Jordan Spieth holed a miraculous 60-foot shot from the bunker for the winning playoff birdie on Sunday to win the Travelers Championship at Cromwell, Connecticut.
Spieth, who had a final-round 70, pitched the shot out of the sand and the ball went directly toward the hole before dropping in. He fired his pitching wedge into the ground, did a chest-bump with his caddie and celebrated wildly after the improbable shot.
His four-round score was 12-under 268, the same total as Daniel Berger, who birdied three of the final six holes to force the playoff with a 67.
Spieth, 23, has 10 PGA Tour victories, joining Tiger Woods as the only players in the modern golf era to reach that total before the age of 24. Woods won 15.
Berger came up empty on a 50-foot birdie putt that would have forced a second playoff hole.
Charley Hoffman (66) and New Zealand’s Danny Lee (67) finished third at 10 under. Patrick Reed (66), England’s Paul Casey (69) and Boo Weekley (72) were another shot back.
Northern Ireland’s Rory McIlroy, who barely made the cut on Friday, finished with a 64 and tied for 17th at 274.
Couples takes American Family Insurance Championship
Fred Couples showed no rust after a two-month layoff, shooting a 6-under-par 66 in the final round Sunday to win the American Family Insurance Championship in Madison, Wisc., by two shots over Scott Verplank.
Couples, who recorded his 13th victory on the PGA Champions Tour, finished the three-round event at 15-under 201.
“I am thrilled that I hit the ball very, very well today,” Couples said, according to PGATour.com. “So when you’re off, you kind of get excited to play. You all know, you just get back out there and you play.”
The 57-year-old Couples started the day three strokes behind second-round leader Paul Broadhurst, and Couples was behind by as many as four shots during Sunday’s round.
But Couples had four birdies on the front nine and added birdies on the 10th and 11th holes. He then parred the remaining seven holes to claim the title.
“I can take time off and hit the ball, that’s not really the problem,” Couples said. “It’s the scoring part. I was a little edgy today playing and I felt like the reason being is because I knew I could shoot a good score. But if Paul shot a decent score, no one was really going to catch him.”
Broadhurst fired a one-over 73 in the final round and finished fifth, four strokes behind Couples.
“Just lost my way a little bit,” Broadhurst said. “The swing wasn’t quite in synch. I lost my lead and I just didn’t play well enough today, simple as that.”
Verplank needed birdies coming down the stretch to catch Couples, but he completed his third round with four pars.
“I putted good enough to win but I didn’t really drive it good enough,” Verplank said. “I just didn’t get myself into enough good spots. And when I did, I hit some really bad wedge shots.”
Steve Stricker, who had a final-round 69, and Joe Durant, who finished with a 67, ended up tied for third, a stroke behind Verplank.
“I’m tired,” said Stricker, who had to qualify to get into the U.S. Open before finishing 16th in that event. “This is six out of seven weeks playing, and the last two have been full of excitement and pressure. It’s been great, don’t get me wrong, but I’m ready for a little time off and get away from the game a little bit and then come back again, recharge and refresh.”
Ryu wins NW Arkansas Championship
So Yeon Ryu of South Korea shot a 2-under-par 69 in her final round to win the Walmart NW Arkansas Championship on Sunday at Rogers, Arkansas.
Ryu, who shot a course-record 61 on Saturday to open a five-stroke lead entering the final round and finished two shots ahead of countrywoman Amy Yang and Thailand’s Moriya Jutanugarn.
The world’s third-ranked player, Ryu is projected to supplant No. 1 Ariya Jutanugarn for the top spot when Monday’s rankings are released. Ariya Jutanugarn did not compete in the event.
Ryu finished at a tournament-record 18-under 195 to become the second multiple winner on the LPGA Tour this season while picking up her fifth career victory. She also won at the ANA Inspiration in April for her second major title.
The only misstep for Ryu in the final round was a bogey at No. 11, allowing the fast-closing Yang to get within two shots. However, Ryu birdied the next hole to double her lead and coasted to the victory.
Ryu admitted having such a sizable lead entering the day made her “nervous” but said a birdie on the par-3 third hole calmed her down.
“To be honest, compared to the last two days, today wasn’t a really great game so I had to really keep myself to, ‘OK, don’t comparing to any other rounds, just keep focused,’” Ryu said. “Yesterday my (sports) psychologist said don’t try to be perfect, so I think that was really key word on the golf course today.”
Yang had eight birdies, an eagle and three bogeys in her round of 64 while Moriya Jutanugarn closed with a 66, capping it with a birdie-eagle finish.
“I get a lot of confidence from this week and hopefully keep playing solid and finish in another good week,” said Jutanugarn, who posted her fourth straight top-10 finish.
Michelle Wie matched Yang with a final-round 64 to finish in a tie for fourth place with American Stacy Lewis (69) at 13-under 200. Wie had eight birdies while Lewis also eagled No. 18 to offset a bogey and double bogey on the back side.