That is why we watch the PGA Tour, plain and simple. The final round at The Valspar Championship was one heck of a Sunday.
This was the best golfing Sunday on the PGA Tour since Rory McIlroy out dueled Phil Mickelson and Rickie Fowler in the dark at the PGA Championship.
There were so many great shots and lead changes coming down the stretch it had the feel of a major championship.
Jordan Spieth may have been the last man standing but there were some heroic charges by his fellow professionals.
Spieth was able to drain a 28 foot birdie putt on the third playoff hole for the win but the fireworks started long before that.
Ryan Moore started the day with a one shot lead and after he birdied eleven and twelve he was in the lead at -11. But two bogeys before he got to the 72nd hole forced him to have to birdie eighteen to get into the playoff. He missed his chip in from the rough to fall out of contention.
Sean O’Hair started the day three off the lead and sitting at 401st in the Official World Rankings. The 2005 Rookie of the year has spent the last two seasons in the hinterlands and was playing here as a past champion. He made the most of it with a solid back nine 31 and an impressive play from the back of the eighteenth green to earn his par and tie for the lead with Reed.
Patrick Reed was four off the lead to start and picked up a shot with a birdie at the first. He also had a great back nine with a 31 and he was the only player among the leaders to card a bogey free round. His 66 was the best round among the leaders and had him in the house waiting to see if there would be a playoff.
Jordan Spieth was channeling his best Phil Mickelson as he flopped shotted his way around the Copperhead Course. He missed his share of greens but always closed the deal with a flop and a one putt. He was three off the lead with six holes left but managed birdies on thirteen and fourteen. It was then that Spieth did his best Phil the Thrill imitation.
It is just Spieth’s second PGA Tour win but this youngster seems to have been around for quite awhile. He’s already been on a Presidents Cup and a Ryder Cup and is one of the brightest stars on the PGA Tour.
Ups and downs were the theme of the day on a tough course and Spieth, Reed and O’Hair treated us to a wonderfully exciting day of golf.
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