It can’t be easy to get over blowing a five shot lead on Sunday on the back nine at The Masters. In the 50 days since that Final Round, there probably hasn’t been a single one where Jordan Spieth hasn’t thought about his second green jacket slipping away into Rae’s Creek. That’s why Spieth’s win at Colonial on Sunday, with a scintillating back nine performance, was so important for the 22 year old’s career.
Golf is such a mental game that it’s impossible to overstate how what happened to Spieth at Augusta can come back to haunt you. In spite of Spieth’s massive talent, if he let that collapse consume him, it could do serious damage to a career that looks as bright as anyone since Tiger Woods. And in Spieth’s first tournament since the Masters at The Players Championship earlier this month, it looked like he might need some more time to get back to his old self. While world #1 Jason Day was running away from the field and establishing himself as the best player on planet earth at the moment, Spieth got cut after 36 holes. It didn’t help that Spieth and Day were playing alongside each other and Day beat Spieth by 14 strokes over two rounds.
If the young major champion has proven anything since stepping into golf’s spotlight though, it’s that he has a competitive drive that is truly impressive for someone his age. Already Spieth has shown a remarkable knack to bounce back on the golf course, routinely carding birdies straight after any lost shots (last month’s Masters notwithstanding). Additionally, Spieth said that Day’s increasing lead at the top of the world golf rankings has bothered him and served as motivation. And on Sunday at Colonial, battling for his first victory since the Masters meltdown, it was someone from the gallery at the turn yelling “Remember the Masters” that flipped the switch in the young Texan.
All Spieth did on the back nine Sunday at Colonial was shoot a -5 30 with six birdies and one bogey. That included a chip-in on the 17th hole to extend his lead and all but cement victory.
Impressively, the victory sent him past Tiger Woods into second place behind Sam Snead for most PGA Tour victories before age 23. The win at Colonial was also significant because it was Spieth’s first win in his home state of Texas.
The Colonial Invitational is a really good tournament, but it’s not on the level of the majors or even that next tier of PGA Tour events like The Players or the World Golf Championships or the FedEx Cup. However, even Spieth seemed to realize the importance of his victory on Sunday. After the round he said, “No matter what happens in the next 30 years of my career, this will be one of the most important days that I’ve ever had.”
For Spieth to understand the magnitude of what he accomplished on Sunday shows his focus and maturity to bounce back yet again and realize why it was so important. Every day since the Masters, Spieth has had to hear the questions about what happened at Augusta and the doubts as to how it might affect him going forward. What would happen the next time he was in contention? Would those demons ever come back again? On Sunday Spieth proved to the golfing world that this year’s Masters was only a detour on his way to what promises to be a fascinating climb up the record books over the next couple decades. Most importantly, he proved it to himself.
Jordan Spieth will likely have many, many more victories on the PGA Tour, but none may be important than his eighth career win which came on Memorial Day weekend at Colonial.