The Jordan Spieth Experience: Late Blunder Sours Positive Day 2 at Players Championship

Jordan Spieth had just completed a turbulent 4-under 68 in Round 2 of the Players Championship and was asked, “Later today, will you be able to think mostly about the good stuff and sort of set the finish?”

“Never,” Jordan shot back at the reporter. “Have you ever played golf?”

There was, however, plenty of good and bad Friday at TPC Sawgrass, yielding what is known as the “Spieth experience.”

After a first-round 73 with a double on the last, the three-time major champion opened his second round with another damper: a bogey. Then, things gradually improved. A birdie, four straight pars and six birdies in seven holes, including a 50-footer on No. 2 (he started on the back nine). Suddenly, Spieth was within four strokes of the lead.

An adventure on his last, though, would stain his scorecard. The 32-year-old pulled his tee shot on the par-5 9th into the trees and punched out. His third shot was again pulled so badly that he hit a provisional, which ultimately wasn’t needed. Then, from the pine straw, his shot landed short, into the greenside bunker. And from there, he’d knock his ball to 6 feet, lip out his bogey putt and sign for a double-bogey 7.

“I’ve been playing really well, trying to let the course come to me,” said Spieth, whose best finish at the Players was a T19 in 2023. “Don’t have to force anything. It’s not quite there yet, but it's like close enough to where I can do what I did today for a while.

“Yeah, so just kind of stinks because to finish like that. Some days you wonder if you shot one stroke worse but you finished with a birdie if you would actually be happier. It’s a weird deal, weird game.”

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Spieth is in the midst of his second season since undergoing wrist surgery in August 2024 that caused him to shelve the clubs for several months. Having not won since the 2022 RBC Heritage, Spieth appears to be on the mend, coming off consecutive top 12 finishes. Finally healthy again, he feels freed up.

“My wrist, it’s awesome,” Spieth said. “I don't think much about it. There’s days where I wake up and it’s tighter and I’ve got to get it loosened up because one of the key factors to my ball control is using my wrists more. I used to use it a lot more and then I got away from it when I was hurt. So it is really nice. It was nice to work on structure in the off-season and not worry about rehab or anything like that.

“So I’ve mentioned this the last two weeks, the last two or three tournaments, just feels like things are getting better and better each week.”

Now, through 36 holes at TPC Sawgrass, Spieth, at 3 under, sits nine strokes off the lead. He’s certainly not out of it, but, despite the many positives he had Friday, it’s hard not to think where he’d be on the leaderboard had he not finished the first two rounds with doubles.

“I toed a drive on 18 yesterday and then on one of the easiest holes I made a 7 today,” he said, “and it’s just a bit of a bummer to finish that way, right? They don’t tell the story of how I’m really playing; they were just two swings that I just needed to miss on the other side.”