SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — In his second event after returning from a lengthy absence, Jordan Spieth looked like his old self during the WM Phoenix Open on Thursday.
The three-time major winner carded a 3-under 68 on Day One, a round that featured plenty of theater. He birdied the par-4 6th hole from well off the fairway, which involved navigating a tree and draining a 56-foot putt — that new putter of his worked well there.
Another highlight of his came earlier in his round. Having started on the 10th hole, Spieth stuck an approach to six feet on the famous 16th hole. But he missed the birdie try, which brought about some morning boos and sighs from those watching in the stadium.
Spieth hit only six fairways, too, but totaled four birdies, three of which came on the back nine.
“It felt good. I felt like Sunday last week. I kind of didn’t trust what I was doing,” Spieth explained.
“My wrist hurt in the first round last week, and I went away from all the work I had been doing just to manipulate what I could, and then I said, you know what, I just have to get through it. So I was back to the status quo Sunday on all the stuff that I had been doing, and it paid off there.”
Spieth then revealed that he jammed his wrist during the first round last week at Spyglass Hill, doing so from the bunker on the first hole. He added that it “locked up” but decided to play through it.
“Luckily, this is a really good test these few weeks, and my expectations are low,” Spieth said.
“I expect myself to make good swings, but as far as results, it’s hard to think that I should be expecting a lot after six months after. Having said that, I know where I was today, and I know that I can do better than I did today. If I can try to post a few scores at or better than today, then you never know, I start getting back in the mix and it becomes pretty fun and hopefully more consistent.”
When he walked off the golf course, Spieth sat two strokes back of Justin Thomas and Nicolai Højgaard, each of whom posted 5-under 66s to lead the morning wave. Any solid result for Spieth at this point in time would be akin to playing with house money, knowing he has plenty of work ahead to get back in the swing of things. But, as he alluded to, if he keeps putting solid under-par rounds together, who knows where he will stand come Sunday. After all, he has played well at TPC Scottsdale before, finishing among the top six or better in three of his last four starts. The former Texas Longhorn posted four rounds in the 60s last year to tie for sixth, one of the best results he had all season.
Jack Milko is a golf staff writer for SB Nation’s Playing Through. Follow him on X @jack_milko.
