FORT WORTH, Texas -- Jordan Spieth has been exciting of late. He has been playing a lot of "could have been worse" golf. That is, 68s that were all over the yard and could have been 74s ... and 74s that could have been 80s. That's what great players do, of course, but it doesn't make for a very relaxed look out on the golf course. And it has been anything but boring.
"I still like playing golf," Spieth assured everyone at the beginning of the week. "If it doesn't seem like I do, then someone let me know, but I didn't think I was that hard on myself [last week at the AT&T Byron Nelson]. I was just saying, 'Hey, look, I'm frustrated over the ball right now because I had a two-way miss, but it's nice that I'm still in second,'" said Spieth addressing his frustrations expressed last week after a third round in which he shot 67.
On Thursday at Colonial Country Club in the first round of the Dean & DeLuca Invitational, Spieth looked a lot less stressed and played some solid (even boring!) "it could have been better" golf en route to a 67 in the first round. That's what happens when you hit 14-of-18 greens and remain one of the best putters in the world.
"On a day like today, you're just really looking to hit greens in regulation, be as stress-free as possible, and it felt like we were out there," said Spieth, who is 3 under and T9 after the first round, just three strokes back of leader Bryce Molder.
"It felt like we kept it on the correct sides to keep it very stress free," added Spieth. "I had a couple shorter length putts that I could have made, but I also made a couple mid-rangers. All in all, I think the score reflects about how played, and that was very solid this afternoon."
In other words, boring old "it could have been better" golf.
One of the most interesting parts of professional golf to me is how few times scores reflect how players felt like they played, whether good or bad. Last week, Spieth felt his play was garbage, and he was 14 under after three rounds. On Thursday, he only shot 3 under but thought he played great.
"This round I played much better than the 6 under the first round last week," said Spieth. "That was a very, very difficult golf course this afternoon."
Spieth handled it with aplomb.
He hit the ball a lot better, too. In addition to those 14 greens hit in regulation, Spieth was No. 17 in the field in strokes gained tee to green. There were a lot fewer arms waving on his tee shots and disgusted club tosses on approaches.
Spieth has always been a very emotional player. It's part of his charm. That's how I play golf, think many a fan of Jordan Spieth. It's not how you play golf of course, but it does feel that way. But when it's going badly, the charm can turn quickly to annoyance. Nobody wants to watch you incredulous over missed putts and bad shots when you're out there dropping 77s.
On Thursday, you could sense Spieth's stress on the course dropping. His gasps weren't quite as loud. His frustration not quite as visible. Maybe it was the pro-am on Wednesday with Bill Murray that calmed him down. Maybe it was just the fact that he always plays this course well.
Spieth has three top-15 finishes in three appearances here. All of them have been in the mold of all great Jordan Spieth tournaments -- methodical and clinical. That's what he does. He's not Rory McIlroy. He's certainly not Phil Mickelson. He does not thrill, but he does win. And on Thursday at Colonial, he gave himself an opportunity to do just that for the first time since January.
"[I was] extremely pleased with somewhat boring golf," said Spieth.
For Spieth, boring golf means tournament-winning golf. The field better hope it gets more exciting.
