Spieth’s luck turns in rain reset
Fine 64 puts him one shot off leader Holmes Terrible start wiped out by Thursday’s storms
Sometimes, a slice of luck is all a golfer requires to turn around his form, and Jordan Spieth will be praying the outrageous fortune he received in his opening seven under par here at the Genesis Open signals the end of the most alarming six months of his garlanded career.
In Spieth’s case, it was a hook of luck. Starting on the 10th on Thursday, the 25-year-old pulled his drive and watched in horror as it bounced off the buggy path on to another buggy path and buried itself in the cabbage. As he stood there with no discernible shot, wondering if he had to take a penalty for an unplayable lie, the hooter sounded because of persistent downpours.
Play was suspended and a few hours later, the PGA Tour announced it was resetting the scores when the action resumed. So, Spieth was allowed to start again and, 64 shots later – and a stressfree par on the 10th – he was in the clubhouse holding an early lead and not only thanking the stars for handing him that second chance but also for two chip-ins. “Yeah, this is a really solid start,” Spieth said. “But, certainly, I got some good breaks.”
The field resumed at 7am. Spieth played his six holes remaining in six-under, holing a 13-footer on the par-three sixth (his 15th) and spinning a sumptuous wedge to within six feet on his last hole, the par-four ninth. It was a little before 8.30am and he wished he could go straight back out and play his second round.
“Riviera [Country Club] is as gettable as it can possibly be right now,” Spieth said. Indeed, the sun was out, the course was soft and birdies were in the air, as JB Holmes compiled a 63 to take the firstround lead.
Tiger Woods shot a 70, featuring four birdies in a row from the eighth after struggling early on, while playing partner Rory Mcilroy struggled to a 73 – the Northern Irishman’s morning marked by woeful putting – as they eventually finished their first round more than 24 hours after they were supposed to go out. Eight behind the threetime major-winner was obviously not where Mcilroy wanted to be.
This was hardly a position Spieth had been used to of late. He has endured an horrific run since finishing third at The Masters last April. In the 17 tournaments he has competed in since, Spieth has racked up only one top 10 and even that was one he would much rather forget.
He was in the lead going into the final round of the Open at Carnoustie and fired a 76 to labour home in ninth. Spieth, who was world No 2 just over a year ago, has now fallen to 23rd – and that is his worst position in since 2013, when he was in his first full year as a pro. The question which started as a whisper has been growing in volume every week – “What has happened to Jordan Spieth?”
To Sir Nick Faldo, the answer is as easy as the fix. “It’s his putting,” Faldo said, noting that when the supreme strength of Spieth’s game becomes weaker, his long game simply cannot make amends. “He uses up an awful lot of emotional energy getting frustrated. You have to be just like, ‘OK, that was a bad read – done’. So, I’d like him just to pull back his emotions.”
Spieth insists he is remaining calm and believes that he is finally turning the dogleg. “I have done some good work with Cameron [Mccormick, his coach] and from San Diego [three weeks ago] to Pebble [Beach] last week there was significant progress. And from Pebble to here there has been significant progress, just in the way I feel hitting the ball,” he said.
“To be able to be bogey-free is phenomenal. But I got off to good starts in my last two events and I need to improve each day here instead of getting complacent and assuming that my game’s there. It’s still not quite there tee to green, but luckily the putter has started to heat up. My game’s trending in the right direction and sometimes that means results are coming soon, sometimes it means they’re coming later. But they’re coming.”