In the middle of Amen Corner on Thursday afternoon, Jordan Spieth swung his 8-iron and thought he’d end up in the middle of the back bunker. Instead the ball found the 12th green, giving him a birdie opportunity. Then he struck his putt and started walking away, upset he had pushed it too far right in order to navigate past a pitch mark. He was shocked to see the ball curl into the hole.
It wasn’t easy to hide the sheepish grin on his face. “It probably didn’t look too cool to the public,” Spieth said. “But I was fine going to 13 tee with a 2.”
On his very next swing, Spieth quickly thrust his arm in the air, alerting fans that his blocked tee shot was sailing to the right. So did his playing partner, Billy Horschel. But as the ball reached the pines, it hit a tree and bounced back into the fairway. That set up another birdie.
“Jordan’s Corner,” Horschel muttered to the youngster.
Now Spieth was standing over his approach shot at the 14th, the ball in the rough and above his feet, his line partially blocked by a tree. He pulled a 7-iron and then gave instructions to his ball: “Carry the ridge.” The ball bounced onto the green … then struck the flagstick.
It wasn’t a glancing blow that could have knocked the ball well off to either side. Instead, it hit flush, and dropped dead. Easy birdie, his third straight.
We’re only one day into the Masters but sometimes these are how majors are won. You get breaks and you take advantage of them. That’s what the Texan did Thursday, shooting an 8-under 64 to grab a three-shot lead and serving early notice that he’s the man – a 21-year-old man, by the way – to beat.
“There’s going to be 8-unders where you’re not going to miss a shot,” Horschel said. “And there’s going to be rounds when you shoot 8-under and get a couple of breaks. That was one of them. He had a couple today.
“But listen, he still played a heck of a round of golf.”
Some may call it lucky. Some may call it destiny. Often, the two are intertwined. Most definitely they can play with your mind. Are you ready to accept a score you may feel you didn’t deserve? Are you OK with it?
Spieth faced that dilemma Thursday.
“The easiest thing to do is just to be OK and laugh them off,” Spieth said of his good fortune. “The hardest thing to do is grind and try and take advantage of them and pick that next shot or that next putt that’s going to take advantage and turn that into a birdie.
“That’s what we did a really good job of today.”
Golf, of course, is fickle. The distribution of good fortune is limited.
As Spieth strolled to the par-5 15th, history was within
his grasp. He was 8 under on his round; if he could get to 10 under, he
would record the lowest round in major championship history.
Not that Spieth was aware of that. Oh, he wanted to get to 10 under, but only because he’s never gone that low in his PGA TOUR career. He had no idea that 63 is the lowest any player has gone at a major.
But faced with a difficult decision on his second shot – hybrid or 4-iron – Spieth and his caddie Michael Greller opted for the conservative route. Bad move. His hybrid overshot the green, and his next shot was impacted by a low-hanging branch. Eventually it cost Spieth a stroke.
History was no longer in play.
“I was frustrated because I felt like we played it too safe, felt like we were protecting something,” Spieth said. “… I needed to bet on myself to hit a good, solid shot there and I didn’t.”
But Spieth gained back the stroke, rolling in a birdie putt on the 18th – just seven birdies were recorded there on Thursday – to give him some good vibes headed into Friday’s second round.
Satisfied with his score but not his performance, Spieth will look to improve off the tee, tighten up some of his shots, and not rely on good fortune to carry him for the next three days.
It shouldn’t be difficult. He entered this week as arguably the TOUR’s hottest player, with a win and a couple of runner-ups in his last three starts. He finished tied for second at Augusta National last year, having shared the 54-hole lead with Bubba Watson, a lesson he will lean on moving forward.
“It’s tough to sleep on a lead here and I saw that last year,” Spieth said. “But at the same time, I’m a lot more confident in the way that I can handle certain situations.”
All the intangibles seem to favor him.
“You just cannot see this kid not win many, many majors,” said Ernie Els, in the group tied for second at 5 under. “I think he is by far the most balanced kid I’ve seen.”
Will good luck be in Spieth’s gallery for the next three days at Augusta National? Who knows.
But you get the sense it may not matter.