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The Valspar Championship was the year’s most thrilling tournament, with a back nine and playoff complete with unlikely up-and-downs, clutch putts and a sudden, decisive winner.
While Jordan Spieth picked up his second PGA Tour win with a 28-foot birdie putt to topple Patrick Reed and Sean O’Hair, the finale demonstrates why Spieth and Reed — both in the Masters field — will be in the mix in four weeks for a green jacket.
Spieth was in trouble after Ryan Moore holed out for eagle on the par-4 sixth, where the Texan made his second straight bogey. However, a no-putt par at the seventh kept him near the pace and steadied him until a back nine move with consecutive birdies to get him back into contention. With the pressure on and his game waning in the final holes, Spieth found ways to get up-and-down for par, including a clutch, playoff-securing recovery on the 72nd hole with Patrick Reed and Sean O’Hair watching.
It wasn’t easy for Reed to get to the house at 10 under par, either, needing a 30-foot birdie putt on his final hole of regulation to secure the clubhouse lead. No matter what you think of him personally, it’s difficult not to admire the professional tenacity to consistently seize opportunities to win, including the 5-under 66 to finish at the Copperhead Course.
The playoff was a delight, too, with Reed getting up-and-down from an impossibly tough, buried lie for a playoff-continuing par. However, on the third extra hole, it was Spieth’s time to win, making that unlikely birdie to lock up the title.
Spieth, who shot a final round of 2-under 69 despite the roller-coaster ride, demonstrated he can win without his best stuff — an important moment for any top-tier professional. He also avenged a playoff loss to Reed at the 2013 Wyndham Championship, a win that set off the Augusta State product’s four-win run into the world top 15, where he now sits in the Official World Golf Ranking. The 21-year-old, who held the lead midway through the final round of last year’s Masters, learned he can battle with one of the world’s best and find his game when it came time to win.
For his part, Reed was able to put aside some self-inflicted bad PR this week and come close to seizing another opportunity to win on the PGA Tour. After letting a similar chance slip away at The Honda Classic in that Monday finish, Reed got back on the horse and didn’t beat himself.
Both of these under-25 stars, who were already in the conversation for Masters favorites, have to now be considered even stronger alternatives to Rory McIlroy or Bubba Watson to win the year’s first major. If the Valspar finale is anything like the back nine on Sunday at Augusta National, Masters patrons should be in store for an all-time great finish.
Ryan Ballengee is a Yahoo Sports contributor. Find him on Facebook and Twitter.
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