The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
Spieth back in comfort zone at Masters
AUGUSTA, GA. » No other course makes him more comfortable. Even more familiar than a sharp short game was his name atop the leaderboard at the Masters.
Jordan Spieth appears to be back on his game. Tiger Woods? He has some catching up to do.
Spieth took only 10 putts on the back nine Thursday at Augusta National, including five straight birdies. The last one was from tap-in range after another superb pitch, from the left gallery to escape with bogey for a 6-under 66 and a two-shot lead over Matt Kuchar and Tony Finau.
It was the eighth time in his last 13 rounds at the Masters that Spieth ended a round with the lead.
“I know as well as anybody that anything can happen at Augusta National,” Spieth said, a vague reference to the lead he lost on the back nine in 2016 that kept him from winning consecutive green jackets. “It’s about riding momentum from last week and this round.”
Woods, the main attraction in his first time back to the Masters since 2015, had a few bright moments and endless ovations in his round of 73. He felt he played better than he scored. He also knows it could have been worse, especially after dumping a 9-iron into Rae’s Creek on the par-3 12th hole and having to make a 15foot putt for bogey and avoid falling to 4-over par.
Most aggravating was playing the par 5s without a birdie.
“Seventy-three is fine,” Woods said. “By the end of the week, this will be a pretty packed leaderboard the way the golf course is set up. They have it right where they want it. It’s really hard to run away from it, but it’s also really easy to lose it out there.”
Spieth nearly managed to pull away when he began the back nine with three tough par saves, ran off five straight birdies and overcame a wild drive left into the trees that left him some 250 yards for his third shot.
The best comeback? That might now belong to Finau.
On the eve of his first Masters, he made a holein-one on the seventh hole of the Par 3 Tournament, raced toward the green to celebrate and as he turned back toward the tee, his left ankle rolled. Finau went down, the ankle contorted, and he popped it into place. He wasn’t sure he could play until tests showed he was cleared to play.
And he played great, opening with a 68 despite a short par putt that he missed on the 14th hole.