IT HAS BEEN a long time coming.
Four years to be precise. But at last Jordan Spieth is back as a winner following his victory here at the Texas Open in San Antonio.
His winless drought ended here as Spieth, without a victory since The Open in 2017, secured his 12th PGA Tour victory, finishing two shots clear of Charley Hoffman, who started the round two shots behind Spieth and Matt Wallace.
Wallace finished third on 14 under, four shots shy of Spieth, two of Hoffman.
Some context is needed. This is not just any ordinary tour victory. Spieth, remember, did remarkable things early in his career. He was the second youngest player to become world No1; at 23 he was the second youngest to reach 10 PGA tour wins; that same year he was the second youngest to win three Majors.
Then came his slump.
There must have been times during the four-year drought when he wondered if he would ever win again. Today he did, his final round of 66 included seven birdies and just one bogey.
“I felt really good from the word go today,” Spieth said afterwards. “I felt like I wanted to come out and have some fun.
“The challenge for me on Sundays when I have been in contention recently has been to be light, to have fun. You know it has been a long road to get back here.”
Along the way his confidence suffered. “There were a lot of times when I was not sure if I would be here, talking about winning again.
“I never really doubted myself to be able to get back but I did lose confidence. This is a monumental win for me.”
Irishmen Graeme McDowell and Padraig Harrington had disappointing afternoons – McDowell dropping 28 places from his overnight position to finish in a tie for 54th, following a two over round.
Harrington finished in a tie for 69th – dropping nine places from his overnight position.
Penny pinching by English Rugby union only 20 players should be 30/40. Shows how mean they are.
@Michael Dunne: can you pick the 30/40 now that they will play the next world cup?, Thats why its 20, plus clubs are better compensated per player. At £32million per year for the next four years, its hardly penny pinching, in fact in an increase on the £28m per year they were playing, don’t forgot they give each club a fee for have x number of EQ players permatch day squad, and acamady targets etc, on top of the 20 players.
@Michael Dunne: Remind me how the number of Central Contracts evolved in Ireland
Steve Borthwick my arse! I see Conor O’Shea’s fingerprints all over this. It could just put English rugby on to a sustainable trajectory, otherwise they become a feeder league for the Top 14.