A Thrilling Finish to Travelers Championship

CROMWELL, CT — As Jordan Spieth stood in a bunker at the right front of the green on the 18th hole at TPC River Highlands for the second time in 20 minutes, he was thinking about blasting the ball out of the sand into a 5-foot circle surrounding the hole.

Instead, the ball rolled into the 4.25-inch cup, giving him a birdie on the first playoff hole of the Travelers Championship, and prompting a leaping, body-bumping celebration between Spieth and his caddie, Michael Greller.

However, victory was not yet theirs, as Daniel Berger had a chance to extend the playoff by making a 50-foot putt from the swale just off the left side of the green. When Berger's curling left-to-right breaker just missed on the top side of the hole, the celebration could begin for real, as Spieth earned his 10th PGA TOUR victory at age 23, in his initial appearance in greater Hartford.

Moments earlier, Spieth had saved par from the same bunker on the final hole of regulation play, forcing the two-man playoff for the title.

"(I) put the same kind of swing (on it) as the other bunker shot, I was just at a little different angle and it took a little right bounce and cut spin and it rolled up the hole," Spieth said. "I jumped up and saw it coming right down on the pin. And I went nuts. That was fun. I don't know how many or if I'll ever have a moment equivalent to that again. Something like that to win a tournament. But, yeah, that was very memorable, and I certainly soaked it in."

Spieth had led by a single stroke following each round, but Berger caught him by sinking a birdie putt of just under eight feet on the demanding par-4 17th.

It was the second straight near-miss for Berger, who led the tournament after 54 holes in 2016 before a final-round 74 left him tied for fifth.

"I played great. I mean, I'm here to win tournaments. I'm not here to finish second place, so it's disappointing. But hat's off to Jordan, he played really well today," Berger said.

Spieth earned the $1.224 million first-place check, and moved up two spots into fourth place in the FedEx Cup standings. Berger improved from 12th to eighth with his efforts.

Charley Hoffman and Danny Lee tied for third at 10-under, with Patrick Reed, Paul Casey and Boo Weekley another stroke back at 9-under.

Click here for complete Travelers Championship results.

Photo credits: Tim Jensen