Jordan Spieth won his second straight Easter Sunday title, taking the RBC Heritage on a playoff for the second time in three years. The win marks back-to-back titles for Spieth and cements his position as one of golf’s most dominant players over the past decade.
Jordan Spieth won the RBC Heritage in a playoff for the second straight Easter Sunday title victory. He has now won two out of three tournaments this season.
HILTON HEAD ISLAND, S.C. – HILTON HEAD ISLAND, S.C. – Jordan Spieth rolled in a 10-foot birdie on the 18th hole in regulation, thinking he would have a shot for a playoff. In a playoff to win the RBC Heritage, he hit an even larger shot at Harbour Town’s hallmark hole.
Spieth’s 56-foot approach from a greenside bunker fell 7 inches short of the hole, and he defeated Patrick Cantlay with a tap-in par on the lighthouse hole on Sunday to win his 13th PGA Tour title and second consecutive on Easter Sunday.
Spieth said that there are moments when you believe you’ve played well but aren’t quite good enough to win a tournament. With a smile, he remarked, “I honestly felt like this was that week.” “A lot of things have to go right for me.”
Jordan Spieth poses with the RBC Heritage trophy after winning his second consecutive event on Easter Sunday, one year after winning the Valero Texas Open. Getty Images/Jared C. Tilton
And he was successful in obtaining all of them.
Spieth finished four groups ahead of Cantlay at 13 under par after a 5-under 66 and waited out a superb field that had multiple opportunities to level or pull ahead. All except Cantlay were unable to track down Spieth, who kept away from the activity after completing his round.
Spieth remarked, “Every single putt seems like it’s going in.” “It was a much more nerve-wracking than actually playing,” says the player.
Spieth was confident he’d be overtaken by Cantlay, the FedEx Cup champion, Shane Lowry, a previous Open Championship winner, or Harold Varner III, the third-round leader. Spieth believed his prospects improved when all three parred the par-5 15th, the biggest opportunity for birdie on the back nine.
Spieth was a shot behind Lowry when he finished. Lowry’s shot on the par-3 14th hole, however, flew over the green and into the sea, resulting in a double bogey. After a 69, he ended a stroke behind the leaders.
Spieth went out to loosen up after Cantlay, who was tied for the lead after a birdie on the 17th, shot his approach on the green on the last hole of regulation, convinced he’d be called back after Cantlay made the winning putt.
Cantlay, on the other hand, slipped it by right to set up the playoff.
Cantlay also shot into the front bunker in the playoff, his lie like a cooked egg. He missed the par putt after blasting 35 feet beyond the cup.
In the playoff, Cantlay was 179 yards from the hole and played the same 9-iron he had in regulation. This shot landed short of the green and in a terrible spot.
“Obviously, it’s damned near impossible to get it close with it plugged like that,” Cantlay added.
Spieth, who was three shots behind Varner going into the round, eagled both front-nine par-5s to come back into contention.
Spieth had ended a four-year winless streak by winning the Valero Texas Open on Easter.
When is the next Easter Sunday? The Masters’ final round is arrived.
Spieth, a three-time major winner who won the Masters in 2015, remarked, “That’s wonderful feelings.”
Varner (70), J.T. Poston (64), Cameron Young (66), Sepp Straka (68), and Matt Kuchar were all a shot behind (68).
Spieth has previously won from the bunker. At the 2017 Travelers Championship, he defeated Daniel Berger with a greenside bunker shot on the first extra hole.
Others had a chance to catch Spieth, including Cantlay, who missed a 15-footer for birdie on his 72nd hole. With a birdie on the 17th, Straka equaled Spieth for the lead at 13 under, but bogeyed the 18th as his approach found some gnarly tall grass in front of the green. Varner had birdie opportunities on each of his last four holes, but he failed to convert any of them.
With the early eagles, Spieth took off. He holed out from a greenside bunker on the second hole. He reached the green in two on the fifth hole and rolled in a 24-footer to the delight of the spectators.
With a birdie on the eighth, Spieth moved to 13 under par, but bogeys on the ninth and 11th dropped him to 11 under. With a birdie on the 13th, he moved into striking position, then drove his approach to the drama-filled lighthouse hole to 10 feet and made the birdie putt to go to 13 under.
He arrived in this week upset over missing the cut at Augusta National the week before. “I despised it,” he said. “It was the worst sensation in the world. It was the worst sensation I’d ever had as a golfer.”
That changed in Harbour Town, where Spieth played in front of a delighted, sold-out crowd that was four-deep during his pro-am round on Wednesday.
“I was honestly very astonished by the outpouring of love that everyone showed this week, and I personally felt a lot of it,” Spieth said. “These crowds were incredible considering it was a non-major.”
Because it occurs following the always-grueling Masters week, Spieth has only played the event three times since 2015.
“Winning this event was a dream come true,” Spieth said. “It’s a spectacular golf course.”
Jordan Spieth won the RBC Heritage in a playoff for the second straight Easter Sunday title victory. The leaderboard is updated to 2022. Reference: rbc leaderboard 2022.
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