Easter Sunday was friendly to Jordan Spieth for the second straight season, with Spieth winning his first PGA Tour event in more than a year by capturing the 2022 RBC Heritage with a performance from behind. Spieth (-13) moved into the lead by three adrift in Round 4 but on Sunday posted a 5-under 66 to take the clubhouse lead and Patrick Cantlay in the first Sudden Death Playoff hole for the win to defeat.
After Spieth scored eagles with great momentum to start his round on the 2nd and 5th, he jumped under with a birdie to 13 on the 8th. A few bogeys later, he was again fighting for first place on the leaderboard; However, a birdie on the 13th got Spieth back on track, and another on the 18th — where Spieth missed an 18-inch putt to end Round 3 — sent him into the clubhouse with the lead.
Cantlay shagged to match Spieth on the 17th but couldn’t go any lower, scoring par on the 18th to force the Harbor Town tournament to a sudden death. Spieth and Cantlay both found the bunker on the first playoff hole, but while Spieth hit his with ease from the bunker rim and then pocketed a 6-inch par putt for a fantastic up and down, Cantlay had to dig up his buried ball, shooting over the hole and misses a par putt to tie.
“I won this golf tournament without a putter. It’s one of the worst tournaments I’ve ever putted in,” Spieth told CBS after the round. “I was just trying to be persistent and be really positive on the back nine today. After a couple of missed short puts I made one on 13 and that really put my mind at ease and gave me a shot at 18. I’m very proud of the journey – I’m pretty negative after missing a tap-in here and getting lazy yesterday – I’m glad it didn’t affect it [today].”
It had been over a year since Spieth last won on the PGA Tour when he won the Texas Open last Easter Sunday ahead of the 2021 Masters. Sunday marked his second win since the 2017 Open Championship but 13th overall in his young career. Before his three-year drought, Spieth experienced an absolute rift from 2015-2017, winning three Majors (2015 Masters, 2015 US Open, 2017 Open) along with the 2015 Tour Championship and six other events in that span.
Spieth joined RBC Heritage that year after coming off a missed cut at Augusta National, a feat that clearly motivated him to get back up a week later.
“Last week was really killer for me: my favorite tournament in the world, not being able to play the weekend. So I came in and worked extra hard here. … Felt really good to make a putt that went to 18 Regulation counted there,” said Spieth. “…It feels amazing.”
As for Spieth, he said he usually has a lot of confidence in his putter, so it boosted his confidence to win an event despite struggling with the club all week.
In terms of continuing his tradition today of winning on Easter Sunday, next year could be the biggest such win of his career as next year’s Easter falls on the same Sunday as the 2023 Masters finals.
“Those are good vibes,” said the 2015 Green Jacket winner, who has four other top-three finishes at Augusta National. “I don’t think I really put two and two together. That’s great. What a great day.”
That’s a year away. Spieth has to give autographs for the time being.