Travelers Championship 2017: Jordan Spieth is a magician and other things we learned in Hartford

The 2017 Travelers Championship was the most hyped in its long history in the Hartford area. For the first time, it drew Jordan Spieth and Rory McIlroy and got Jason Day to make a return after a few years away. The field was loaded for the week following the U.S. Open, reputed as exhausting and the “toughest test in golf.” Before a shot was hit, the event was a success based on the group at TPC River Highlands.

The big name commitments had already become a low-key story of the season, and then one of them delivered arguably the best finish of the season. It’s rare for the golf to actually match the hype, but this exceeded it on Sunday. Some more on Jordan Spieth’s 10th victory, a mark that only Tiger Woods got to at a younger age, and what made us love this day so much.

We’re going to take a minute to talk about intangibles, and I’m sorry for that. Every weekend, you’re larded up with platitudes about mental toughness, and grit, and choking, and nerves, and pressure. These generally tend to overhype a player’s strengths and oversell a weak moment. Often, players just hit good shots and they hit bad shots, and these mystical empty calorie concepts that populate a broadcast have little to do with why it happened.

After the first two holes, the only birdie Spieth made for a good four hours in regulation was one that shocked him so much he stopped in his tracks and started laughing. The next one he’d get would be a sandy hole-out to end the tournament.

Spieth’s Sunday at the Travelers was the latest example of why he’s different from so many of his contemporary talents, especially from that loaded 2011 high school class. And there’s no one stat or swing breakdown I’d necessarily pin it to. He’s historically good at golf — from tee to green and on the green. But it’s a lot of this intangible stuff and maybe some #GoldenChild luck that distinguishes him (after the win, he said “It was certainly lucky” and “I guess I won it in style but not the proper way for competing against a buddy” after his playoff hole magic.)

He started the round with two straight birdies and then proceeded to play like garbage — now this is a relative term when we’re talking about Jordan Spieth, a 23-year-old who is already a lock for the Hall of Fame — think neatly packaged and gardenia-scented garbage.

Spieth did not have it, especially on the back nine as he hung on for dear life. He admitted as much after the round, saying he leaned on his caddie, Michael Greller, just to get through the day. There were moments where it wasn’t garbage, but he did not have it off the tee. He did not have his best distance control. He did not have it with the putter.

He was clearly frustrated with his ball-striking, often yelling at his club and walking off the tee in exasperation.

He could have easily gone in the water on three different occasions: at 13, 15, and 17 and possibly out of bounds on the extra playoff hole after a yanked drive into a tree just off the tee box.

Spieth was incredibly fortunate his tee ball at the par-5 13th stayed dry, as he lost it to the left and caught a nice soft bounce on the bank of a pond. He put one in the drink there on Friday and made an inexcusable double bogey, one of his only big messes of the week. This looked the same and left most on the ground incredulous about how it didn’t get wet.

At the 14th, Spieth three-putted from 21 feet. The sequence included a 4-footer — 4 feet! — that completely missed and pulled him even with Daniel Berger. It was a little jarring to see the two-time major winner, who seemed in control all week, look like he was hanging off the side of a cliff and down to a three-finger grip.

The struggles continued on the 15th, where it looked like Spieth put yet another one in the water. But again his ball hit softly, coming up just short of the lake moments after he yelled at his caddie “Is that in the water!?” and almost tomahawked his club into the turf.

Spieth converted on the lucky break with what looked like another lucky break up on the green. He started walking after his birdie putt, the classic sign that he knew he missed it. Then it dropped in the side of the cup, and he stopped cold at the surprising fortune.

You might think that was it — the birdie that broke the momentary tie with Berger and would ignite him to clean up these final three holes and close it.

But that birdie did not exactly right the ship on the back nine. A good birdie chance at the 16th was not close off the putter. His approach shot at the 17th juuuust made it over the water and onto the green after Spieth yelled at it a bit to go. And he had a similar struggle on approach at the 18th, using a sand wedge from only 115 yards out and coming up some 20 yards short of the flag and in a bunker, one that would become famous about 20 minutes later.

His statistical profile emphasizes an outstanding week, especially approaching the green and around the green. Spieth, however, didn’t have it on Sunday on his final nine holes. The moment before every shot felt precarious. This seemed like a slow bleeding out to the charging Berger.

I don’t know what the appropriate platitude or cliche is to throw at you here for how to explain it. It was a grind — an example of how the greats can still pull something out with far less than their A-game. Two or three years from now, we may just remember that this was a wire-to-wire win with a hole-out highlight capped on the end of it. But that will disregard so much of what made this Sunday win one of the most implausible closes we’ve seen, and well before that all-time finishing stroke and celebration.

Saying Berger is a stud prospect is not exactly offering some unknown insight. He was PGA Tour Rookie of the Year and now has wins in each of his last two seasons, which is as many PGA Tour victories as last week’s winner and fellow ‘Nole, Brooks Koepka.

Looking over from across the lake, Berger saw Spieth hit that birdie putt on the 15th while he was walking up the 17th fairway. That broke the tie, but Berger immediately poured one in at 17 for birdie to pull it back even and gave a violent fist pump at the crowd lining this amphitheater on the lake. Spieth saw it all from back on the tee (more on this scene around this lake in a moment).

It’s not unfair to say the crowd was pulling for Spieth, the name guy to win in his debut at the Hartford event. But Berger was cool as the supporting character on the 18th, laughing when Spieth holed-out and giving him a high five as the two crossed paths before his final putt. He said after the round that “Jordan does Jordan things” and let it go. Then he fired off this tweet:

Which brings us to...

My God, they are sexy as hell. Berger’s playoff second-place finish likely locked up his spot on the team for September and provided Golf Channel the occasion to show the latest standings in its postgame show. I stared giddily.

If there’s ever been a sign that we’ve transitioned to a new American era, that’s it. There is no Tiger. There is no Phil. But that is top to bottom one of the strongest groups I’ve ever seen for this event. Tiger would have been ecstatic with that kind of strength on some of the many failed Ryder Cup teams that he played for. The Presidents Cup can be a punchline and has not been competitive, and if that’s the group we have come September, it may be that again. But that will be an extremely fun team to watch.

McIlroy may have pulled off the most remarkable statistical feat of the day. He shot a 64 on Sunday, the low round of the day, with negative strokes-gained putting. That’s like winning a football game with more punts than passing yards.

Rory was, to put it mildly, a disaster on the greens this week. He was just so strong everywhere else that he made the cut and then charged up the board on Sunday into the top 20.

Those first two numbers are the eyes emoji in action. If he does anything with his putter, even average, he’s probably going to win. Instead, he missed three inside 7 feet on Thursday and then spent the remaining three rounds using a different putter each day. And these were dramatic changes too, going from that TaylorMade Spider thing he tried at the U.S. Open, to a half-mallet style, to a blade on Sunday. It’s ... not ideal to see that much switching within a tournament. None worked all that well.

Rory is obviously not comfortable on the green right now and can’t seem to find a putter that will mitigate that discomfort. He should have carved up this course and tournament with the ball-striking he had. This is Week 2 of a busy summer stretch that now shifts across the pond. Here’s hoping he finds something with the putter over there and joins these battles at the last two majors of the season.

Luke Donald put it best in the moments after Spieth’s exhilarating win:

It’s not some 7,000-yard giant, but this course was so fun to watch, especially down the stretch. Whatever you might think of their architectural merits, the four finishing holes make for extraordinary viewing. A drivable par-4 that always plays under 300 yards and can be aced. A par-3 over water with a tricky green. A par-4 over the same water with enormous crowds lining the entire lake. And a par-4 up a chute at the 18th and into a jammed amphitheater. There are birdie chances at each spot — length doesn’t overwhelm you, and you can make a move if you’re precise. But there are also big numbers at all four, with water and challenging greens.

The par-4 15th is one of the coolest holes on the PGA Tour and it delivered all week. Big-hitting McIlroy had to scramble to make a couple of birdies. Short-hitting Brian Harman put his tee shot to 3 feet for an eagle. Big stars like Bubba Watson and Justin Thomas sprayed balls into the water. This hole has it all; the finishing four had it all.

Get TPC River Highlands in your must-watch category — whether it’s the first-ever 58 on the PGA Tour or the manic finish this Sunday, this setup usually yields a fun watch.

Not only does the setup deliver fun golf, but it also creates one of the best environments on the PGA Tour. Spieth said after the round that it was this and the notorious Phoenix Open party for the two best finishing crowds on the Tour.

I mentioned above how Berger could look across the lake and see Spieth draining his putt at the 15th, and Spieth could look ahead from the 16th green and 17th tee and see Berger draining his putt to pull it back even. We weren’t getting that at Erin Hills, where you had to walk 200 yards to get to the next tee. The 15th through 17th all loop around the same lake and booming crowds line these slopes to watch shots at multiple holes.

Then there’s the 18th, which looked like a Ryder Cup crowd 20-deep all along the rope line for a final match:

This was the exact opposite of last week’s subdued finish and odd U.S. Open trophy presentation away from the crowd. Geoff Shackelford presented the dichotomy thusly:

There is little question that the scale of this week’s venue vs. Erin Hills created more realistic golf, better spectating and more energy at the end when fans were on top of the action.

Of course, we have a little recent bias after watching that kind of conclusion, but this place has been generating wild finishes and drawing enormous crowds for years. Watching this Tour every weekend can become drudgery sometimes, but this was invigorating even before that absurd last shot from Spieth. So between the golf that the course yields, and the crowds that juice up this finish, we’re all in on the Travelers as being one of the top events on Tour. And the new champ, along with Rory, both said they’d be back.

Let’s do it again.