Spieth bounces back from Masters disappointment to win RBC Heritage

Jordan Spieth admitted the frustration of missing the cut at The Masters helped inspire him to victory at the PGA Tour’s RBC Heritage held at Harbour Town Golf Club in South Carolina.

The 2015 Masters champion missed the cut at the season’s opening major last week, the first time he had done so in eight visits to Augusta, and the reverse proved the catalyst the 28-year-old Texan needed to reset his game.

Spieth overturned a three-stroke deficit over third round leader Harold Varner III on the final day with a closing 66, for a 13-under-par total, before defeating Ryder Cup team-mate Patrick Cantlay on the first extra play-off hole. Spieth won with a par, while Cantlay made a bogey after his second shot plugged in a greenside bunker.
Speaking after securing his 13th PGA Tour title, Spieth said: “I’ve never missed a cut at the Masters before and very rarely had not had a chance to win on the weekend, so I hated it. It was the worst feeling as a golfer that I can remember. I was hitting it really, really well and honestly just didn’t feel like I deserved to miss that cut. It was a genuine shock, and kind of made me hit the reset button.”

He added: “I needed a lot of things to go right this week, and fortunately it did. I needed to birdie the 18th, then needed some help from the other players, and ended up in a one-on-one play-off where my lie in the bunker, although not great, was certainly better than Patrick’s. So it’s a bit of a surprise, but I definitely felt like I was putting myself in the position hole-to-hole this week to win a golf tournament.”

In a congested final round leaderboard, there was a seven-way tie for third place, with Cam Davis, Shane Lowry, Matt Kucar, JT Poston, Sepp Straka, Harold Varner and Cameron Young all finishing a shot back on 12 under.

Lowry was leading the field after 13 holes during the final round, but a double bogey at par-three 14th, where he found the water after second shot chip raced across the green, saw his attempt to win his first tournament since the 2019 Open come up short.

Jordan Spieth’s winning gear
Driver: Titleist TSi3 (10°)
Fairway wood: Titleist TS2 (15°)
Driving iron: Titleist T200 (20°)
Irons: Titleist T100 (4-9)
Wedges: Titleist Vokey Design SM9 (46°, 52°, 56°), Titleist Vokey Prototype (60°)
Putter: Scotty Cameron Circle T 009
Ball: Titleist Pro V1x