WiretoWire: Scottie Scheffler Magical Week At Masters
3 Min Read
Written by Staff
Jordan Spieth doesn’t mind adversity. Sometimes he seems to relish it. The Texan’s career has been defined by a reputation as an ultimate competitor, finding ways to get the ball in the hole even at times when lacking peak proficiency in certain aspects. Case in point, this week’s RBC Heritage. In Saturday’s third round at Harbour Town Golf Links, Spieth ranked 71st of 71 players who made the cut in Strokes Gained: Putting, punctuated with a miss from 18 inches on No. 18. All he did was rally with a final-round, 5-under 66 on Hilton Head Island – including two eagles in the first five holes Sunday – to post 13-under total, playing five groups ahead of the final pairing. It was ultimately enough for a playoff with Patrick Cantlay, and Spieth won with a sand-save par on the first extra hole, blasting to inches from narrowly outside the front bunker lip on No. 18, then watching as Cantlay failed to get up-and-down from a fried-egg lie in the same bunker. After a pair of misses from inside 6 feet Sunday, Spieth resurrected his clutch gene on the greens when he needed it most, delivering a 10-foot birdie on the 72nd hole before securing his first win as a dad, wife Annie and son Sammy on-hand post-playoff for congratulations. With his 13th career PGA TOUR title, Spieth moves to No. 11 in the FedExCup standings, 500 points accrued. “I won this golf tournament without a putter,” Spieth laughed in the immediate aftermath of his victory, yet another testament to his generational competitive agility.
FedExCup leader Scottie Scheffler returns to action after his maiden major title and will pair up with Ryan Palmer to lead the field at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans. A pair of International Presidents Cup teammates in Cameron Smith and Marc Leishman will look to defend their 2021 title. Smith, who has won twice this season including THE PLAYERS Championship, is a two-time winner at the Zurich Classic with two different partners. Young stars Collin Morikawa and Viktor Hovland will pair up. There is plenty of European Ryder Cup firepower at the Zurich Classic with teams including Danny Willet and Tyrrell Hatton, Shane Lowry and Ian Poulter, and Henrik Stenson and Justin Rose. Reigning FedExCup champion Patrick Cantlay is teaming up with fellow Californian Xander Schauffele. TPC Louisiana, a Pete Dye design located just 15 minutes from downtown New Orleans, features 100 bunkers and stretches over 250 acres of wetlands. The team format calls for an alternating-round Four-ball and Foursomes format. The first and third rounds will feature Four-ball (best ball), and the second and final rounds will feature Foursomes (alternate shot). Each member of the winning team will earn 400 FedExCup points.
VIDEO OF THE WEEK
MIC CHECK
“The first tee shot wasn’t as nerve-wracking as I thought it would be. The game didn’t feel anywhere near as bad as I thought it was. It was pretty exciting.” - Morgan Hoffmann discusses his return to the TOUR
BY THE NUMBERS
4 - Aces by Corey Conners in the past three seasons. Conners made a hole-in-one in Round 1 last week on the seventh hole at Harbour Town.
80 - Number of teams competing at this week’s Zurich Classic of New Orleans.
45 - Tyson Alexander’s combined score under par at the last two Veritex Bank Championships. Alexander won it for the second consecutive year, becoming the first player to successfully defend a Korn Ferry Tour title.
COMCAST BUSINESS TOUR TOP 10
The Comcast Business TOUR TOP 10 highlights and rewards the extraordinary level of play required to earn a spot in the TOP 10 at the conclusion of the FedExCup Regular Season as determined by the FedExCup standings. The competition recognizes and awards the most elite in golf.