Jordan Spieth rallies on back nine to win by 3 at Colonial

Spieth won the Dean & DeLuca Invitational at Colonial Country Club in Ft. Worth, Texas, on Sunday, pulling away for a three-shot win on the back of a nine-putt final nine.

The 22-year-old shot 5-under 30 at Hogan’s Alley to post a second consecutive 5-under 65 and post a 17-under 263 tally.

In picking up his eighth career PGA Tour win and first in his home state of Texas, Spieth needed a little good luck and relied heavily on his short game. For the week, Spieth hit just half of the fairways on the tree-lined course, requiring him to play frequently out of unfavorable rough lies. He often had to get up-and-down for key pars out of bunkers and tall grass — something he did for 54 holes last week at the AT&T Byron Nelson but was unable to do in the final round, when he shot 74 to drop from second place into a share of 18th position.

The putter came alive for Spieth starting at the par-3 eighth, where he made a 32-foot par putt to continue a string of pars to start the round. He went out in even-par 35 with only pars on the card.

Spieth got into gear on the second nine, making three consecutive birdies to start the side, starting with a 20-footer on No. 10. He made short work of the par-5 11th with an easy up-and-down for birdie, then he stuck his approach shot to the 12th to just 4 feet for a simple birdie. 

He was fortunate in two particular instances on the back nine, including on the 13th, when, after a poor tee shot, he bladed his bunker shot toward the water. However, the ball didn’t fly far enough to catch the hazard and Spieth saved bogey. On the par-4 17th, Spieth’s tee shot hit the foot of a volunteer, bouncing from the tree line to the first cut of rough. Then, when Spieth went long with a flier lie for his second shot, he pitched in from behind the green for an unlikely, tournament-clinching birdie.

After playing a safe shot into the par-4 18th, Spieth made the 35-foot birdie putt to finish with a birdie and pick up the victory.

Harris English finished alone in second at 14 under par, while Colonial member Ryan Palmer and Webb Simpson, Spieth’s playing companions in the Sunday final group, each finished tied for third at 13 under par.

Heading into next week’s Memorial Tournament, Spieth, world No. 1 Jason Day and world No. 3 Rory McIlroy have won in their last worldwide start, setting up not only a showdown at Muirfield Village in Ohio but also at the U.S. Open at Oakmont Country Club in early June.

Ryan Ballengee is a Yahoo Sports contributor. Find him on Facebook and Twitter.

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