Hawaii victory for Spieth

KAPALUA, Hawaii (AP) – The stars are back at Kapalua, and perhaps this is where the brightest will shine again.

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.

Everyone else was playing for points – FedEx Cup, world ranking, Ryder Cup.

“He’s playing good golf”. Els won six times in 2003, starting with a record victory at Kapalua. It felt like it was a short three-week break over the holidays and just tried to continue exactly what we were doing past year.

Spieth finished 10 shots clear of Players’ champion Rickie Fowler, and 15 ahead of world No 2 Jason Day, world No 4 Bubba Watson and eternal major bridesmaid Dustin Johnson. He had a four-shot lead at the Masters and won by that same margin.

The statement was almost as big as his eight-shot victory. And still the 22-year-old Texan is uncomfortable with such suggestions.

Spieth played Kapalua four times before the official start of tournament week, including two rounds with Brandt Snedeker, who shot a 65 and was nine shots back along with Fabian Gomez of Argentina, who had a 70.

“I knew I had to make birdies early to put pressure on (Spieth)”, Reed said. The phenomenon in question was called the “Tiger effect”, and some of the game’s best succumbed to it.

“But that’s just the level of golf that’s been played”.

That could be one of the perks Sunday. Apart from a possible slight lack of length off the tee, Spieth’s game is immaculate throughout and the only thing that could stop the two-time Major victor is the quality of opposition he has to encounter each week, which is arguably stronger than that encountered by Woods throughout his career. And when he won The Players Championship two months later, he replaced Woods at No. 1. He had five wins previous year and now has finished seventh or better in his last five tournaments, including two victories. Spieth is capable of spectacular long shots-his 3-iron from 250 yards on the par-5 18th Saturday grazed the hole and led to a third-round-concluding eagle-but his greatest physical weapons are chipping and putting. The problem for him is what Woods did in the years just after he turned 23. Spieth and Woods share the distinction of winning seven times before the age of 23, though Woods had notched 18 in his first 77 starts. He completed the career Grand Slam.

Five players have shot 28 under par in a 72-hole PGA Tour event – most recently Patrick Reed at the 2014 Humana Challenge and Phil Mickelson at the 2013 Waste Management Phoenix Open.

But he fell short of Ernie Els’ record of 31-under for 72 holes when his birdie attempt on the 17th fell a foot short of dropping in. And he was just getting started.