Shane Lowry was left to ruminate on what might have been after he missed out on a play-off at the final round of the RBC Heritage in South Carolina.
The Irishman started the day one shot off the lead and as conditions turned at the course, he showed his mettle with a streak of birdies on the fourth, fifth and sixth holes to stake a claim.
Lowry moved to -14 and the outright lead with a birdie on the 11th but disaster struck on the par-3 14th when he found the water with his second shot and eventually holed for a double bogey.
That mistake saw Lowry drop back to -12 alongside a host of players after Jordan Speith had made a long birdie putt on his final hole to move to -13.
The Offaly man knew he needed to find a birdie in the final few holes to force his way into a play-off but a forceful birdie putt on the 17th refused to drop and when he found the bunker on the 18th, his chance appeared to be over.
Lowry did manage to scramble par on that final hole but it wasn't enough, as Patrick Cantlay bagged a birdie on the 17th to join Speith on -13, as Lowry had to settled for a share on third on -12.
Spieth powered his way up the leaderboard with a final round of 66 that included eagles on the second and fifth holes, both par fives, as he rose from an overnight share of ninth.
Though he dropped shots on the ninth and the 11th, Spieth birdied the 13th and the 18th to move to 13 under for the tournament.
Cantlay, who started the day in second place, forced a play-off with a birdie on the par three 17th, finding the green with a 178-yard drive off the tee.
He had an opportunity to win it on the 18th but missed from 15 feet and tapped in for a par four.
And, when it came to the extra hole, Cantlay found the bunker off the tee as Spieth took the win.
