Despite another strong charge from Jason Kokrak, a birdie on the last hole Saturday has Jordan Spieth once again out in front at Colonial as the 54-hole leader of the 2021 Charles Schwab Challenge. Spieth birdied No. 18 on Saturday to post a 4-under 66 in the third round and remain one stroke up on the field at 15 under for the tournament.
Spieth's round was not without errors -- bogeys on the 5th and 8th negated three birdies on the front nine -- but he closed strong with a bogey-free final 10 holes featuring birdies on three of his last six holes coming into the clubhouse. The three-time major winner is aiming to go wire-to-wire atop the leaderboard at Colonial with his second victory of the season in his sights.
After nearly four years without a win on the PGA Tour, Spieth looks like his old self again. He is cleaning up errors with his putter and quickly bouncing back from miscues. A victory at the Texas Open in early April knocked some of the metaphorical cobwebs off, but Spieth was playing well even before that. He has five top fives (seven top 10s) over his last 10 events without a missed cut and continues to be the best player in the world this year. He's also on the verge of being the favorite entering the U.S. Open in June.
Though Spieth holds the lead at Colonial, Kokrak is putting him to work and will enter Sunday in the final pairing. After a similarly up-and-down front nine, he went bogey-free over his last 12 holes Saturday with four birdies over his last seven to briefly tie for the lead but ultimately sit one shot back after Spieth's birdie on No. 18.