Spieth finished with at 30 under par for…
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It may be his first PGA Tour tournament of 2016, but Spieth has picked up right where he left off past year when he won two majors and five titles. Through five tournaments, starting with Kapalua, he was 100-under par while traveling 38,000 miles. “It worked this week and all parts of the game were firing”.
But he fell short of Ernie Els’ record of 31-under for 72 holes when his birdie attempt on the 17th fell a foot short of dropping in.
Five players have shot 28 under par in a 72-hole PGA Tour event – most recently Patrick Reed at the 2014 Humana Challenge and Phil Mickelson at the 2013 Waste Management Phoenix Open.
All week long, Spieth and Reed’s short games were terrific.
His 24-under 195 is one shot shy of the 54-hole record Els set at Kapalua in 2003.
Spieth claimed his seventh PGA Tour title, matching Tiger Woods in the process for the most career wins before the age of 23.
Spieth is hopeful that he can continue on this positive note throughout 2016, while downplaying comparisons to Woods. Oh, and it was his 77th pro start.
“If you’re talking about how to control a lot of the noise on the outside and really stay disciplined and strive towards something else, I’m trying to figure some of that out on my own because everyone is different”, Spieth observed.
“At the end of the day if you would have told me coming into this week with the wind blowing hard third and fourth round that I was only going to have one bogey for the week, I would have taken it”, Reed said. “Michael [Greller, his caddie] said to me on the 18th fairway, “Man, just a way to make a statement”. So for Brooks to get that score is insane. Spieth answered with a two-putt birdie in the group behind him and then rolled in a 15-foot birdie putt on the 10th and was on his way.
Koepka had an eventful first seven holes, going one under without carding a par. It’s impressive to watch. “It’s fun to watch”.
Once Reed got within three shots, Spieth immediately birdied the ninth and 10th holes to get to 27-under and extend his lead to five.
Spieth played Kapalua four times before the official start of tournament week, including two rounds with Brandt Snedeker, who shot a 65 and was nine shots back along with Fabian Gomez of Argentina, who had a 70. When Reed bogeyed the 15th, his race was run.
Everyone else was playing for points – FedEx Cup, world ranking, Ryder Cup.
The way this week has been going, who could blame them?
Branden Grace was a further shot back after a bogey-bogey finish in his resumed round alongside Jbe Kruger who completed a 70 on Friday as South African golfers dominated the leaderboard. That was good for fifth place. I think it’s awfully early [in his career].
Even so, comparisons with Woods in golf can only mean great play, and no one is playing better these days.
The victories keep piling up, and so does the confidence.
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As he did for last season’s majors, where he finished 1-1-4-2, Spieth came to Hawaii mentally ready. “When Tiger is in contention, why is his record so phenomenal? But everyone else knew that he could do it and maybe tried to do a bit too much”. “I’m extremely pleased, especially the way we bounced back after that stretch eight through 11”, the Masters and US Open champion said after a round that also included seven birdies. “I just think it’s premature, but I’ll say that probably my entire career”, he said. It’s not why I do what I do. I don’t do it to talk back to any the players or people that believe that it’s not possible, that I got a lucky year or something. He added that his main motivation for winning was “guaranteeing I’ll be here next year”.
