Magical Weekend of Home Victories For Chris Wood and Jordan Spieth

Post by Sports Writer Derek Clements

CHRIS WOOD produced the best nine holes of his life to win the BMW PGA Championship. The Englishman began the day two behind leader Scott Hend but took the tournament by the scruff of the neck with a birdie at the first, an eagle three at the fourth and further birdies at the fifth, seventh and ninth holes to reach the turn in 29 shots.

By that stage he was three in front. He dropped his first shot of the day at the 10th but bounced straight back with a birdie at the 11th after a brilliant approach shot. And with his rivals struggling, he was now four ahead of YE Yang and Rikard Karlberg, who was already in the clubhouse on eight under par.

Victory in the European Tour's flagship event is worth £630,000 to Wood. More important than that, it rockets him up the Race to Dubai and world rankings and puts him in pole position to make his Ryder Cup debut for Europe at Hazeltine in September.

In the end, Wood made seriously hard work of winning this tournament with a series of dropped shots on the back nine leaving him hanging on for dear life.  He took 40 to play the back nine, his nine-under-par total of 279 good enough to beat Karlberg by a shot.

"I have always wanted to win this tournament," he said. "To do so in front of a home crowd is just brilliant. I used to come here as a junior to watch it. It's a hard finish here and I hit a couple of loose shots coming down the stretch but I played really well over the first 12 holes or so. It's a Ryder Cup year and this win helps me hugely in my goal to make the team."

The day began with another Englishman, Tyrrell Hatton, looking for his maiden victory and yet another, Lee Westwood, seemingly primed to capitalise upon his second-place finish at The Masters. While Wood was holing everything he looked at, Hatton parred the first six holes, but his challenge effectively came to an end with three dropped shots in four holes from the seventh. A 75 secured him a tie for seventh place with Andrew Johnston (67), Martin Kaymer (73), Fabrizio Zanotti (69) and Jaco van Zyl (73).

Westwood, whose troubles with the putter are well documented, had another one of those days when he simply couldn't make anything happen. He birdied the fourth, but dropped shots at the first and ninth and was struggling to keep Wood in sight.

Karlberg reached the turn in 30 with the help of an ace at the second hole. Birdies at the 10th, 11th and 17th helped him back in 35 for a wonderful round of 65 and a total of eight under par. He had to wait to see whether it would be good enough, but in his heart of hearts he knew that it wouldn't be.

But with the main challengers making plenty of mistakes, the Swede knew he had a decent chance of finishing second to Wood. One by one they fell away, and the 6ft 5in Wood realised that if he could par his way in then nobody was going to catch him. He got himself into trouble at the 13th, but saved his par with a 20ft putt. At that point, surely, he knew it was going to be his day.

Julian Quesne, the gifted French golfer, who was playing with Wood, birdied the 12th to join Karlberg on eight under, but gave the shot straight back at the next. Wood offered the chasing pack some hope when he three-putted the 14th, but he still led by three.

Danny Willett, the Masters champion, managed to restore some pride. Leading the way after 36 holes, he stumbled to a 76 in the third round. The Sheffield golfer has admitted that he is struggling to cope with life in the limelight and he was desperate not to repeat his collapse at the Irish Open, where he also led at the halfway stage before collapsing to a last round of 78. This time he got his act together. Yes, there was a double-bogey six at the third, but he followed it with an eagle at the next and then picked up a birdie at the 12th to move seven under par, which is where he finished.

Wood hit a nervy tee shot at the 16th and was unable to find the par four in two. It cost him another bogey and now he was only two in front, but with two par fives to finish. Quesne also dropped a shot at the 16th after missing a tiddler for par. And Wood hit a huge, straight drive at the 17th. He left his second short but then hit a dreadful pitch that failed to reach the green. Now the nerve ends were really jangling as he stared another bogey in the face.  It meant he had to par the 18th to win and he managed to hold on.

James Morrison won a BMW thanks to a hole in one at the 14th - by coincidence, Wood achieved the precisely the same thing 12 months ago. Playing with Andy Sullivan, he celebrated by carrying Sullivan up the fairway to the green.

Scott Hend, who was nine under par when he stepped onto the first tee, reached the turn in 41 and by the time he got to the 12th he was level par for the tournament, and nine over par for the round. The Australian has a temper - it was on display for all to see during this horrific round.

Willett finished third, with Romain Wattel (70), Thomas Aiken (72) and Quesne (72) tied for fourth. Westwood finished on three under par in a tie for 15th place, which was not what he had in mind at the start of the day.

Dean and DeLuca Invitational at Colonial

Meanwhile in America, reports of the demise of the sensation that is Jordan Spieth proved to be grossly exaggerated when he won the Dean and Deluca Invitational at Colonial Country Club in front of a home crowd in Fort Worth, Texas. 

It was the 22-year-old's eighth win on the PGA Tour and his second of the year and it should finally put to rest any suggestion that he has lost the magic. Yes, he blew a lead in The Masters and finished second when he should have made a successful defence of the title. But no golfer has ever got through a career without a blip, and the bad news for Spieth's rivals is that this one may make him an even better player.

It is Spieth's first victory in his home state and it means he has now won more tournaments at the age of 22 than even Tiger Woods managed.

Once again, he struck a number of wayward golf shots but he putted like an angel. He holed a monstrous putt for par at the eighth and reached the turn in level par. He then birdied the 10th, 11th and 12th holes - that was almost routine, what happened thereafter was anything but. He had a miarculous up and down for a bogey on the 13th, a brilliant up and down to save par at the 14th, holed a terrific putt for birdie at the 16th and at the 17th hole, where his tee shot hit a tree and ended up back on the fairway, he holed a chip for a birdie that took him two shots ahead of Harris English and effectively sealed the deal for him. Just for good measure, Spieth rolled in another long putt, this time measuring 35 feet, for another birdie at the last.

Webb Simpson and Ryan Palmer, another Texan, were third on 13 under.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l-JYsytjnw0

He birdied the last three holes for a round of 65 and a 72-hole aggregate of 263, 17 under par. "Michael (Greller, his caddie) was terrific all week," said Spieth. "He kept me positive all week. It is a big deal to win my first tournament in Texas and to win again after what happened to me at Augusta.

"The crowds were fantastic. I holed some great putts today and got a great break at the 17th where I missed the green but found a good lie and chipped the ball in. I am going to be honest - losing the lead at Augusta the way I did took some getting over and I am so proud and happy to have done it in just my third event since then."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-0KMmK2J7ws

It means that the past three weeks have gone like this: Jason Day won The Players Championship, Rory McIlroy won the Irish Open and now Spieth has won in Texas. The Big Three have hit top form just in time for the US Open at Oakmont, widely regarded as the toughest of all major venues in the United States. If you are not licking your lips in anticipation at the prospect then you may want to ask somebody to take your pulse to make sure that you are still alive.

Be sure of one thing. Jordan Spieth will be the man to beat.

Highlights 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HXX4_cY4SYs

Image Credits: Kevin Diss (Golf Course Photography)