Jordan Spieth catches fire, climbs into weekend contention at Phoenix Open
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. – Last week Jordan Spieth racked up frequent flier miles with touchdowns in Japan, Korea, Alaska and Dallas on the final day of the opening act of the Spieth One Global Tour, which is introducing his signature golf shoe around the world.
It was a daunting trek regardless of the mode of transport. But it amounted to far fewer miles logged in the skies that Spieth traveled last season by this time. Worn down by trips to China, the Middle East and Singapore in the first quarter of the 2015-16 season, and often looking tired from there onward, he intentionally changed the travel itinerary.
Saying he wanted to get on a PGA Tour rhythm versus a World Tour rhythm to start the year, he believes he’ll be fresher physically – and mentally – by the time he drives down Magnolia Lane for the Masters in April and for his drive to regain the No. 1 spot in the official world rankings.
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After he wrapped up his 2016 with a win in the Australian Open and a tie for sixth in the Hero World Challenge in the Bahamas, he took nearly a month off and got in good practice to shore up his iron play that slumped last year, especially with his scoring clubs – the 8- and 9-irons and wedges.
All looked good when he opened his 2017 campaign in Hawaii with back-to-back third-place finishes in the SBS Tournament of Champions and Sony Open. After the long promotional trip overseas, Spieth said he felt refreshed and ready to go when he landed in Phoenix, and was bursting with energy during his pro-am round Wednesday with Olympian Michael Phelps.
Yet Spieth took flight again Friday – in the second round of the Waste Management Phoenix Open. Trading in the desert of the Middle East for the desert in the Valley of the Sun was working just fine for the former world No. 1 and two-time major champion.
Starting his round nine shots out of the lead, he made birdies on six of his first 13 holes at TPC Scottsdale to get to 7 under for the tournament and within three shots of the pacesetting lead of Ben An and Brendan Steele.
Then he hit turbulence.
He made bogey on the 14th, didn’t birdie the 15th from short distance, burned the edge with another birdie putt on the 16th and missed another short putt for birdie on the 17th.
Then one flight of his golf ball on the 18th didn’t find the landing strip otherwise known as the fairway. His drive hugged the edge of a water hazard and Spieth didn’t know if the ball crossed the hazard line before crash landing in the lake guarding the left side of the hole. If he had determined it did cross the hazard line, he would have been able to drop the ball 250 yards from the tee. Instead, unsure, he hit another tee shot and wound up with a double-bogey 6 to finish with a 3-under-par 68.
He’s 4 under through 36 holes and six shots out of the lead.
Despite the sour ending, Spieth wasn’t steaming after the round. The winner of eight PGA Tour titles and the 2015 FedExCup spoke to the media in a surprisingly upbeat mood and then signed autographs and posed for pictures.
“I'm hitting the ball great,” said Spieth, who finished in a tie for seventh in 2015 in his only other appearance here. “I have been hitting the ball great this whole year and going back into late last year. I have just been kind of looking for that groove putting, and it's almost there. Feels like it is close.
“ … I hit some good putts at the end that just missed. Kind of second-guessed a couple of reads. But … I love the way I'm striking the golf. Overall, I'm hitting the ball great. It's close to a low round. It had a chance today. Even when I was 5-, 6-under on the round, I still missed quite a few putts and made a couple of mid-rangers. So it feels good.”
It feels good enough to still win this tournament. He’s come from far back before and will do so again.
“On this course, 6-under makes up a lot of ground in a round, so I'm going to have to shoot something like that I think (Saturday) to have a chance on Sunday,” said Spieth, who is now No. 6 in the world. “ … Certainly capable of it. The way I feel over the ball, I'm very confident. I know as well as anybody that once a couple (putts) start going in they start pouring in.”
If that happens, he’ll be feeling just fine heading up to Pebble Beach for next week’s AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am. And then north of Los Angeles for the Genesis Open the following week.
