Spieth Rolls to Victory at Australian Open


Jordan Spieth left the field in his wake in the final round of the Australian Open. The 21-year-old from Dallas fired a closing 8-under 63 at the tough, wind-swept Australian Golf Club near Sydney to finish at 13-under 271 and cruise to a six-stroke win.

Spieth was simply superb on Sunday, posting four birdies on the front nine and four more on the back for the lowest round of the tournament by two strokes. The 63 established a new course record for the Jack Nicklaus-designed golf course.

Finishing a distant second was Rod Pampling, who had a 68, while trailing by seven was another Aussie, Brett Rumford (70). Ending up in fourth at 5-under was 54-hole leader and two-time Australian Open champion Greg Chalmers; Adam Scott was another stroke further back.

"It's the best round I have ever played, especially considering the conditions," admitted Spieth of his stellar performance. "It was just kind of one of those rounds when you're in the zone and you're not sure what you're at. It's nice that it came on a Sunday."

The two-time U.S. Junior Amateur champion added that he kept the pedal to the metal all day long. "You don't want any kind of crack in the door to be open and I felt like we kept it shut from the front nine on," said Spieth, who became the first American to win the Australian Open since Brad Faxon in 1993.

The victory was Spieth's first since the John Deere Classic in July 2013, a year he won Rookie of the Year honors on the PGA Tour. In 2014 he had eight top-10 finishes and earned a spot on the U.S. Ryder Cup team.

When told that Rory McIlroy's win at last year's Australian Open led to victories in two majors and three overall in 2014, Spieth responded, "If I had the follow-up year that Rory had this year, I'd be pleased this time next year," Spieth.

Like most players in the field, McIroy struggled with the Australian Golf Club layout; he closed with a 72 after a 76 on Saturday virtually destroyed any chance of him repeating. "It's been tough all weekend," the 25-year-old Northern Irishman said.

"I was trying to get something going but with the pin positions and the wind, it was just very hard to get the ball close to the hole. It just wasn't meant to be this year."

For all the scores, visit http://www.ausopengolf.com/scores.