Jordan Spieth had a great final round at Sentry.
And his 332-yard drive on the par-5 15th landed in a deep divot just outside the fairway. His ball also landed right next to Harris English's, creating a unique situation.
English was played first. Spieth then returned the ball to its resting place.
“We had to put it in his divot, so it went even deeper,” Spieth explained.
This unfortunate situation kept Eagle from playing and was a harbinger of things to come for the three-time major champion.
On the very next hole, the par-4 16th, Spieth hit his drive into the bunker on the right side of the fairway. But instead of his drive rolling back into the flat part of the trap, his ball buried itself in the lip.
It would have been a miracle for Spieth to make par from there, as he was forced to chip out sideways. After that, he couldn't get up or down from 73 yards and settled for bogey.
“I missed the call on the 16th, otherwise that could have happened. I should have looked at Birdie better,” Spieth admitted.
“If I had hit the drive where I wanted it, it would have been less in than the third one.”
Spieth hit a drop shot on the 16th, ending any chance of victory.
Then, on the 17th, a beautiful downhill par-4, Spieth's tee shot landed in another divot.
“Here, the balls are often concentrated in the same spot. It's not unusual for opinions to diverge,” Spieth explained.
“Three holes in a row was a little unpleasant, but it was the plug that cost me a full shot. I was still able to play the other songs just fine.”
Sure, Spieth had a great shot. 15th par 5 And in the end he made birdie. This puts him at 27 under par for the tournament, putting him within striking distance of Chris Kirk and Saheeth Segala.
However, with a bogey on the 16th and another birdie on the 18th, Spieth finished with a total of 27 under. He shot an 8-under 65 on Sunday, finishing two strokes behind Kirk, who won his first at Sentry.
“In the back of my mind, I knew it was going to be a really difficult challenge,” Spieth said.
“I made absolutely no mistakes and just stole a couple more…If you had told me at the beginning of the day that I was 8 under, that's what I would have thought.” [Kirk] Six under would probably be better, but if we were playing with the leaders in the final group, eight under would probably be the playoff – that's what I had in mind. There was incredible golf being played everywhere. ”
Granted, Kirk and Seagala both played well.
But so was Spieth. He made it through with just a few bad breaks. Spieth's lone third-place finish at Kapalua was his fourth career top-three finish on Maui. His last record was in 2017, when he tied for third place.
He is next scheduled to compete in the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am at Pebble Beach in February, the second signature event of the 2024 season.
Jack Mirko is a golf staff writer for SB Nation's Playing Through.Be sure to check it out @_PlayingThrough Cover more golf. You can follow him on Twitter @jack_milko In the same way.
