Spieth stumbles with double-bogey finish to open The Players
It was already bad enough for Jordan Spieth on Thursday, watching playing partner and world No. 1 Jason Day torch TPC Sawgrass to the tune of a course record-tying 63.
Then Spieth, who struggled to score in ideal conditions on Thursday morning at The Players, hit a few stubby shots around the green at the par-5 ninth, his final hole of the day. The resulting double-bogey 7 turned what would have been a modest 2-under 70 into a frustrating 72.
“I hit it seven times,” said Spieth when asked post-round to describe what happened on his final hole. “I hit two fantastic shots, and then not really sure after that.”
Spieth is nine shots off the pace, and he had the more favorable Day 1 draw.
“I really only had two bad swings today,” Spieth said. “I'm hitting the ball great, which is what I've been working on the past couple weeks, trying to get more consistent and better ball-striking, better control of it.”
The two-time major winner has been working with teacher Cameron McCormick on making tweaks to his swing, trying to overcome his tendency to hit a weak fade when he makes poor contact.
"It's something that I'm trying to trust right now, and it feels like I'm going to hit it left when it's actually hitting it on line," said Spieth. "It's actually the same feeling I had at Augusta, and it worked fine there, so it shouldn't be a problem. I just need to trust it."
However, that fix isn't going to come overnight. It's going to take some time and require patience to see through on the process. That reality, though, doesn't make it any easier to put up a first round in which Spieth only hit 13 of 18 greens and needed 31 putts. Despite this being his fourth consecutive round at The Players in which he didn't break par, Spieth is convinced that shaking off some rust from not playing since the Masters should serve him well.
"I feel as comfortable over the ball and driving it the best I've driven it the whole year, hitting it great," he said. "Just distance control and then my speed control with the putter, which are things that sometimes take a round or two to get back."
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Ryan Ballengee is a Yahoo Sports contributor. Find him on Facebook and Twitter.
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