MCKINNEY, Texas — Jordan Spieth walked off of the 18th hole green at TPC Craig Ranch in McKinney on Sunday to a standing ovation from the same pack of fans that had followed him up and down the course throughout the week.
He trudged through the putting green while applause echoed behind him. He stopped, with his daughter Sammy in his left arm, and signed autographs — on a hat, and on a golf glove — for a young fan camped outside the clubhouse entrance.
It was the type of reception a winner receives, only Spieth, a Dallas native, had fallen short at the AT&T Byron Nelson.
The Jesuit graduate finished alone in second place, one shot behind back-to-back champion K.H. Lee of South Korea, with a scored of 25-under par. He had a chance to force a playoff on 18, but his 30-foot eagle putt missed by two feet. He settled for a birdie and his highest ever finish at his hometown event.
The big picture outlook is that Spieth will enter the PGA Championship — the lone major championship he’s yet to win — with a win (at the RBC Heritage in April) and a second-place finish in his last two starts. He’ll pocket $991,900 for runner up, too.
But, zoomed all the way in, the 28-year-old leaves McKinney without a win at the tournament he grew up attending once again. He made his first start at the Byron Nelson in 2010, as a 16-year-old, and has played every year since. He finished tied for ninth in 2021 — his best-ever finish prior to Sunday.
“It was a good week, good momentum into next week,” Spieth said. “but this one will sting just a little bit just looking back on the day.”
Spieth, the world’s ninth-ranked golfer, began the day one shot back of UNT graduate Sebastian Munoz, who ended the tournament tied for third at 24-under. His play proved to be a mixed bag. Spieth bogeyed two of his first three holes, then birdied four of his next six to pull into a tie for first place headed into the back nine at -23.
Then came hole No. 10. The hole where Spieth fell out of first place for good.
On the par five hole, Spieth hit his second shot to within seven feet of the pin. But a three-putt bogey — with two missed putts of 10 feet or shorter — dropped him back to -22, tied for second.
“[I] had a pretty good look at birdie and just got a little too aggressive and hit it through the first break,” Spieth said. “And then I kind of got in my own head in the wind there on the second one and missed about a three or four footer.”
The dropped shot tied Spieth with Lee, who went on to eagle 12 and take the solo lead for good. Lee, who won last year’s tournament at 25-under par, went on to birdie 13 and sink a clutch 11-foot par putt on 17 to maintain a one-shot lead over Spieth and Munoz, both of whom sat at -24 entering the final hole.
“I prayed,” Lee said. “And made the putt.”
Spieth missed a birdie putt on 17 that would have tied him with Lee by under a foot. Lee birdied 18 to force either of his challengers into an eagle-or-bust finish.
Both of Lee’s PGA Tour wins have come at TPC Craig Ranch, and he became the first golfer since Tom Watson in 1980 to successfully defend his title. He tied the tournament record for largest come-from-behind win, too, as he began the day four shots back of Munoz.
He birdied five of his first nine holes to pull himself into contention by the turn.
“It’s an amazing feeling,” Lee said. “It feels like dreaming.”
That’s a feeling Spieth will continue to chase in McKinney. He called this weekend’s fan turnout “the best of the bunch” of all the Byron Nelson events he’d played in, and at one point on Sunday, was shocked by “the sea of people” he saw watching.
One day soon, he hopes, he’ll return the favor with a win in front of the home crowd.
“I love playing at home,” he said. “I would love to win it some day.”
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