Phoenix Open: Jordan Spieth Finds Old Magic on Friday

There was a familiar name lurking near the top of the leader board on Friday at the Waste Management Phoenix Open. Jordan Spieth had a nice round and climbed his way into contention for the first time in a while.

Spieth’s day got off to an outstanding start. Playing the back nine first, Spieth drove his ball into the fairway, then nearly holed his second shot. He tapped in for an opening birdie to immediately get into red figures.

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After pars on the 11th and 12th holes, Spieth got on a roll. At the par-5 13th hole, he hit the green in two, nestled his eagle putt to within two feet and made a birdie. At the par-4 14th hole, his approach left him about 30 feet for birdie. But, looking like the Spieth of old, he ran the putt in for another birdie.

On the par-5 15th, Spieth hit the green in two again. His lag putt left him about four feet for birdie and he made that putt to get to 4-under on his round.

He did suffer a blemish on the par-3 16th hole. He hit the green with his tee shot, but three-putted from about 17 feet for a bogey. But Spieth would par 17 and 18 to shoot a 3-under par 33.

His second nine was fairly quiet, with one notable exception.

Spieth would par the first and second holes to stay at 3-under. Then, on the par-5 third hole, he hit the green in two once again. And, from about 32 feet, he ran in another long putt, this one for eagle. He was at 5-under par through 12 holes of play.

Spieth would par the fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh and eighth holes with tap-in putts to remain at 5-under on the day. On his finishing hole, Spieth had an eight-footer for par that he missed, leaving him with a closing bogey. Still, it was a round of 67 for Spieth.

The 67 was one shot above Spieth’s best round of the year to this point. He shot a 66 at the Zozo Championship at Sherwood Country Club in the second round.

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Spieth has a chance to find himself in the Top 10 heading to the weekend. That’s a welcome change considering he has missed the cut in four of his seven starts this season and considering that his best finish so far is a T38 at the CJ Cup at Shadow Creek. His last top five finish came at the 2019 PGA Championship, so it’s been a long time coming.

It’s good to see Spieth back in contention. Now let’s see how he handles the weekend.

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