Jordan Spieth surprises himself with awesome shot at Memorial

DUBLIN, Ohio — Jordan Spieth had no chance.

A tough lie, the steep lip of the bunker he was standing in and 10 feet of the slickest portion of the 12th green stood between Spieth and the flagstick in Thursday’s first round of the Memorial at Muirfield Village Golf club.

In other words, nothing but trouble.

“I thought it was a hard shot to get on the green,” Spieth said.

So hard, in fact, Spieth told his caddie, Michael Greller, that he would have to hit the flagstick to make the ball stop on the green. Bogey was in play, perhaps double-bogey. Playing partner and good friend Justin Thomas said the odds of Spieth holing the shot were 200-1.

So Spieth dug his feet into the bunker, took a mighty swing and holed the shot. On the fly, no less. Thomas, Kevin Kisner (the other player in the group), all three caddies, and every spectator on hand was stunned. So was Spieth.

“I’ve never done that before,” Spieth said. “So that was awesome."

It was one of eight birdies Spieth signed for on a pristine, bright day at Jack Nicklaus’ annual gathering. Spieth was one of many players to take advantage of the benign conditions as he carded a 6-under-par 66 to trail pace-setters Jason Dufner and 2015 Memorial champion David Lingmerth by one. Daniel Summerhays joined Spieth at 66. Thomas, a three-time winner this season, was at 67 with Lucas Glover.

World No. 1 Dustin Johnson didn’t take advantage of the calm day and didn’t make a birdie en route to a 78. World No. 3 Jason Day shot 75.

Spieth, who is nicknamed Golden Child for doing so many extraordinary things, delivered again in the Golden Bear’s tournament early in his round. Starting on the 10th, he scrambled for par and then hit a stellar flop shot to make birdie on the 11th before his hole-out on the 12th. It was an up-and-down day that ended on the upside as Spieth came back from bogeys on his eighth and ninth holes with five birdies on his inward nine.

At times during the round, Spieth looked to be the player that many in the golf community opined just two weeks ago had lost his mojo. He had missed his last two cuts and three of his last four in individual play. He’d gone 100 days without winning. What was wrong with the two-time major champion?

It was a lot of noise for nothing because nothing was wrong with Spieth, 23, who won at Pebble Beach earlier this year and is ranked No. 6 in the world. He put the noise to bed last week when he closed with a 65 at Colonial Country Club to finish in a tie for second in the Dean & DeLuca Invitational.

Why does anyone question Spieth anymore? When he looks to be in trouble, or mired in a mini-lull, he becomes Spieth again. The hole-out on the 12th was a mini-capsule of this.

“I told Michael, I was trying to hit the pin, so I can’t be upset that it did,” Spieth said. “It was very lucky. ... That saved me a couple of shots. I figured it could be a good day when your off shots you’re making birdie on.”

Spieth has talked about working on his short game, which hasn’t been up to the standards he’s established since turning pro in 2012. But he’s putting those short-game woes to rest as well.

“Short game is getting close. It’s closer and closer,” Spieth said. “Last week was a great week for it. Today was important. It’s almost where I feel totally comfortable on the greens. It’s nice to putt on fast greens. ...

“We hit a bunch of greens, and that was the key to success today and it was last week. My ball-striking gives me an opportunity for that short game to kind of start to blossom. It’s getting close.”