Jason Kokrak holds off challenge from Jordan Spieth to win at Colonial

Jason Kokrak played in 233 PGA Tour events before getting his first victory. The big hitter didn’t have to wait nearly as long to win again, and overcame a local favorite to do it at Colonial.

Kokrak shot an even-par 70 in a final-group showdown Sunday with resurgent Jordan Spieth, winning the Charles Schwab Challenge at 14-under 266. He was two strokes better than Spieth, who hit his approach at No. 18 over the green and into the water.

While even on the day, Kokrak had five bogeys to go with his five birdies. He twice needed two shots to get out of bunkers, and had back-to-back bogeys at Nos. 15 and 16.

But when he struck his final 4-foot putt, he followed the ball to the cup and finally broke into a smile when he pulled it out and celebrated with caddie David Robinson.

A huge crowd followed the only contending group all day, most of them waiting to erupt for Dallas-native Spieth, who started the round with a one-stroke lead before a bogey-filled 73. Instead of his second win at Colonial, he finished as the runner-up at Hogan’s Alley for the third time. It was still Spieth’s eighth top-10 finish in his last 11 starts this year, one more top 10 than he had the previous two seasons combined.

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“They were definitely rooting for the guy next to me,” said Kokrak, who tied for third at Colonial last June. “Both of us didn’t have our A-game today. We grinded it out.”

Kokrak, playing in his 16th tournament since winning he CJ Cup at Shadow Creek in October, became the third player with two PGA Tour wins this season. He joined Bryson DeChambeau and Stewart Cink in that group.

Charley Hoffman finished in a four-way third at 10 under with a closing 65. He also had a tournament-best 62 on Friday, but that was sandwiched by a pair of over-par rounds (71 on Thursday and 72 on Saturday). Patton Kizzire (67), Sebastian Munoz (68) and Ian Poulter (68) were also at 10-under 270. Troy Merritt was along in seventh at 7 under.

Sergio Garcia was in third place with the final round began, four strokes behind Kokrak and five behind Garcia. But the 41-year-old Spaniard, who got the first of his 11 PGA Tour wins 20 years ago at Colonial, started with a wayward tee shot and bogeyed the opening par 5, then had had a three-putt for double bogey at No. 3. He shot a 76 and tied for 20th at 276.

Kokrak took the lead for good with birdies at the longest and shortest holes, making a 13-foot putt at the 629-yard 11th hole, an then a 17-footer off the fringe at the 170-yard 13th after a tee shot the came close to going into the water fronting the par 3. Spieth only had two birdies all day, the last with an approach to less than 2 feet on No. 9 that matched them at 14 under going to the back nine.

PGA TOUR CHAMPIONS

TULSA, Okla. — Alex Cejka won the Senior PGA Championship for his second straight major victory, thriving on accurate and powerful ball-striking and deft touch around demanding at Southern Hills.

Cejka shot a 3-under 67 for a four-stroke victory over Tim Petrovic, three weeks after he beat Steve Stricker in a playoff in the Regions Tradition in Alabama.

Cejka fled the Czech Republic with his father at age nine, settling eventually in West Germany, where he took up golf and turned professional at age 18.

Stricker had a one-shot lead going into the final round and many expected another duel to the finish. That duel vanished early, with Stricker’s usually reliable putting failing him greatly. He missed seven putts inside of 8 feet, and his ball-striking also was off, leading to a 77 that dropped into a tie for 11th.

Cejka finished at 8-under 272.

Petrovic also closed with a 67.

LPGA TOUR

NORTH LAS VEGAS, Nev. — Ally Ewing won the LPGA Match Play at Shadow Creek, beating Sophia Popov 2 and 1 for her second tour victory.

Ewing won the difficult par-4 14th with a birdie to take a 2-up lead and closed out her German rival with a double-bogey halve on the par-3 17th.

The 28-year-old former Mississippi State player won her first tour title in October in Florida at Reynolds Lake Oconee, still playing under her maiden name of McDonald. On Sunday, she won on her first wedding anniversary with Bulldogs women’s coach Charlie Ewing.

On another long, hot day in the desert, Ewing won the par-4 second and fourth holes and held the 2-up lead until Popov took the par-5 11th with a birdie. Popov won the British Women’s Open last year.

In the semifinals, Ewing beat Ariya Jutanugarn 3 and 2, and Popov edged Shanshan Feng 1 up. Feng conceded the third-place match to Jutanugarn because of the heat and fatigue with the U.S. Women’s Open only days away at Olympic in San Francisco.