Jordan Spieth played a supremely solid final round to claim his ninth PGA Tour title with a four shot victory over Kelly Kraft in the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am in California.
Jordan Spieth began the final day at the iconic Pebble Beach Golf Links with a six shot lead and he never gave those in pursuit much of a chance to catch him on Sunday.
Spieth carded a final round of 70 with putts for birdie on all but one hole. He played his final 28 holes without a bogey.
After his superb putting performance on Saturday, when he managed 13 single putts and just 23 putts in total, his flat-stick wasn’t so hot during the final round. But he avoided mistakes, he didn’t race putts from above the hole and faced no par putt longer than five feet.
“I played a lot of boring golf today and that’s exactly what we needed,” he said. “That’s a dream round when you’re leading by a bunch.”
Brandt Snedeker played in the final group with Spieth. "Sneds" was looking for his third win at Pebble Beach, but he couldn’t put any pressure on the younger man.
“Jordan didn’t have his best stuff but he did exactly what he was supposed to,” Snedeker said. “Sometimes those rounds when you have the lead are the hardest. It was fun to watch him doing his thing out there.”
Kelly Kraft fired a final round of 67 to come through and take second place. It was a significant finish for the American. Picking up a cheque for over $750,000, he made more money than he did in the whole of last season.
U.S. Open Champion Dustin Johnson finished alone in third with Snedeker fourth.
3 Talking points from the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am
1 – This was Jordan Spieth’s ninth PGA Tour title. He is the first player since Tiger Woods to reach that many titles on the circuit before his 24th birthday. It was the first time Spieth had held a 54-hole lead on the PGA Tour since last year’s Masters when he blew a five shot lead on the run for home. He is the seventh straight winner on the PGA Tour in his 20s. “This is a bucket-list place to win,” he said. “Here, St Andrews, Augusta, there are just a few in the world.”
2 – Jason Day might have contended for the win had it not been for a third round of 75. Despite that blip, he still finished in a tie for fifth thanks to first and second rounds of 69 and 64 and a closing 67.
Jason Day swing sequence:
3 – Ken Duke and TV personality Carson Daly won the Pro-Am section of the competition. They ended the week on 33-under-par. Kevin Streelman and Arizona Cardinals player Larry Fitzgerald were second.
AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am Pebble Beach Golf Links, California Feb 9-12 Purse $7,200,000 par 72
1 Jordan Spieth (USA) 68 65 65 70 268 $1,296,000 2 Kelly Kraft (USA) 69 70 66 67 272 $777,6000 3 Dustin Johnson (USA) 70 69 66 68 273 $489,600 4 Brandt Snedeker (USA) 68 69 67 70 274 $345,600 T5 Jason Day (Aus) 69 64 75 67 275 $262,800 T5 Gary Woodland (USA) 70 73 67 65 275 $262,800 T5 Jon Rahm (Esp) 73 67 67 68 275 $262,800 T8 Seung-Yul Noh (Kor) 68 71 69 70 278 $216,000 T8 Rob Oppenheim (USA) 69 69 68 72 278 $216,000 T10 Mackenzie Hughes (Can) 70 70 68 71 279 $172,800 T10 Kevin Kisner (USA) 72 67 71 69 279 $172,800 T10 Cameron Percy (Can) 73 66 71 69 279 $172,800 T10 Nick Taylor (Can) 70 70 68 71 279 $172,800
Note: Player score in bold signifies Titleist ball usage
