NORTON, Mass. –– Different year, different day, different round, different score. Ah, but don’t be fooled. So much about Jordan Spieth’s trip around TPC Boston on Friday felt like the stroll he made the last time he was here, on Labor Day Monday a season ago.
Credit aggressive play and productive scoring.
But if the natural assumption is that Spieth’s 4-under 67 in Friday's first round of the Deutsche Bank Championship was a carryover from his scintillating 62 that closed out last year’s tournament here at TPC Boston, think again. “We were more referencing last week’s final round,” said Michael Greller, Spieth’s caddie.
Indeed, Spieth through 54 holes of The Barclays had been stung by the fact that he hadn’t broken 70 in any of his previous 10 rounds. So when he closed with a 67 at Ridgewood Country Club to get into a share of 22nd place, “that gave us a little bit of steam (for this week),” Greller said.
Not that the momentum started with authority, mind you, because Spieth sprayed his tee shot into a hazard right at his opening hole, the par-4 10th, and made double. “But the big thing with him has been his resiliency lately,” Greller said.