|
 Walker, who stormed to a nine-shot win at the Sony Open in Hawaii in
January, began the day with a four-shot lead and was never seriously
threatened as the San Antonio area resident shot a two-under 70 for
an 11-under-par 277 total.
"It’s at home and it’s cool and you can feel the support," Walker,
36, said. "It doesn’t happen very often to win in your hometown."
Spieth, who struggled on the front nine with three bogeys, put on a
late charge to whittle Walker's seven-shot lead down to four.
Texan Spieth, who won his last tour start two weeks ago at the
Valspar Championship, made four birdies in a row from the 14th but
Walker held off Spieth's charge with birdies of his own at 16 and 17
to retain his lead.
FedExCup champion Billy Horschel finished third at 284 after a
final-round 71.
"It plays hard, sometimes it’s hard to make pars," Walker said of
the fast-running, wind-blown TPC San Antonio, which played to an
average of two-over 74 on Sunday.
"I felt like I was leaking a little oil there, wasn’t putting very
good, and I finally smoothed out the putting stroke a little bit and
started making some."
Despite his big lead, Walker admitted that playing partner Spieth
was hard to ignore.
"But Jordan, holy cow. I’m going to have nightmares about that guy,"
said Walker.
The decisive victory underlined another strong start to the season
for the late-blooming Walker, who also began the 2013-2014 campaign
as the tour's first multiple winner.
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Walker won his first three PGA Tour events in eight starts last
season, becoming just the fourth player in 20 years to win three
times in eight or fewer starts, joining Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson
and David Duval.
The American, who finished in the top 10 in three of last year's
four majors including a tie for eighth at the Masters, said he would
be spending Monday and Tuesday at Augusta National to prepare before
heading to the Houston Open.
"I’m excited to go," said Walker. "I've been looking forward to it.
"All this just keeps adding momentum and confidence."
(Reporting by Larry Fine in New York; Editing by Gene Cherry)
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