My mind-boggling back 9 with Jordan Spieth

Sunday started in the most mundane way.

I was trying to replace a fuse in our dryer, but couldn’t budge the stackable Samsung. I pushed and pulled, pushed and pulled, until I dissolved into a sweaty, defeated mess. (How it ever got into that tiny closet, I’ll never know.)

And this was the reason I was late for greatness.

About four miles away at Colonial Country Club, Dallas native Jordan Spieth was about to tee off in the final group, determined to win his eighth PGA event before the age of 23 (better than Tiger Woods), and silence his demons -- mostly a bunch of golf experts and numbskulls who called his second place “collapse” at this year’s Masters the most shocking in golf history.

I’ve followed Jordan ever since: At the Players Championship, while on a golf vacation in Jacksonville, I watched him miss the cut and get lapped by world No. 1 Jason Day. At his home tournament, the AT&T Byron Nelson in Las Colinas, he started in the final group on Sunday but faded to 18th. And now this week, in Fort Worth, where he scraped and clawed his way back to the top of the leaderboard at the Dean & DeLuca Invitational.

The kid won’t be denied.

He struck his first tee shot just before 1 p.m. Sunday, but I was still on a shuttle riding to the course, cursing that dryer all the way. I checked the live leaderboard app obsessively, and saw Spieth was at hole 1, now 2, and making all pars. Not a great start.

Meanwhile his friend, playing partner and Colonial member Ryan Palmer was piling up birdies on the home course.

When I finally made it through the clubhouse gates, dropped off my computer, and caught up to them, Spieth trailed Palmer by two strokes and was standing over a 32-foot downhill putt for par on the 8th green.

That’s when the magic started.

Somehow, he poured that one in and made another amazing par save on 9. Palmer, meanwhile, bogied 8 and three-putted the 9th green from 15 feet; the tide was turning.

And that was when I went inside the ropes to follow Spieth up close, shot by incredible shot.

It would be a back nine for the ages.

The 10th hole: A red-ass birdie

The area between the 9th green and 10th tee is Colonial’s Grand Central Station. Fans cram into the space to meet, greet, and maybe get a fist bump from their favorite player as he passes by.

Occasionally, a joker will toss in a few taunts. One in particular caught Spieth’s attention Sunday:

“Remember the Masters, Jordan. Remember the Masters.”

Um, how can he forget it? Not a day goes by someone doesn’t remind him of those two balls he put in the water on 12 that cost him a second green jacket. “There was a little red-ass in me (after hearing that),” Spieth would say later, “and it came out on the next few holes.”

His tee shot on 10 was striped down the middle, and his approach stuck at about 20 feet. Playing partner Webb Simpson was just outside Spieth and he gave the silky smooth putter a great read. A few seconds later, his first birdie of the day had dropped dead in the center of the cup, and the crowd went wild.

Jordan pumped his fist. Take that, heckler!

No 11: ‘C’mon, Jordy!’

The fresh scent of a Spieth birdie was in the air now, and fans flocked around the 11th tee box. They were four deep, but I still managed to spot my sombrero-wearing friends from Friday.

Today, they’ve got their game faces on and more serious hats, which only goes to show they know the drill at Colonial: Friday afternoon is for fun and games and adult beverages, but Sunday is all about the golf.

Spieth pounds a drive down the fairway of this 600-yard par 5, and as we begin walking a 30something woman calls to him: “C’mon, Jordy.” Her friends give her a hard time, but she reminds them he is only 22.

Feeling good, Spieth grabs a 3-wood and gives it a mighty lash. His ball settles in some rough, short and left of the greenside bunker, but no matter. His chip from 38 feet sails high and cozies up to two feet. Another birdie, and Spieth has tied the lead at 14-under with Harris English, who’s playing in the group ahead.

Surely, he must’ve heard the roar.

No. 12: High and tight

I spot Jordan’s dad, Sean, walking along outside the ropes in grey Under Armour gear. He keeps his distance -- far enough not to hover, close enough to keep an eye on his boy.

Jordan bombs another drive, center cut, and then attacks the back left pin with a wedge from 137 yards. The ball stops within four feet, and he rolls in a third straight birdie for a one-stroke lead with six holes to play.

Call the tailor; we’re gonna need a size 44 in plaid.

Teo Siri has been walking inside the ropes with this group from the first hole, and the smile on his face keeps getting wider with each Spieth birdie. A close friend and golfing buddy of Dean & DeLuca CEO Kuhn Ying, Siri knows how much it will mean to D&D if Spieth wins the company’s first sponsored tournament.

But Siri is also a certified golf nut -- he plays 2-3 times a week at home in Thailand, sometimes at night -- so he understands what a clinic Spieth is putting on right now.

The D&D contingent has enjoyed plenty of Fort Worth hospitality and Texas barbecue this week. Ying and Siri both played in Wednesday’s pro-am -- Ying with Spieth and actor Bill Murray; Siri with Jason Dufner.

When Spieth sunk that long putt for par on No. 8, Teo leaned over and whispered: “I birdied this hole.”

No. 13: A bogey savior

Contrary to popular belief and Johnny Miller, golfers are not robots. Which may explain why Spieth hooked the heck out of his tee shot on No. 13.

Always the gentleman, he did yell: “Fore!”

As he walked to the green to survey the damage, the marshals tried and tried to get patrons to put away their cell phones. “No photos, no video!” they shouted. Come to think of it, that was probably the one refrain I heard more often at Colonial this week than “Hook ’em, Horns.”

Spieth dug into the back left bunker, and the din from all the corporate suites finally died down. He took a big cut -- too big -- and the ball flew out high and headed for the water.

There was a collective gasp. A few screams: “STOP!”

Mercifully, it did.

No par-3 disaster this day. Instead, Spieth spun a delicate chip close and brushed in a brilliant bogey.

As he walked off the green, a couple of UT bros shouted: “You’ve got this, Jordan. You can do this. Hook ’em!” Spieth looked up and nodded, grateful for the encouragement.

I wonder why more players don’t do this? Connect with the crowd. It’s simple, and it just might help your game.

No. 14: Dang it, another trap!

The tension inside the ropes is especially thick now. There’s a tie atop the leaderboard with five holes to play, and one of the leaders has just hit his drive in a fairway bunker.

The crowd has been aloud to stretch across the fairway behind the players because this is the final group, and it creates a stadium-like atmosphere: Exciting, but also a little bit suffocating. (Or is that the humidity?)

Spieth’s lie in the left-side bunker is good, but his iron shot is not. He catches a bit too much sand and comes up well short.

“Dang it!,” he shouts, spinning around in disgust.

As outbursts and four-letter words go, this one pretty tame.

I notice a woman riding on a motorized scooter inside the ropes, and think it’s a little odd, but than I realize it is Ryan Palmer’s mom, Gloria, here to cheer on her son. Palmer’s dad, Butch, died in a car wreck in Amarillo last September, and many fans this week wore white Birdies for Butch T-shirts to honor him and support Palmer’s Brighter Smiles foundation. Because, you know, golf isn’t everything.

But right now Ryan’s wedge game has gone MIA. He pulls his approach into the front left bunker and makes bogey. Spieth probably should’ve suffered the same fate, but his lengthy par putt sneaks in the side door. Another great escape.

No. 15: Heading for home

The par-4 15th is bordered on one side by a road, so it feels more secluded than most of the holes on the back 9. Several fans ask me for updates because they couldn’t get close enough to watch the last few holes, and while I’m no David Feherety, I whisper to them that Spieth has pulled off Houdini acts on 13 and 14. He is tied for the lead, but could easily be two strokes back, I say, enjoying my first stint as an on-course reporter.

After a well-struck drive that curled over the right fairway bunkers, Jordan was in position to attack the back right pin. But for the only time on the back nine, he burned the edge and two-putted for par.

Hey, he can’t make them all.

No. 16: Jordan’s revenge

In last year’s final round, a young Jordan Spieth nuked a 7-iron on this par-3 and his ball stayed on the upper tier, leaving a lightning fast downhiller for birdie. He would three-putt, make bogey, and finish a shot back of winner Chris Kirk.

It stung, but he would not make the same mistake this year.

Webb Simpson hit first and nearly jarred his tee shot. Spieth and caddy Michael Greller agreed that 8-iron was the club, and Jordan stuck it pin high to the right.

No. 13 at Colonial grabs most of the headlines for being the “party hole,” but No. 16 is no slouch. When Spieth rolled in yet another long, mind-blowing birdie, the crowd’s shrieks sent a jolt of electricity through the Colonial grounds. Poor Harris English saw it all on the electronic scoreboard behind the 17th green.

Webb Simpson actually rolled in his second straight birdie putt, but the crowd had vanished, rushing over to the 17th tee to watch Jordan.

Golf galleries can be cruel that way.

No. 17: A kick save and a hole out

You can’t win a golf tournament without a few lucky breaks. It’s a cliche, but it’s true.

And on No. 17, Jordan Spieth got two big breaks.

First, he pulled his tee shot left on the short par 4 but it bounced off the lower leg of marshal Dave Gustaf and ricocheted back to the right. It came to rest in the rough, but it left Spieth a perfect angle to the pin. When Jordan arrived at the ball, he asked Gustaf if it had hit him, and when he said yes, Spieth said “thank you,” drawing a chuckle from the crowd.

He also autographed a glove and wrote a big “Thank You!” in perfect penmanship.

Spieth’s second break came when a flyer out of the rough airmailed the green and came to rest against the crisp, white Dean & DeLuca sign beneath the corporate tents. A free and favorable drop set up a delicate chip.

As he settled over the ball, Jordan peeked, and he peeked, and he peeked again.

Actually, Jordan peeks a lot. I counted as many as eight peeks on some tees shots, and no less than three on most. The crowd notices this, too, and analyzes it, and even suggests “Jordan Peek” might be an appropriate nickname. But it’s awfully hard to argue with the results.

Spieth clipped the chip perfectly, and as it trickled over the edge and ito the cup, a smile of disbelief spread across his face. He flipped his wedge and just stood there for a second, making sure that just happened.

His buddy Ryan Palmer smiled, and pretended to give him a boot in the butt.

“One of the luckiest holes I’ve ever had,” Spieth said later. “If I’m anyone playing against me, I’d be pretty upset at that.”

In 2009, Steve Stricker chipped in from a fluffy lie in the back left rough and went on to win. Two years ago, Adam Scott and Jason Dufner both sank birdie putts on 17 in a great playoff showdown that Scott won on 18.

None of the those compare to Spieth’s chip.

No. 18: One more putt for road

In the blink of an eye, Jordan Spieth had a two-stroke lead striding to the final hole. He is still distributing fist bumps to his adoring fans, who engulf him on the 18th tee as he pulls a 3-wood, because he’s wise beyond his 22 years like that.

His drive starts right but gently bends with the curve of the fairway. Perfect.

After everything he’s been through the last six weeks, he has earned a stress-free walk to victory.

I spot my new friend Teo marching up the 18th, his smile even bigger now. Unlike me, he’s been with the lead group from the first tee, so I ask him what it feels like to walk with a champion.

“Perfect,” he says. “Dean & DeLuca hit the jackpot with Jordan Spieth. He is a great champion. The whole week has been like a dream.”

Teo and his D&D pals from Thailand were set to play one more round at Colonial on Monday before heading home. I bet they’ll each take a stab at replicating that chip on 17.

Spieth’s approach shot on 18 was pin-high, by the way, 34 feet away from a plaid jacket and redemption for last year, for the Masters.

Nobody would have faulted him if he lagged the putt to a few feet, but Jordan doesn’t roll that way. He put one more confident stroke on his Titleist and it glided across the green, kerplopping into the cup.

I couldn’t resist capturing the moment on my iPhone. (No, I won’t put it away.) Crampton’s Lake and a sea of spectators in the 10th fairway served as a backdrop to history and this storybook ending.

When all was said and done, Speith’s scorecard included six birdies in the final nine holes, one beautiful bogey, and only nine pressure-packed putts. Amazing.

The new Colonial champion hugged his caddie, his friends Ryan Palmer and Webb Simpson, and his family. He saved the biggest embrace for his sister Ellie. He also applauded the fans who had rooted so hard for him all week.

Some professional golfers go years without winning a single tournament. It’s incredibly hard to get just one. But Jordan Spieth pushed and pulled, pushed and pulled, and only three tournaments after what some suggested would be a career-defining defeat at Augusta, he was back in the winner’s circle.

I sure am glad I wasn’t too late to see it.

This week, Spieth moves on to The Memorial, another vaunted golf course, to face Jason Day and Rory McIlroy.

I wish I could be there for that one, too. But I’ve got a dryer to fix.

This story was originally published May 31, 2016 at 10:53 PM with the headline "My mind-boggling back 9 with Jordan Spieth."