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Nichols: Colonial's Spieth-Palmer final pairing features D-FW flavor and Texas vs. A&M

FORT WORTH -- Dallas' Jordan Spieth and Colleyville's Ryan Palmer started the week with a friendly "money" match on Palmer's home course, Colonial Country Club.

That Spieth birdied the last two holes to give his team the victory wasn't lost on Palmer. He targeted Spieth as he worked his way up the leaderboard at the Dean & DeLuca Invitational.

On Sunday, the two locals will make up the final pairing. Spieth enters the final round with a one-stroke lead over Palmer and Webb Simpson.

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It's Dallas vs. Fort Worth, same as it was 70 years ago, when longtime Fort Worth resident Ben Hogan won the first Colonial National Invitation by one stroke over Dallas' Harry Todd.

"I wanted to be with him in the final group on my home course in front of my family and friends and in front of the members of Colonial," Palmer said of Spieth. "And it worked out."

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Forget for a moment that 11 players are within five strokes of Spieth's first 54-hole lead since his heartbreaking Masters.

Most of the eyes will be on Spieth, who played for Texas, and Palmer, of Texas A&M, going head-to-head for Colonial's plaid jacket.

"A Longhorn and Aggie, that's going to be the fun part of the thing," Palmer said. "So I'll tell Jordan to wear burnt orange and I'll wear my maroon, but both colors won't look good with that jacket.

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"It's going to be a blast with Jordan from Dallas and me coming from the Fort Worth side. It will be a nice D-FW clash. It will be fun."

Spieth, 22, has been determined to claim a Texas event since he turned pro midway through his sophomore year at UT. He finished second in the Valero Texas Open, Shell Houston Open and Colonial last year.

It would be special if the first win in his home state came while playing with a friend and fellow Texan on one of his favorite courses. Spieth's three starts at Hogan's Alley: T7, T14, T2.

"I don't know about the Aggies-Longhorns, but it will be a fun dynamic tomorrow," Spieth said. "It will be cool because as a member he'll have tons of support, and we have had tons of support this week.

"We play a lot of practice rounds together. So it's nice that it will be a familiar position for us -- just playing golf on a Sunday."

Spieth and Palmer have more at stake than college bragging rights.

Both entered the Colonial coming off disappointing finishes in the first event of their two-week home swing.

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With his best shot at winning his hometown AT&T Byron Nelson, two strokes off the lead through 54 holes, Spieth shot 74 to finish T18. Palmer missed the cut.

Both have been working diligently on their games. Spieth felt uncomfortable over the ball at the Nelson but has looked much better after sessions with Cameron McCormick.

Palmer has been working with Randy Smith of Royal Oaks and mental coach Neale Smith. Palmer and Spieth share the same trainer.

After opening rounds of 67-66, Spieth had his best ball-striking day in recent memory while shooting 5-under 65 on Saturday. He made his first bogey in 29 holes on No. 18.

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"I'll be disappointed if I don't win tomorrow, being in this position two weeks in a row," Spieth said. "Last Sunday was a tough day for me given the importance of the Byron Nelson to me.

"The Colonial is another place where I received a exemption in 2013 [as a PGA Tour rookie], so I owe a lot to this tournament. It's special to me as well."

Spieth is tied for fourth on Tour in strokes gained putting and eighth in scrambling, two of the most important aspects to scoring at Colonial. But most important is that Spieth has seemed to gain confidence in his swing with each round. His swagger was obvious during Saturday's round.

"I feel really good about my game, all parts of it," Spieth said. "I'm confident about where everything's at."