Return to form
With his best mate on his bag, Rory McIlroy fires a 67, sits two shots back in Bridgestone in Ohio,
Imposing Belgian Thomas Pieters was a European monster in last year’s Ryder Cup, swallowing the pressure whole and teaming with Rory McIlroy for three wins and then topping J.B. Holmes in singles.
With a blend of power, touch and moxie, the 25-year-old has seen expectations spike as he has been anointed the next big thing by some. A runner-up finish to world No. 1 Dustin Johnson in the Genesis Open at historic Riviera Country Club in February whetted the appetites of golf fans even more. A tie for fifth in the World Golf Championships-Mexico Championship in March and a tie for fourth in the Masters in April add- ed to the buildup.
But golf fans are still waiting for the breakout.
“I’ve had good results this year. I just haven’t had that win,” Pieters said. “I feel like if I had a win already this year, my year would have been good, but I just haven’t finished it off. I still have plenty of tournaments to go, but even if I get myself in contention 10 more times and don’t win, that’s all you want to do. Of course you have to finish it off, but I’ll learn that along the way.”
Well, Pieters is in contention again. Without a bogey on his card, Pieters shot 5-under-par 65 Thursday to take the lead in the WGCBridgestone Invitational. Relying on his 3-wood, he still had enough firepower to get the better of the rugged South Course at Firestone Country Club to lead Russell Knox by one shot.
Six players were two shots back, including reigning British Open champion and world No. 2 Jordan Spieth, four-time major winner Rory McIlroy and two-time Masters champion Bubba Watson.
The star-studded leaderboard also had Johnson and Adam Scott three shots back and world No. 3 Hideki Matsuyama four shots back.
Pieters is playing in the Bridgestone for the first time and played practice rounds with Scott and Masters champion Sergio Garcia to learn as much as he could as fast as he could. He proved to be a quick learner.
“They told me to play aggressive, and some weeks it might work, some weeks it won’t,” Pieters said. “But I hit plenty of 3-woods today, and that’s the only thing I could keep in the fairway. Obviously I like the course. You have to plot your way around and manage the game plan that works for you.”
Spieth is starting to like every course he sees. After winning the Travelers Championship and the British Open, he’s going for his third win in as many starts and fourth on the year. He was up to his old tricks again, holing long putts for birdies and pulling off great shots to escape serious damage.
Like on the par-4 No. 8, his 17th hole on the day. His drive wound up right of the fairway, coming to rest among a cluster of tall trees. Spieth called it jail.
He looked for an opening, found a small one and told his caddie, Michael Greller, to just put the bag down and watch.
Spieth’s ball flew through the trees and wound up 22 feet from the cup. From there he two-putted for par and stole a shot, he said, adding that it was one of the best shots he ever has hit.
“I was shocked I pulled it off,” Spieth said. “Normally when I see it, I kind of expect myself to do it. I just smiled. (Greller) goes, ‘That was cool.’ I thought as long as I got the height, I could pull off the shot.”
He also saved himself strokes with birdie putts of 30 and 50 feet on the fifth and sixth holes, drove the ball well all day and was solid with most of his iron play. A week ahead of trying to become just the sixth player to win the career grand slam at the PGA Championship and just two weeks after he won the Claret Jug at Royal Birkdale, Spieth looks superb.
“I want to feel a little better about the way I’m golfing as I go through each round, which is going to be tough off of 3 under,” Spieth said. “This is better than I thought I was going to be today. My No. 1 priority is getting the ball in check off the tee, feeling like I have good control off the tee. That’s going to be extremely important next week.”