Easter Sunday showed mercy to Jordan Speight for the second consecutive season, with Spite capturing his first PGA Tour event winning over 2022 RBC Heritage more than a year ago. Spite (-13) advanced to the 4th round and trailed by three points in the lead, but recorded a 5 for the 66-year-old on Sunday, taking the Clubhouse lead and eventually knocking down Patrick Cantley in the first sudden Death Playoff vote for victory.
After hitting the Eagles on the 2nd and 5th, Speed jumped under 13 with a bird in 8th place. After a pair of bogies, he again battled for first place on the leaderboard; However, on the 13th one bird saw Speed regaining his momentum, while on the 18th – Speed missed an 18-inch gimmick to get out in the 3rd round – he sent him to the clubhouse with the lead.
Condley finished 17th in terms of speed, but could not get an equal score on the 18th to push the match to a sudden death in Harbor Town. Both Spyth and Candle found the bunker in the first playoff hole, but as Speed easily punched from the edge of the bunker, the 6-inch burrow sank an amazing up and down, forcing Candley to bury what was buried. There is no bar foot to ball, hole over-shoot and tie.
“I won this golf tournament without Putter. It’s one of the worst matches I’ve ever competed with,” Spite told CBS after the round. “I tried to keep up with it, be very positive at nine later today. After missing a pair of shortish boots, I created one of the 13, which settled me and gave me a chance at 18. I’m so proud of myself this way – after I missed tapping here I’m so negative, I got lazy yesterday – I’m glad it didn’t hurt [today]. “
It’s been more than a year since Spide finally won the PGA Tour, having taken the Texas Open before the 2021 Masters last Easter Sunday. Sunday marked his second win since the 2017 Open Championship, but his 13th overall victory in his young career. Prior to his three-year drought, Speed won an absolute tear in 2015-17, winning the 2015 Tour Championship and three majors in that interval (2015 Masters, 2015 US Open, 2017 Open).
Speed entered RBC Heritage after missing out on the Augusta Nationals competition this year, prompting him to return a week later.
“Last week was really a killer for me: my favorite match in the world, I could not play over the weekend. So, I came in and worked extra hard here. “… This is amazing.”
As for what awaits Spy, he said he generally has a lot of confidence in his putter, so it boosted his confidence that he could win an event even if he struggled with the stick throughout the week.
Given the continuation of his tradition of winning Easter Sunday, giving the next Easter fall on the same Sunday of the final round of the 2023 Masters competition would be a holiday victory monument for the third year in a row.
“It’s good vibes,” said the 2015 green jacket winner, with four other top three results at the Augusta National. “I guess I didn’t really put the two of them together there. It’s awesome. What a wonderful day.”
There is still a year to go. For now, Speed has a few autographs to sign.
