Letter from Sawgrass: Jordan Spieth’s first round was a mixed bag of good and bad
He’s not been his best self since his peak 2015, but golf fans still get their money’s worth with Jordan Spieth. Good … bad … often both at the same time.
The three-time major winner performed the full Jordan Spieth experience on Thursday morning at TPC Sawgrass. Through his first 12 holes, Spieth recorded three pars – one of them from deep in the trees after making the turn on one. He also had two bogeys, one double, three birdies including a pair of dagger darts to kick-in range and a pair of hole-out eagles – the first from 53 feet out of the bunker on 11 and the second from 77 well left on 16. The only putt outside of 3 feet that he made to get to 3-under in that span was an 11-footer on the par-5 second hole.
“I’m obviously very aware of what I’m doing, but, I mean, no, I feel like I’d like it to be boring,” Spieth said after posting a colorful 2-under 70 to sit four shots behind leader Lucas Glover in the first round of the Players Championship.
“All the volatility was just in those first five, six holes and from there it was just almost and just close to being really good.”
Earlier this season, the former world number one had plummeted to No. 85 in the Official World Golf Ranking before starting to bounce back with a T4 in Phoenix and a T9 two weeks ago at PGA National. He continues to fight with his game as he tries to get back to the consistent contender he once was back in his 20s.
That struggle with the demons in his swing is offset by the angels he still can conjure up.
