver at the par-4 14th and after a two-putt par at 15, came to the 16th tied with English, who was playing one group ahead in the penultimate threesome.
Spieth curled in birdie-2 from 20’4” to move one ahead, pitched-in from over the green at the par-4 17th for birdie-3, and just for good measure, splashed a 34-footer at the last for a walk-off birdie-3.
Webb Simpson and Ryan Palmer, who completed the final threesome, were first-hand witnesses to the magic. Each shot 68 to share third place.
Winner’s Key Stats (ranking of 70 players):
Scrambling: 18/21 (1st) at 85.71 percent
Putts made over 20 feet: 7 (1st)**
**Note: Spieth leads the TOUR in this stat with an average of 2.6 per event. Four of his SEVEN this week came in the final round.
Distance of putts made: 431’6” (1st), including 151’7” in the final round.
Total Putts: 105 (T1); by round: 29-28-24-24
Birdies: 22 (T1)
Bogeys: 5 (T1)
Par-3 Scoring: 2.88 (T6)
Par-4 Scoring: 3.83 (T3)
Par-5 Scoring: 4.13 (2nd)
Other Stats:
Driving Accuracy: 28/56 (T54) at 50.00 percent
Greens in Regulation (GIR): 51/72 (T17) at 70.83 percent
Proximity to Hole: 34’8” (T60)
Putts per GIR: 1.647 (T4)
Strokes gained: Tee-to-Green (SGTTG): 8.358 (7th)
Strokes gained: Putting (SGP): 9.089 (2nd)
Golf Channel Perfect Picks ($2,535,113):
Group 1: Jordan Spieth (1st): $1,206,000
Group 2: Harris English (2nd): $723,600
Group 3: Webb Simpson (T3): $388,600
Group 4: Martin Piller (T6): $216,913
Draw:
Preferred lies were in effect for Rounds 1 and 2. Thursday’s first round was delayed for 91 minutes (dangerous weather) though the entire field of 121 was able to finish, even with P.M. tee times being delayed by 75 minutes.
The start of Round 2 Friday was delayed by 5.5 hours (thunderstorms) and didn’t kick off until 12:30 p.m. CT. Play was eventually suspended at 8:21 p.m. due to darkness with 61 stranded (entire P.M. wave). Round 2 restarted on Saturday at 7:30 a.m. and ended at 10:30 a.m. with 70 players making the cut on 1-over 141.
Despite the delays and suspensions, EARLY/late was easily the better part of the draw with 44 (of 60) making the cut (1 WD), versus 26 (of 60) LATE/early.
Of the four top-finishers in Golf Channel, two emerged from each part of the draw while the champion was a LATE/early.
Jordan Spieth (Won): Late/early
Harris English (2nd): Early/late
Webb Simpson (T3): Late/early
Martin Piller (T6): Early/late
Of the top-nine finishers overall, six were EARLY/late. Joining English and Piller were Ryan Palmer (T3), Kyle Reifers (5th), Jason Dufner (T6) and Anirban Lahiri (T6).
Yahoo! Low Rounds:
R1: Bryce Molder (64)
R2: Jordan Spieth, Martin Piller, Kevin Kisner (66)
R3: Matt Kuchar (63)
R4: Chad Campbell (63)
Runner-up:
14-under 266 (67-69-64-66)
Harris English: The 26-year-old hung up a 4-under-par 32-34=66 in the final round to wrap his fourth appearance on 14-under 266, up two spots to solo second, three shy of Spieth.
Playing out of the penultimate threesome, he began the finale on 10-under (T4) after opening in 67-69-64, two back of Spieth. The Georgian raced out with a hole-out eagle at the par-5 first from 83 yards away and added back-to-back birdies on holes 7 and 8. He “saved” bogey-5 at 9 (from 8'4") after putting his second into the water, reaching the break on 2-under.
English moved to 14-under with birdie at 10 and at that point, led by one over two players and by two over Spieth. He circled the 11th before squaring the 12th (failed sand save) and then mustered six straight pars to close while Spieth raced by with the dazzling 30.
English nets a season best and third top 10 (18 starts), first since 10th at the WGC-Cadillac Championship. It’s his second career runner-up in his 128th start and best finish at the DDI in four tries, eclipsing T5 on debut in 2012.
English co-led with Spieth in total birdies with 22 but was T17 in bogeys with eight and T26 in doubles with one.
3rd-Place (x2):
Ryan Palmer: The Colonial CC member pieced together a 2-under-par 33-35=68 in the final round to post 13-under 267, down one place into a two-way T3, four adrift of Spieth.
This was the Texan’s 13th consecutive appearance in Fort Worth and third top 10, joining a pair of T5s in 2014 and 2012. He was chasing his fourth TOUR title in his 332nd career start and first since the 2010 Sony Open.
After opening in 66-67-66, the 39-year-old began in a two-way T2 on 11-under, one back of Spieth. He reached the turn on 13-under total following a three-birdie one-bogey first half, now one back of then-leader English.
Palmer stalled out from there, exchanging bogey at 14 with a closing-birdie at the 18th (from 24 inches). On a positive note, his T3 is a season best in 15 events and second top 10 (T4, Valero Texas Open).
The Texas A&M alum was No. 1 in SGTTG at 13.665 but 45th in SGP at -0.218.
Webb Simpson: The 30-year-old rallied for a 2-under-par 36-32=68 in the final round to conclude his third appearance on 13-under 267, down one spot into a two-way T3, four back of Spieth.
This was his first start since welcoming his fourth child on May 10th and first appearance at Colonial CC since back-to-back missed cuts in 2009-10. He co-led after 36 holes with 65-67 and began the finale in a two-way T2 on 11-under after 67 in R3, one shy of Spieth.
Playing out of the final threesome, the Wake Forest alum bobbed and weaved to a two-birdie three-bogey 36, dropping to tied-sixth at the break. He righted the ship from there, coming home in bogey-free 3-under, circling the 11th from 11'2" and back-to-backs on 16 and 17, both from inside of seven feet.
This is the North Carolinian’s first top 10 of the season in 11 starts and first since T6 at the Wyndham Championship in his home state last August. He showed his resilience by finishing No. 1 in bounce-back percentage at 71.43 percent.
Surprises:
Kevin Kisner: The 32-year-old crafted a 4-under-par 33-33=66 in the final round to conclude his third appearance on 8-under 272, up 10 into a three-way T10.
Kisner finished T5 here a year ago so a return to Colonial CC was just what the doctor ordered. He entered the week without a top-20 finish since January, a span of nine events. The South Carolinian posted rounds of 71-66-69-66 and for the week tallied 18 birdies, six in R4, against 10 bogeys, two in the finale. It’s his fifth top 10 of the season in 16 starts and first since T5 at the Sony Open in January.
Kyle Reifers: For a second week in a row, Reifers was in contention on the back nine on Sunday. At last week’s Nelson, he was in a four-way T2 on 14-under, three back of Brooks Koepka, but came home in birdie-less 2-over 37, dropping to T10.
This week, the 32-year-old began the finale on 10-under (T4) after opening in 66-67-67 and went out in 2-under 33, highlighted by three straight birdies on the Horrible Horseshoe (holes 3-5).
After a fourth birdie of the round at the par-4 10th, he had once again climbed to T2, within one of then-leader English, but played his final eight holes in birdie-less 1-over.
The Wake Forest alum squared his second bogey of the round with a walk-off 5, dropping out of a would-be three-way T3, but still earned a season best with solo fifth and fourth top 10 on 22 starts. He posted three top 10s in the four Texas stroke-play events, adding a T7 at the Shell Houston Open and the aforementioned T10 at the Byron Nelson.
For the week, Reifers circled 19 birdies against seven bogeys and was No. 1 in greens in regulation at 81.94 percent (59/72), 15 in the finale. He is the TOUR leader in total birdies with 278 in 75 rounds.
The Columbus, Ohio, native is in the published field at the Memorial in Dublin, Ohio.
Disappointments:
Adam Scott: Making his fifth appearance, the 2014 champ never contended. In fact, he barely made the cut (on the number) with opening rounds of 72-69.
The 35-year-old was second-highest to Spieth in both OWGR and pre-tourney odds outright, but struggled to a T55 on 2-over 282 (72-69-71-70). He ranked 11th in SGTTG at 4.849 but was DFL in SGP at -6.402, including -2.087 in R4.
What We Learned:
The pre-tourney odds-favorite(s) have won just TWICE this season thru 29 events and Spieth has both of them, winning this week as a 6/1 and the Hyundai TOC in January (4/1).
In total, 18 of the Top 50 OWGR were in the field; THREE finished in the Top 10:
No. 2: Spieth (Won)
No. 20: Matt Kuchar (T6); third straight top 10
No. 25: Kisner (T10)
Three missed the cut:
No. 14: Louis Oosthuizen; second straight MC
No. 27: Jim Furyk
No. 34: Kevin Chappell
There were 21 first-timers in field of 121, including seven (of 17) TOUR rookies.
First-time member (not a rookie) Anirban Lahiri (65-70-68-68), who led the field in birdie or better conversions at 42.00 percent, and sponsor invite and Texan Martin Piller (66-66-68-71) shared top honors of the debutants with T6s on 9-under 271. Piller co-led after 36 holes. He was the only player in the final two threesomes on Sunday to not shoot a sub-par round.
Emiliano Grillo was top rookie with a T55 on 2-over 282 (69-69-71-73).
Up Next:
The TOUR departs Texas for the Buckeye State and this week’s Memorial Tournament at Muirfield Village GC. David Lingmerth is the defending champion, winning his first TOUR title with par on the third hole of sudden death over 2010 champion Justin Rose.
Stay tuned to this space for all the latest player news and analysis as the TOUR readies for its 30th tournament of the season.
