Jordan Spieth made an emphatic statement with his back nine performance on Sunday at the Dean & DeLuca Invitational to earn his first PGA Tour win in the state of Texas.
Spieth opened with all pars on his front nine, but tore through the back nine with six birdies and just one bogey to post a final round 65 and finish at 17 under, three clear of second place. Spieth closed with birdies on the final three holes of the day, none more impressive than his chip-in on the 17th that put him two shots clear of Harris English and essentially iced his win.
The man of the hour.#QuickHitshttps://t.co/t3jbQOCtYh
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) May 29, 2016
Spieth's performance on the back nine at Colonial shook off any demons still lingering from his meltdown at Augusta National two months ago, and his win sets up a showdown with Jason Day and Rory McIlroy at the Memorial Tournament next week. Day, McIlroy and Spieth, the top three golfers in the world, have now all won their most recent event. Get excited. Grade: A+
Here are the grades for the rest of the field from the Dean & DeLuca Invitational:
Harris English: The runner-up to Spieth went 64-66 on the weekend with his best effort of the season. English's ball-striking was vastly improved this week, as he was 9th in the field in strokes gained tee-to-green despite being ranked outside the top 100 on Tour. English is always an excellent putter, but this week he put together the complete game. Unfortunately for him, he happened to do so the same week Spieth found his complete game. Grade: A+
Ryan Palmer: The Colonial member put on a show for his home course with a T3 finish this week and his best finish of the season. Palmer didn't quite have the magic on Sunday, posting a 2-under 68 as Spieth ran away with the tournament in his group. Even so, it was an impressive showing for Palmer on an emotional week for him as it was his first time playing this event since his father passed away in September 2015. Grade: A
Patrick Reed: I thought Reed would be a factor this week, but he never made a move on the weekend. Reed's been a machine with eight top 10s on the season, but after a hot start on Thursday, he couldn't ever get truly into contention on the weekend and finished T15. A solid showing, but with a relatively weak field, it has to feel like a bit of a missed opportunity for Reed. Grade: B
Bryson DeChambeau: The amateur's struggles continue. Since his T4 at the RBC Heritage, he's yet to make a cut in his last four starts. DeChambeau went 70-73 back in the Dallas-Fort Worth area where he went to SMU and is learning quickly how difficult the PGA Tour grind is. Grade: F
Adam Scott: The former champion was the co-headliner with Spieth, but never factored into the conversation. Scott finished the tournament at 2 over in T55 after narrowly making the cut. It was the second worst finish for Scott on the season and has to be a disappointment for the former Colonial champion. Grade: D
