FORT WORTH, Texas — After a lengthy break caused by the pandemic, the Charles Schwab Challenge marked golf’s return in 2020, but without fans, the vibe was predictably subdued.
Those who attended this year’s 75th anniversary of the event were looking to let a year of pent-up emotions loose in celebration of native son Jordan Spieth, who grew up less than an hour from Colonial Country Club.
The story was all but written on Saturday — Spieth held a one-stroke edge after 54 holes and, aside from one single competitor, it looked like he couldn’t be caught.
But somebody forgot to hand Jason Kokrak the script.
The jovial Ohioan got a little riled early, but then bounced back and put on an impressive display of big drives, solid putting and resilience, grabbing his second PGA Tour title by finishing at 14 under for the four-round event. Spieth was second at 12 under.
Kokrak — a Xavier University product who calls the Cleveland suburb of Hudson, Ohio, his hometown — took the lead on the front nine while Spieth struggled through the three-hole Horrible Horseshoe, a tricky area that circles the driving range. Spieth made bogey on two of three while Kokrak dropped a curling 23-foot putt on No. 5 to jump in front.
But it looked like the wheels might fall off for Kokrak on No. 7, when he needed two tries to get out of a greenside bunker, then angrily heaved his ball into nearby trees — perhaps sensing he’d missed an opportunity while Spieth was misfiring. Instead, Kokrak settled down, got back on top with a birdie on No. 11 — one of only two par 5s at Colonial — and watched as Spieth made par.
Kokrak posted bogeys on both Nos. 15 and 16, giving Spieth life as the lead was cut to one, but he made a huge 7-foot putt on No. 17 to maintain the lead. On 18, Spieth found the water with his second shot, taking the pressure off the two-time Ohio Amateur champion, who two-putted his way to victory.
Kokrak noticed the pro-Spieth crowd, but he tried to simply maintain his focus.
“I don’t know if it motivated me or not but I told myself like the last time I would be, just stay patient, one shot at a time,” Kokrak said. “That sounds like everybody else, but you know, you can’t get ahead of yourself in this game. This game doesn’t owe you anything, and you know, you take each shot for what it is, whether you make a bogey or a par or a birdie.
“Each hole is an individual match against yourself, and Jordan was there the whole day. He was up a couple, down a couple, and I made my mistakes. He made his mistakes. I tried to stay patient.”
Kokrak has been better than ever on the greens since caddie David Robinson suggested a move to a longer putter, one with a 36-inch shaft, and the results have been astounding. He picked up his first PGA Tour win last October at the CJ Cup in Las Vegas and has only continued to gain steam, earning five top-25 finishes in his last eight starts before coming to Colonial.
He’s jumped to seventh on the Tour in Strokes Gained: Putting this season. He was 10th in the field in that stat this week to go with No. 1 in Strokes Gained: Off the Tee.
After starting his PGA Tour career without a win in 230 starts, he’s since won twice in his last 17 events and is now one of a trio of two-time winners on Tour this year, joining Bryson DeChambeau and Stewart Cink.
Meanwhile, despite falling, Spieth is still enjoying a renaissance of sorts. During a stretch of four Texas PGA Tour events in nine weeks, Spieth has all top-10 finishes — including a victory at the Valero Texas Open.
Still, he wasn’t thrilled to fall apart the way he did on Sunday, especially in front of adoring fans.
“I didn’t play well at all, quite simply,” Spieth said. “I could have shot even par today and won the golf tournament but from the very get-go, just a really bad start, and then tried to fight my way through it. But I was just really off with my golf swing. I really lost it this weekend. You just have to be in control around Colonial.
“I just really just didn’t play well. That’s all it was. I played a bad round of golf.”
