Jordan Spieth lights up the greens at WGC-Bridgestone on way to 2-under 68
Jordan Spieth was all over Firestone Country Club on Thursday, but he managed to post a 68 thanks to some incredible putting
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For most players, hitting 6-of-14 fairways and only 7-of-18 greens in regulation would spell disaster, but Jordan Spieth showed why he's not "most players" on Thursday at the WGC-Bridgestone.
Spieth posted a 2-under 68 at Firestone Country Club despite fighting his swing all day -- an extension of issues he's had since the Memorial. Spieth watched as Dustin Johnson and Justin Rose had a stripe show all day, but Spieth needed only 21 official putts to get around Firestone on Thursday.
That putting performance made the difference in the round, as Spieth finished ahead of Johnson and Rose -- who each shot 69 -- despite scrambling for most of the day from tee-to-green. He closed his round with four birdies in the final four holes to climb into T5, four back of the leader, William McGirt.
How do you shoot 2-under par when you only hit 7 of 18 greens in regulation?
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) June 30, 2016
By putting like Jordan Spieth... https://t.co/2cssw6LN43
Spieth was in good spirits after his round and hopes that getting in with an under par round playing the way he did on Thursday could jump start his second half of the year.
"I was making some nice par saves to grind it out and then finally those par saves turned into birdie putts," said Spieth after his round. "Really won the battle in my head today. I really could've shot 4 or 5 over pretty easily with the way I was striking the ball tee-to-green, but this was a round similar to last year when I got off, which I think bodes well for the rest of this year. We really tried to approach this tournament as the turnaround for the second half of the season and I think it was a really good start."
Spieth's struggles have been well documented since his second half collapse at the Masters, and despite a win at Colonial, he's been fighting his full swing for the better part of three months. Those issues persisted on Thursday, but the short game can cure a lot of ills and his 2.89 strokes gained putting more than made up for his wayward approach shots.
In total, he made over 136 feet of strokes with the putter -- I say strokes because that includes when he used the putter from off the green that are not officially counted as putts. You have to appreciate the optimism from Spieth in how he's handling these issues, but it feels like it's requiring a lot of smoke and mirrors from Spieth to get out of rounds without disaster right now.
The David Copperfield of putting made it work on Thursday, but we'll have to see if he can hold it together for the full week.
