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Jordan Spieth claims first win since 2017 at the Valero Texas Open, just days before the Masters

Ryan Young
·Staff writer
·3 min read

It took years, but Jordan Spieth is finally back.

Spieth, thanks to a final-round 66 at TPC San Antonio, claimed a two-shot win at the Valero Texas Open on Sunday afternoon.

The win marked Spieth’s first since 2017, more than 1,350 days and 83 starts ago.

And, with the Masters set to kick off next week, the victory couldn’t have come at a better time.

“I never really doubted in myself to be able to kind of get back to where I wanted to go, but when you lose confidence, a lot of times it’s hard to see the positive going forward,” Spieth said. “Just kept my head down … This is a monumental win for me. It’s one that I’ve certainly thought about for a long time.”

Spieth grabs first win since 2017

Spieth got out to a hot start on the PGA Tour, and picked up his first win the same year he joined in 2013. He then won five times in 2015 — including at the Masters, the U.S. Open and the Tour Championship.

He won the British Open just two years later, too, and only needs a win at the PGA Championship to complete a career grand slam.

Though he compiled an impressive 11 wins in his first five years, Spieth then went cold after his win at Royal Birkdale in 2017. He finished inside the top-10 just 12 times over the next three seasons, and stumbled to close out last season with a pair of finishes outside of the top-70 and then failed to make the cut at The Northern Trust.

Spieth missed the cut in four of his first seven starts this season, too, including at the U.S. Open, and finished in a tie for 46th at the rescheduled Masters in November.

Once February hit, however, something seemed to click for Spieth. He carded back-to-back finishes inside the top-five at the Waste Management Phoenix Open and the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, and then came in a tie for fourth at the Arnold Palmer Invitational last month.

His play quickly started trending back up until he finally put it together this week in San Antonio — where he secured a two-shot win over Charley Hoffman with three birdies on his back nine on Sunday.

“I actually felt really light [today],” Spieth said. “I felt like I just wanted to come out and smile, try and have some fun. That’s been kind of a challenge for me on these Sundays when I've been in contention early on in the round I've kind of just not come out with a real lightness to me, and I thought today I did. It was nice … It’s been a long road.”

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