The demons are back. Or maybe these are new ones.
Isn’t there a statute of limitations on curses?
Apparently not, because the curses that have bedeviled Jordan Spieth here lately surfaced again in Thursday’s chilly first round, which was so blustery, the flag-whipping winds gusted to 40 mph at times and blew so hard the patrons needed to staple their caps to their heads. At one point, the wind flapped Spieth’s yardage book so ferociously, it looked like a spinning Rolodex. Google it.
Apparently, Spieth’s not out of the psychological woods yet. And he visited some of the actual pine trees at Augusta National, missing six of the 14 fairways and almost always to the right. He didn’t putt all that well either, twice three-putting and posting such a big number on No. 15 that it made some wonder if he played the entire hole with a putter.
He’s clearly still got his share of problems and quadrupled them, if you will.
Spieth’s second quadruple bogey in as many Masters rounds doomed the 2015 champion to a distressing 3-over-par 75 that included a staggering nine on the par-5 15th.
His problems are the same. Only the holes are different. Poor club choices and ill-fated decisions cost him a title a year ago, when he blew a five-hole lead on the back nine. And they haunted him Thursday as he stood a whopping 10 shots behind the first-day leader, 40-year-old reigning Texas Open champion Charley Hoffman, who scorched the course with nine birdies for a 7-under 65.
Of the 94 golfers competing, just 11 posted red numbers, and Spieth wasn’t one of them.
To his credit, he took it all in stride. Again.
“I’m going to probably need to play something under par tomorrow, which puts a little bit extra, added maybe bit of pressure that I wouldn’t have put on tomorrow,” Spieth said, “because I was thinking even par for the two days was a good score. And obviously now 3 over, I feel like I need to snag something tomorrow.”
Something very low since he’s tied for 41st. He’s gone from contender to champion to choker to confounded.
It had all started so well. Spieth came into this favorite event rested and confident. Maybe a little too rested after having failed to make the round of 16 in the WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play at Austin Country Club and then missing the cut at the Houston Open. He appeared comfortable and relaxed on Tuesday.
Spieth arrived at the club some 2½ hours before his tee time, worked on the driving range, worked out with his trainer and sank a few extra putts on the practice green. His manager, Jay Danzi, fist-bumped him and said: “He’s feeling great. We’re hoping it’s going to be a great week.”
Spieth’s round started well enough. He leisurely chatted up playing partner Martin Kaymer on the first fairway, then birdied No. 2 and shot even par on nine of the next 10 holes, with a lone bogey at No. 5. That string included a short par putt on No. 12, the same spot that might have haunted him after he dropped two balls into Rae’s Creek last year.
His tee shot on No. 12 received a huge ovation when it settled comfortably near the back of the green.
“I was a bit surprised at how loud the cheer was when my ball landed about 35 feet away from the hole,” he said with a smirk. “But I was relieved to see it down and on the green.”
On the next hole, he sank an 18-foot putt for a birdie and suddenly was at 1 under through 13, just a shot off the lead. Almost simultaneously, the operator of the scoreboard behind the green removed Dustin Johnson’s placard after it became official that the No. 1 player in the world had withdrawn because of a freak back injury. Another rival out of the way. Maybe Spieth’s luck had turned.
But just as quickly, he three-putted No. 14 and then scored a 9 on 15. After he’d laid up, he chipped onto the green, but it didn’t hold, rolling down the bank and into the water. His next chip landed well behind the green down a large swale. Another chip almost rolled off the green into the water again, and it took him three putts to get down.
In 52 cracks at Augusta National’s four par-5s in his four Masters tournaments, Spieth has made only two bogeys. He birdied two of them Thursday (Nos. 2 and 13) before disaster engulfed him on No. 15.
After playing such smart, steady golf, he’d given it all back and then some.
“You think of it as a birdie hole,” he said of No. 15. “Unfortunately, I still thought of it as a birdie hole today, and it really isn’t when you lay up. So I didn’t take my medicine. I just hit the wrong club.”
So is this the new Spieth, the one who has now posted four consecutive over-par rounds at Augusta National? Could he really be mortal, or is this mental?
By his own admission, he got greedy. But Augusta National got greedier.
Still, he hardly became unhinged.
Spieth rallied for a birdie on the very next hole, nailing his 7-iron shot within 3 feet of the cup for an easy birdie on No. 16, and had two nice saves on the final two holes despite errant tee shots into the pine trees.
“I don’t think it’s bigger than any other putt,” he said. “It was a nice save.”
He’d better have saved up plenty for Friday.
