Jordan Spieth has been around the world and back the past few days – so it’s only natural that the 21-year-old wunderkind grabbed the first-round lead at the Hero World Challenge.
Spieth, just five days removed from a dominating victory at the Emirates Australian Open, carded a 6-under 66 Thursday at Isleworth Golf and Country Club to take a one-shot lead among one of golf’s most impressive fields of the year.
“Six under on this course is a really good round,” said Spieth, who won by six last Sunday in Australia and nearly won the Dunlop Phoenix in Japan the week earlier. “I came here with a lot of confidence, and I played very well today.”
After starting his round on a high note with a birdie at the first, Spieth caught fire at No. 6, rattling home five consecutive birdies. None was more important than the tap-in at the seventh.
“I opened the face for kind of a spinner, and it came out perfectly
and took one hop and just checked and almost went in. Hit the lip,”
Spieth said of his pitch to the par-5 green from a downhill, sidehill
slope. “That was a big birdie to grab."