Spieth well off pace after rough day
PEBBLE BEACH, CALIF. On another flawless day along 17-Mile Drive, world No. 1 Jordan Spieth was anything but.
With the sun shining, temperatures in the upper 60s and winds peaceful for Thursday’s first round of the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, Spieth never got in gear at Spyglass Hill, the hardest of the three courses. With three bogeys and four birdies, he fired a 1-under-par 71 to fall well off the pace.
“A bit weak,” Spieth said of his round. “I played the hardest holes on this golf course 4-under par. And then I played all the easy ones over par. Just kind of a bit odd. I just was not quite dialed in with the wedges or short game.”
Spieth, playing for the first time since finishing second in Singapore two weeks ago, was paired with Dustin Johnson, whom Spieth beat by one shot in the 2015 U.S. Open. Johnson shot 70, but both are far from out of it. The two go Friday to Monterey Peninsula’s Shore Course, which played the easiest of the three courses. Saturday, they go to Pebble Beach, where 8,000 vouchers for a Spieth bobble-head will be given away.
“All in all, to actually shoot 1 under with what I felt like I should have shot today is promising, considering we’re going to the two easier courses, in my mind,” Spieth said. “Just from the positions we were in, I would say, if I had a solid day with my short game and wedges, it would have probably been 6 or 7 under. It depends on if I would have made the putts.
“I was hitting a couple shots where I told (caddie) Michael (Greller) that’s one out of 50 or one out of a hundred where I hit wedge that far off line.”
While Spieth was off and world No. 3 Jason Day shot 71 at Spy- glass Hill, many others were spot on in ideal conditions, especially on the Shore Course.
Chez Reavie took apart the Shore Course with an 8-underpar 63, while rookie Bronson Burgoon and Cameron Smith each shot 64 and Ricky Barnes 65.
“It was a great day,” Reavie said. “I’ve been striking the ball well for a while, and the putter’s been kind of hit and miss. And today, even on days I putt well, I still don’t make as many putts as I made today. So that’s kind of the key for me. My ball striking seems to be pretty consistent, so, if I can get that putter hot I can make a lot more birdies.”
Freddie Jacobson turned in a 7-under 65 while Spencer Levin, Dawie van der Walt, Shane Bertsch and Roberto Castro each fired 66 at Pebble Beach.
J.B. Holmes and Justin Rose each signed for one of the day’s best rounds with 66s at Spyglass Hill. Four-time Pebble Beach winner Phil Mickelson shot 68 at Spyglass Hill despite faulty play from his driver.
“Well, like an idiot, I switched drivers, and I hit a few shots that I haven’t hit,” Mickelson said. “I have that Callaway XR driver, and it has some weight ports; I can slower the spin rate, and I thought, ‘Gosh in Phoenix, I wasn’t getting as much run as I wanted,’ so I moved the (center of gravity) a little bit more forward, and I hit some shots I didn’t care for today.
“So I’ll go back to my other driver. ... I made a bit of a mistake probably trying it, but if you don’t have the guts to try something, how are you going to learn, how are you going to find out if it’s right long term? But, anyway, I’m looking forward to the next couple rounds.”
The rest-of-the-week forecast calls for sun and temperatures in the upper 60s to lower 70s.