Golf

Jordan Spieth fails to fire as Jason Kokrak wins at Colonial

Three-time Major winner took a one-shot lead into final round but started poorly

Jason Kokrak hits his tee shot on the 14th hole during the final round of the Charles Schwab Challenge at Colonial Country Club in Fort Worth, Texas. Photo: Tom Pennington/Getty Images

Mon May 31 2021 - 06:30

Jason Kokrak shot even-par 70 on Sunday to better Jordan Spieth and notch a two-stroke victory at the Charles Schwab Challenge in Fort Worth, Texas.

Kokrak finished at 14 under par while recording his second career PGA victory. He also won at Shadow Creek last October.

An out-of-sorts Spieth slumped to a three over par round of 73 while falling short in his bid for his 13th career victory.

The Dallas native had the overwhelming support of the fans who lined up around the greens at Colonial Country Club, but Kokrak spoiled the hometown celebration.

READ MORE

“I don’t know if it motivated me or not but I told myself like the last time – just stay patient, one shot at a time,” the 36-year-old Kokrak said. “That sounds like everybody else, but you know, you can’t get ahead of yourself in this game. This game doesn’t owe you anything, and you know, you take each shot for what it is, whether you make a bogey or a par or a birdie.”

Charley Hoffman shot a sizzling 65 to finish in a four-way tie for third at 10 under. Patton Kizzire (67 on Sunday), Colombia’s Sebastian Munoz (68) and England’s Ian Poulter (68) also finished four shots back.

Despite carding bogeys on the 15th and 16th, Kokrak took a one-shot lead to the 18th.

But Spieth hit his tee shot into the right rough and his second shot was disastrous, sailing past the hole and the green to the left and dropping into the water hazard.

Spieth eventually holed out for a bogey, while Kokrak knocked in his par putt to seal the win.

Spieth won at Colonial in 2016 when he shot 67 or less on all four days. He had rounds of 63-66-66 this time around before the Sunday collapse that included five bogeys and just two birdies.

“I didn’t play well at all, quite simply,” Spieth said. “I could have shot even par today and won the golf tournament but from the very get-go, just a really bad start, and then tried to fight my way through it. But I was just really off with my golf swing. I really lost it this weekend. You just have to be in control around Colonial.

“That’s all it was,” he added. “I played a bad round of golf.”

Kokrak had five birdies and five bogeys in the final round. He shot 65-65-66 over the first three days.

“Each hole is an individual match against yourself, and Jordan was there the whole day,” Kokrak said. “He was up a couple, down a couple, and I made my mistakes. He made his mistakes. I tried to stay patient.”

Final scores from the Charles Schwab Challenge (USA unless stated, Par 70)

266 Jason Kokrak 65 65 66 70

268 Jordan Spieth 63 66 66 73

270 Charley Hoffman 71 62 72 65, Patton Kizzire 67 65 71 67, Sebastian Munoz (Col) 67 65 70 68, Ian Poulter (Eng) 68 70 64 68

273 Troy Merritt 68 71 69 65

274 Lucas Glover 74 67 65 68, Emiliano Grillo (Arg) 70 68 68 68, Adam Hadwin (Can) 66 67 71 70, Brian Harman 69 66 69 70, Kyle Stanley 69 67 68 70, Brendon Todd 72 64 67 71

275 Abraham Ancer (Mex) 70 71 67 67, Doug Ghim 68 71 66 70, Talor Gooch 67 69 68 71, Kramer Hickok 66 68 70 71, Collin Morikawa 69 66 72 68, Gary Woodland 70 69 69 67

276 John Augenstein 69 68 69 70, Daniel Berger 68 68 72 68, Wyndham Clark 70 70 68 68, Erik Compton 65 68 70 73, Corey Conners (Can) 70 67 68 71, Tony Finau 69 67 68 72, Sergio Garcia (Spa) 63 69 68 76, Adam Long 70 68 71 67, Maverick McNealy 70 63 71 72, Justin Rose (Eng) 68 68 69 71, Kevin Streelman 69 66 69 72, Vincent Whaley 69 66 72 69

277 Rafael Cabrera (Spa) 73 66 71 67, Zach Johnson 72 68 68 69, Nate Lashley 70 68 70 69, Kevin Na 73 65 71 68, Ryan Palmer 74 66 68 69, Chengtsung Pan (Tai) 71 67 69 70, Cameron Tringale 67 69 71 70, Harold Varner III 74 64 67 72

278 Billy Horschel 71 68 72 67, Kevin Kisner 69 67 71 71, Danny Lee (Nzl) 72 66 69 71, Carlos Ortiz (Mex) 70 69 71 68, Justin Thomas 72 66 71 69

279 Cameron Davis (Aus) 70 70 71 68, Pat Perez 70 70 65 74, Robert Streb 67 68 72 72, Hudson Swafford 71 70 69 69, Richy Werenski 68 72 69 70

280 Byeong-Hun An (Kor) 67 71 70 72, Matt Kuchar 74 67 69 70, Tyler McCumber 69 71 71 69, Joaquin Niemann (Chi) 69 69 72 70, Henrik Norlander (Swe) 69 72 69 70, Brandt Snedeker 66 70 75 69

281 Brice Garnett 70 67 74 70, Brian Stuard 68 73 70 70, Matt Wallace (Eng) 71 70 68 72

282 Doc Redman 68 72 68 74, Robby Shelton 70 71 67 74, Will Zalatoris 69 71 70 72

283 Sung-Hoon Kang (Kor) 74 65 66 78, Andrew Landry 71 70 71 71, Nick Taylor (Can) 71 66 71 75

284 Jason Dufner 72 66 72 74, Adam Schenk 73 67 72 72

285 Rory Sabbatini (Svk) 69 68 73 75, Scott Stallings 72 68 71 74

286 Mark Hubbard 74 67 72 73, Chris Kirk 71 69 69 77, Jhonattan Vegas (Ven) 73 68 74 71, Camilo Villegas (Col) 69 71 76 70

289 Xinjun Zhang (Chn) 71 70 71 77

291 J. J. Henry 69 71 74 77

293 D. A. Points 74 67 72 80