Golf: Masters champ Spieth eyes Texas title
Jordan Spieth confident of winning the Byron Nelson Championship this week before his home fans.
DALLAS (AFP) - Masters champion Jordan Spieth will get another chance to give home fans the victory they re longing to see when he tees it up at the Byron Nelson Championship this week.
The 21-year-old from Dallas finished tied for second on Sunday at Colonial in nearby Fort Worth.
Spieth entered the final round five shots behind leader Kevin Na, but stormed into contention with four birdies in his first six holes before settling for his share of second behind Chris Kirk.
"I d like to build on the momentum from last week," said Spieth, who has now finished runner-up in three Texas tournaments this season -- at San Antonio, Houston and Fort Worth.
"It would be really cool to close one out and this would be a dream come true at this event," added Spieth, who first played the Byron Nelson as a 16-year-old -- creating a sensation with three straight rounds in the 60s before closing with a 72 to finish tied for 16th.
"This is one I ve always imagined winning and it would be cool to just do it this year," he said.
Spieth will be up against a field that includes defending champion Brendon Todd along with 2010 winner Jason Day and fellow Australian Adam Scott.
As they did last week, players will be battling wet weather.
Torrential rain has left much of Texas swamped. Rain was falling at more than an inch an hour early Wednesday in the Dallas area, prompting flash flood warnings.
"Still playable," was Spieth s assessment of the TPC Four Seasons resort course in suburban Irving after playing in the Pro-Am on Wednesday.
"The greens are rolling good... It s really amazing that you can host a tour event after the weather that we ve been getting the last month. It s brutal," he said.
"It actually makes it less of a bomber s course this week and more of putting a premium of hitting the fairway, because if you hit the ball in the rough it s still going to gather mud on it, it s wet enough. Then you re left with a mud ball out of the rough."
