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(Seoul = Yonhap News) Reporter Kwon Hoon =’Golden Boy’ Jordan Spice (USA) has finally revived.
Spies scored 6 under par 66 strokes in the final round of the Texas Open (total prize pool of $7.7 million) at the TPC San Antonio Oaks Course (par 72) in San Antonio, Texas on the 5th (Korean time). He won 4 rounds with a total of 18 under par and 270 strokes.
Spice, who had not won 82 competitions in 3 years and 9 months after conquering the Open in 2017, is ready to fly again. Especially, I was more thrilled with the resurrection in my hometown of Texas.
Spice’s victory took 1,351 days after July 24, 2017, when he conquered Open.
Spice became the fifth player to score 12 wins before turning 28. Previously, the players who won 12 wins before the age of 28 were Phil Miculson, Tiger Woods, Justin Thomas (above the United States), and Rory McIlroy (Northern Ireland).
Three years after their debut, Spice, who had successively won the Masters and the US Open in 2015, and at the age of 22, reached the top of the world rankings before reaching the age of 24 and set the youngest major 3 win record, “Golf Emperor” Tiger Woods ( America) was selected as the influential successor.
However, he has fallen into a slump since 2018.
Spice, whose number of times he entered the competition to win less and less, and a rare prize in the top ranks, was struggling enough to start this season at 92nd in the world rankings.
He recently revealed that his injured wrist was damaged in timely treatment in 2018, but he showed signs of resurgence, taking the lead in the final round two times this year.
He raised the world rankings to 53rd with a tie for 4th at the Phoenix Open, a tie for 3rd at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, and a tie for 4th at the Arnold Palmer Invitational.
Spice, who tied for the final round with Matt Wallace (England), sprinted in the lead with a five-stroke cut to the 14th hole.
While Wallace walked in place, Charlie Hoffman (USA) picked six birdies up to the 16th hole and pursued with one stroke.
Spies wedges into the game with a 3m birdie on the 17th hole (par 4).
Spies wasn’t very accurate enough to finish at 66th in the green hit rate (58.3%) during the tournament, but his long-term green play was superb.
On the hole placed on the green after regular at-bats, the average putt was only 1.52 over four days, and the final round was 1.417.
In the final round, Spies holed out 11 holes with one putt.
“We’ve come a long way. Golf has mountain peaks and floors, but I didn’t know that (the floor) would last this long,” he said, and was thrilled with the resurrection, saying, “I’m more happy than any other championship.
“I thought a lot that I might never be able to reach the top again,” he said. “Every time I lost my confidence, I kept a positive attitude and believed in myself, and I received the world’s best help. A monumental victory.”
Spice has emerged as a strong candidate for the championship in the Masters, which opens on the 8th.
He was particularly strong at the Augusta National Golf Club, winning once in the Masters, twice in runner-up, and once in third place.
The fact that every three major championships, winning the previous championship or finishing third or higher, added Spice’s confidence ahead of the Masters.
Hoffman, who cut six strokes on this day, drew attention by winning runner-up (16 under par 272 strokes) even after hitting 75 strokes in the first round.
“Today’s winner is Spice,” said Hoffman, the champion of the 2016 competition.
Wallace reduced 2 strokes to reach 3rd place (14 under par 274).
Kim Si-woo (26) finished the tournament with a tie for 23rd place (4 under par, 284 shots) after reducing 4 strokes, and competed in the Masters.
Lee Gyeong-hoon (30), who hit 1 under par 71, also tied for 23rd.
Choi Gyeong-ju (51), who cut two strokes, left a decent grade of tied for 30th (3 under par 285).
Roh Seung-yeol (30) tied for 54th (even par 288), and Kang Sung-Hoon (34) lost 3 strokes on the same day and was pushed to a tie of 59th (1 over par 289).
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2021/04/05 09:54 sent