Dallas’ Jordan Spieth practically brought down the clubhouse with his birdie putt on the final hole of the Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial.
But clubhouse is as far as Spieth got as leader. His bid to win near his hometown fell one stroke short when Chris Kirk one-upped him by saving par on 18 with a 7-foot putt.
That left Spieth tied for second with Jason Bohn and Brandt Snedeker.
“I was proud of the way we finished on 18 there, giving us a chance,” Spieth said. “Chris just made a really, really solid putt.”
For Spieth, who treats Texas events like major championships, it was his third straight runner-up finish in his state.
The week after he finished second at the Valero Texas Open, he lost in a playoff at the Shell Houston Open. He followed that with his Masters victory.
Spieth at least has one more shot to win in Texas. He will take momentum into this week’s AT&T Byron Nelson.
“I have more experience there than I do here,” said Spieth, who made his first PGA Tour start as a 16-year-old at the Nelson. “Found some kinks, you know, throughout the week.”
In his first local competition since going wire-to-wire at the Masters, Spieth took a much more dramatic approach in trying to nab a plaid jacket to go with his green one.
He posted rounds of 64-73-67-65. After sharing the first-round lead, he lost four strokes to par on Nos. 4 and 5 on Friday and then kept himself in the race with his 3-under performance on Saturday.