Spieth opens the new year in style with win at Kapalua

The tournament record for margin of victory is nine, by David Duval in 1999, but that’s not the statistic Spieth was talking about.

The PGA Tour scoring record for a four-round event is 31 under, set at Kapalua in 2003 by Ernie Els.

“I thought that was cool”, Spieth said. “But it’s just one of those days – I need to keep it going”. It’s not why I do what I do. And if that’s case, I’ve got to go out there and shoot in the 60s in order to win.

But no one clenches on to a leaderboard while “slapping it” better than Spieth. The view from the top is just as stunning at the moment, though not so much for those trying to catch him. It was like previous year never ended, and that’s what Spieth wanted. “All parts were firing”.

Reed, the defending champion at Kapalua, got within 3 shots with a birdie on the par-5 ninth. Amazingly Reed made only one bogey all week, and that didn’t come until the 15th hole on Sunday.

He leads Brooks Koepka by five shots, but it was Koepka who enjoyed the best round of the tournament so far, hitting 10 birdies, including six in a row through holes three to eight, in a flawless 63.

Brandt Snedeker (67), and Brooks Koepka (71) tied for third at 21-under, nine strokes back of Spieth.

The win was Spieth’s seventh on the PGA Tour, with Spieth matching Tiger Woods as the only players since 1970 with that many victories by age 22.

That requires a little context. Spieth collected his seventh win in his 77th start.

The week started with hype on how nearly all the big names showed up at Kapalua for this limited-field event which invites only winners of PGA Tour events from the past 12 months. “There was some great golf played today”. I think it’s awfully early (in his career).

The reigning US Open and Masters champion is making just his second start in this event after finishing runner-up two years ago.

“It is nice to be in that company anytime you can get into the company of some of the hall of fame players”. That’s not to suggest it felt like a breeze, especially early.

American Spieth struck a laser-like second shot from 250 yards at the last, his ball bouncing from short of the green to narrowly miss the flagstick and end up ten feet past the hole from where he coolly drained the eagle putt.

A hardy Kona wind didn’t slow anyone down who was playing well. He played them in 1 under.

The only blemish in his round was a bogey on the par-three eighth – his first of the week.

It was a mostly stress free Sunday for Spieth as he took the conservative route down the stretch and let those chasing him make mistakes.

“It is hard getting back into it. I had a lot of bogeys”, said the Australian, who became a father for the second time late previous year. “There are still 18 holes to go”, Spieth said.

The next questions is how good he can get.

Jordan Spieth is the hottest golfer on the PGA Tour, and he added to his resume Sunday.

Kevin Kisner endured the most disappointing day – even though he shot a round of two under.