Rising American star Jordan Spieth dominated the final round to win the Australian Open by six shots and leave world number one Rory McIlroy and third-ranked Adam Scott floundering in his wake on Sunday.
Spieth carded a sizzling new course record of eight-under par 63 to finish the Aus$1.25 million OneAsia co-sanctioned tournament at 13-under 271. It was the 21-year-old Texan’s second tournament win after last year’s John Deere Classic in Illinois.
Spieth was runner-up at the Masters last April behind fellow American Bubba Watson, just missing out on being the first Masters rookie to win since Fuzzy Zoeller in 1979.
“There have been a lot of close calls from the last time I won until now. It would be a lie if I didn’t say that it was eating at me a little bit,” said Spieth. “It’s tough when you get so close so many times in big events against world-class fields and you’re not able to pull it off.
“I decided to take care of business today. It was just one of those rounds where I was in the zone and just focusing on each shot. At no point was I upset, it was very stress-free.”
Spieth took a grip on the final round with three consecutive birdies from the fifth to the seventh holes to go nine under and led by three strokes at the turn. He had few problems holding on to his advantage in the homeward nine with four more birdies in his closing five holes.
With his commanding victory, Spieth is expected to climb from 14 to 11 in the world ranking.
