Over the past month, as he slowly busts out of a year-long slump, Jordan Spieth has posted impressive numbers in the early rounds of tournaments, and today was no different as the 25-year old Texan carded a day-one 66 at the Memorial Tournament.
Starting his round on the 10th tee at Muirfield Village, Spieth made birdies on Nos. 11, 14, 15, and 18 to turn in 32. He added a fifth birdie on No. 3 and an eagle on the par-5 5th to briefly get to 7-under before a dropped shot on the par-3 8th saw him sign for a 34, and a 6-under par total, good for solo second-place, one back of first-round leader Ryan Moore (65).
Spieth, who is ranked near the bottom of the PGA Tour in driving accuracy, had one of his best days of the 2019 season off the tee, hitting 85.7% (12 of 14) of his fairways, which made up for a rather shaky day going after greens (10 of 18).
The three-time major winner will tee off from the first hole on Friday afternoon (1:05 pm), once again paired with Justin Thomas (71, -1) and Rory McIlroy (75, +3).
Jordan Spieth’s Round-1 Stats
Driving: 285.1 (46th)
Fairways: 12/14, 85.7% (10th)
Greens: 10/18, 55.6% (77th)
Putts/GIR: 15/1.500 (4th)
Scores: 1 Eagle, 5 Birdies, 11 Pars, 1 Bogey
Video: Jordan Spieth’s Highlights
This four-video slideshow (swipe right) shows off Spieth’s first four birdies of the day (on his first-nine).
This is a two-video slider, highlighting Spieth’s eagle on the par-5 5th hole: The first clip is Spieth’s beautiful approach shot, while the second clip is a long-bomb putt for eagle-3.
Finally, here’s a two-video slider of a fantastic save by Spieth on the par-3 4th hole, replete with a club twirl after a side-hill pitch shot.
Quotable
“Two chip-ins certainly helped. I felt like I stole a couple early in the round to be under par, and then just kind of played the shots that needed to be played.”
– Jordan Spieth
