Jordan Spieth has produced some of the most thrilling golf ever seen on the PGA Tour, but his last two seasons have been punctuated with injury, surgery, and recovery.
In the first round of the 2025 edition of The Players Championship at TPC Sawgrass, the Texas native was back at it, creating some exciting shots but not yet generating an exceptional score, ultimately ending his Thursday at 2-under.
The Jordan Spieth Experience™️ has commenced at @THEPLAYERS. pic.twitter.com/Ew7h0GDx3a
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) March 13, 2025
“I got off to a dream start, and then I just wasn't very tight off the tee today, and out here, eventually, that will hurt you,” Spieth said following his first round.
He began birdie-eagle starting his round at the short par-4 10th hole, where his wedge landed 14 inches from the hole for an easy birdie.
He followed that up with an eagle at the par-5 11th, where his drive was perfectly positioned in the middle of the fairway. His second shot found the bunker flanking the right side of the green, about 54 feet from the pin. As Spieth has done so many times throughout his career, he blasted that right into the cup.
Then, three holes later, the evil Mr. Hyde of Spieth’s golf game materialized as he made a double bogey at the annoyingly difficult 14th after putting a ball in the water off the tee. He followed that with a routine bogey caused when he missed a five-and-a-half-footer for par at 15.
More amazing shots ensued at the 16th with a center-cut drive and a second shot on the par-5 that landed long and left of the putting surface. He had 77 feet, and, of course, he knocked it in for another eagle.
Make that TWO eagle hole-outs for @JordanSpieth! ✌️
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) March 13, 2025
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Jordan Spieth fans have learned to hold their breath and cross their fingers a lot, as “stuff” is just around the corner, and you never know if it’s bad or if it’s good.
He closed out his front nine with a three-putt bogey on the famed 17th. Then, he hit the fairway on 18 and shot a bullet to four feet with his second shot, leading to a birdie.
Spieth's second nine was more mundane, as he had a birdie at the second and a bogey at the seventh.
“I battled really well on my second nine. Posting 2-under when, out here a lot of times for me when I'm a little off, I've shot over par in the first round and really feel behind,” he said of his first round.
He was disappointed with many of his drives and said he intended to tighten up the dispersion.
“I'm still not at the place I want to be and just trying to work my way there,” Spieth explained. “When that happens, there's going to be volatility.”
The way he explained the state of his game was that if he makes 16 pars and two birdies, he would be in search of what he needed to do to make more birdies.
He said he made good decisions until his second shot on the ninth, which was his last hole of the day.
“Pete Dye got me again,” he complained. “When you don't have a wedge out of the fairway, you have to take your medicine on these par-5s, play the angles, and stuff like that.”
Part of the problem, he noted, is that he's rebuilding a swing that had 18 months of bad habits built in due to his injured wrist.
“If it was from hitting every green to 15 feet and you hit good putts, then you know it's coming. So sometimes it's easier to get rid of bogeys when you know you're going to make enough birdies,” Spieth added. “Ideally I'm hitting more greens in regulation because it is very challenging around the greens here.”
The three-time major winner said he will know that his game is where he wants it when he stands over the ball and isn’t trying to avoid things.
“Instead, I'm picking a target, and I'm very confident it's going to start on that target and move to where I want it,” he explained.