Jason Kokrak spoils the party at the Charles Schwab Challenge

The crowd was rooting for favorite son Jordan Spieth, but it was Jason Kokrak who walked away the champion at Colonial

Trying to win only your second PGA Tour title after 10 seasons is tough. Erasing a deficit to beat a three-time major champion and former World No. 1, even tougher. Doing it when the entire gallery is rooting against you? Almost impossible.

That’s just what Jason Kokrak, a 36-year-old tour veteran from Ohio, did on Sunday at the Charles Schwab Challenge. For 54 holes at Colonial, the tournament seemed to be a coronation for local kid Jordan Spieth. But that’s before Kokrak spoiled all the fun.

Kokrak admitted he didn’t have his best form but managed to grind out an even-par 70 in the final round, finishing at 14-under for the tournament and two strokes ahead of the heavy crowd favorite Spieth. The win is Kokrak’s second in 17 starts this season—he also won the CJ Cup in October—and makes him the third multiple-time winner on tour in 2021, along with Bryson DeChambeau and Stewart Cink.

Before his win at Shadow Creek seven months ago, Kokrak had never won in a PGA Tour career that dated back to 2012 and 232 starts. Few in the gallery at the start of play on Sunday expected, or hoped, he would win again, not against their native son. Spieth led by one shot at the start of the round but clearly wasn’t himself all day. After not making a bogey for his first 40 holes this week, Spieth bogeyed three of his first four holes on Sunday to see his lead vanish.

Kokrak took the lead for good at the par-three eighth hole, hitting his approach shot to six feet and making the birdie putt after his ball spun around the cup before falling in. He still led by one playing the 17th hole. Coming off two straight bogeys that resuscitated the crowd’s hopes for a Spieth comeback, Kokrak hit his second shot well to the left, chipped to seven feet, and holed the putt for a much-needed par.

Spieth’s hopes of winning in his native Texas disappeared after finding the water on the 18th hole. The crowd was polite in greeting the new champion, but it wasn’t that way the entire round.

“Yeah, it was obvious. A couple of comments I didn’t appreciate coming down the stretch, but naturally, you’re going to pull for the hometown kid,” Kokrak told CBS after two-putting for par on the 18th green. “I appreciate it. I appreciate the gamesmanship. Jordan was amazing all day. He’s a true champion and he’s won multiple times and is an incredible player. I’m glad to be standing victorious above a guy that’s so good.”

Spieth seemed to be enjoying playing in front of a home crowd. He won the Valero Texas Open in April, his first win in nearly four years. This week, playing just 30 miles from his Dallas home, he was continuing his career comeback that has seen him finish in the top-10 seven times over his previous 10 events.

At least for three rounds. But on Sunday, Spieth appeared lost, no facet of his game working. He hit just 7/14 fairways and 8/18 greens. He ranked 69th out of 75 players in proximity to the hole and distance of putts made, and was 68th in Strokes Gained: Approach. He couldn’t hit a fairway, couldn’t hit an iron shot close, struggled with his short game, and barely made any putts.

Partisan crowd didn’t bother Kokrak on Sunday

As he was faltering, Kokrak continued to hit long drives and make the shots he needed to. He led the field this week in driving distance and Strokes Gained: Off the Tee, and was second in Tee to Green. The crowd was clearly rooting for Spieth, but Kokrak didn’t let that bother him. He was just focusing on his own game, his own shots, and ignoring all the outside noise.

“I don’t know if it motivated me or not but I told myself like the last time…just stay patient, one shot at a time,” he 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.”

He knows what it’s like to remain patient. After nine years of waiting for his first win, Kokrak is now a champion for the second time in seven years. Spieth has just one win in 2021. So do Dustin Johnson, Justin Thomas, and Rory McIlroy. Kokrak may not be the man the crowd wanted to win on Sunday, but he’s quickly becoming a golfer they have to respect.