Eight Years Ago Jordan Spieth Led Texas Longhorns Golf to an NCAA Title

The PGA superstar helped the Longhorns to their first national championship since 1972

Texas is celebrating the eight-year anniversary of the 2012 golf national title. 

The Longhorns, led by future PGA superstar Jordan Spieth, took down Alabama 3-2 to claim the program's first title in 40 years. 

Texas athletic director Chris Del Conte looked back on the historic day in Texas athletics history in his latest edition of Forty Acres Insider. 

Eight year ago, today (June 3, 2012), Coach Fields and our Men's Golf program won its first men's golf National Championship since back-to-back titles in 1971-72. It came in dramatic fashion as our Longhorns, down 2-0 to the Alabama Crimson Tide, rallied for a 3-2 victory. All-American Dylan Frittelli sunk a dramatic 30-foot putt on the 18th green to clinch the win. The match was highlighted by the marquee pairing of two of the best then-amateurs in the country in the Tide's Justin Thomas and our guy, Jordan Spieth. The match was a one-sided affair for much of the day, and Spieth eventually claimed a 3-2 win over Thomas that began the huge Texas comeback. It was the beginning of quite a run of success for Coach Fields' Horns as since 2012, we have had five Top-5 finishes at the NCAA Championship over the previous seven years, including runner-up performances in 2016 and 2019. Despite the shortened 2020 season, the Longhorns finished No. 4 in each of the national polls and earned two tournament wins, taking home the East Lake Cup in the fall and the Prestige title this spring. 

Spieth has gone on to win 14 professional events, including the 2015 Masters, 2015 PGA Championship, 2015 US Open and 2017 Open Championship. He was the 2013 PGA Rookie of the Year and 2015 PGA Player of the Year. 

Texas ranks seventh all time in golf national titles with three. 

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