For his first 15 holes, Jordan Spieth felt very frustrated at TPC San Antonio, and rightfully so. He was 4-over through 15 holes and on the brink of making it impossible to make the cut.
But as Spieth explained afterward, he feels his golf swing is in a better place than his recent scores indicate.
“I’m playing so much better than I’ve been scoring, and it doesn’t look like it. It’s hard to explain,” Spieth said.
“I’ve played way worse and had consecutive top-10s than the missed cuts that I’ve had. It’s just very bizarre. My game feels fine, and I’m just not getting much out of it. So it’s extremely frustrating because I drove the living piss out of the ball today, and I picked the wrong line on 14, and it’s the one drive I missed, honestly, like five, six yards right of where I was looking, and then I don’t find it.
The lost ball at 14 led to a double-bogey, dropping him to 4-over.
But he quickly gained it back two holes later at the par-3 16th, where he made his fourth career ace on the PGA Tour.
“I had to take some off of a 7-iron, and so I lined up to hit like a 185 [yard] shot, and I hit a little fade with the wind that kind of was able to ride the slope then,” Spieth said.
“I hit it, and I picked up the tee because I did what I wanted to do. And then as it landed and started to [roll towards the cup], everyone started to stand up, and it was the people right in line with it, so I thought maybe there’s a chance, and then it went in.”
Spieth then explained how the club he used for his hole-in-one was brand new.
“I like hitting my 7-iron, so I’ve got it to where when I’m testing my gaps, it goes five yards too far in the gap. I didn’t know why,” Spieth added.
“On Wednesday after the pro-am, I was hitting on the back of the range. I had them bring a brand new 7-iron for new grooves, and it was up in the right spin window, so that knocked four or five yards off of it. If I hadn’t changed 7-irons yesterday, then I wouldn’t have made it. It’s funny.”
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Only Spieth would make this change the day before a tournament, but the decision to make this switch paid off.
Now, if he can find some consistency, Spieth can bounce back after his 1-over 73 and climb into contention at the Valero Texas Open. Five bogies, four birdies, a double bogey, and an eagle on Thursday certainly provided for an entertaining round. But it also led to plenty of frustration for Spieth, and understandably so.
“It kind of seems like a bad blackjack run; you can’t get up from the table, and maybe the hole-in-one turns it around a bit,” Spieth opined.
“Again, I think I’m being patient, and I’m optimistic. It’s just that I’d like a little bit of a result or two to show what’s felt like a lot better year than it’s produced as far as results.”
His last top 10 came at the WM Phoenix Open, and since then, Spieth was disqualified at Riviera, tied for 30th at Bay Hill, and missed two cuts to cap off the Florida swing.
Perhaps his ace will turn things around and help him climb back into contention. If it does, it might prove that Spieth has discovered something just in time for Augusta National.
Jack Milko is a golf staff writer for SB Nation’s Playing Through. Be sure to check out @_PlayingThrough for more golf coverage. You can follow him on Twitter @jack_milko as well.
