Jordan Spieth Starts with 68 at Scottish Open, His Mind On the British Open
NORTH BERWICK, Scotland — Jordan Spieth has had a full week and its only Thursday.
On Monday, he was playing in the first round of the JP McManus Pro-Am and was greeted with pints of Guinness before the clock turned to 10 in the morning.
Later that day, Spieth raked a putt away from the hole, not remembering he was playing in a pro-am that was both an individual and a team competition, and was promptly disqualified from the individual part.
Not often do you see a DQ from a pro-am.
Then in Thursday’s first round of the Scottish Open at the Renaissance Club, Spieth lit up the back nine (his first nine) with six birdies and two bogeys, briefly holding the lead at 5 under with South African Justin Harding, but finishing at 2 under and seven shots off the pace set by Cameron Tringale, who shot a 9-under 61.
"The nine I'd never seen before went really well,” Spieth said after his round. “And the nine I saw yesterday went poorly.”
Listening to Spieth, the two nines didn’t seem that different in how he played, as putts fell early and creased the hole late. But not anything to worry about as he prepares for next week’s British Open at St. Andrews.
“It's really nice to get on links grass,” Spieth said. “There are certainly some shots today I'm glad I didn't try to hit the way I did next week because I played them incorrectly or something like that. You almost need to get over here and get on this turf.”
Spieth hasn’t been back to the Old Course since missing out on a three-man playoff with winner Zach Johnson, Louis Oosthuizen and Marc Leishman in 2015.
Entering that week, Spieth had won both the Masters and U.S. Open, going for his third consecutive major title at the home of golf.
Tied for the lead at 15 under after a birdie on the 16th hole, Spieth decided to go down the left side of the Road Hole instead of going over the replica railroad shack.
It would be his undoing with a bogey 5.
“I chose to go down left fairway, left me with little-to-no angle instead of taking on the right fairway, thinking I could still maneuver a 4 but leaving me with just a wedge into 18 and a putt to win the Open,” Spieth said.
“So, I played that all in my head after making it on 16, but it's just that much more difficult to make a 4 from the left fairway. It was a little bit of a weak play I think, looking back, and that's the one I think about.”
Even with the disappointing loss, Spieth has a clear love affair with St. Andrews, calling the Open arguably the best golf tournament pros play.
Yet, the Old Course is not the most challenging and with technology continuing to make courses obsolete, it will need wind or, as Spieth believes, since it’s been so dry in Scotland, the hard and fast conditions may be a suitable defense.
“I think if it's like it was this morning out here, it's just a wedge contest, really,” Spieth said. “The back nine just doesn't show the same teeth that it normally does — makes it pretty easy for six, seven holes. Then you normally have to hold on for dear life on the back but if that wind is down on the back, all of a sudden, you've created a few more birdie holes. “
Spieth is 20/1 according to SI Sportsbook to win his second Open Championship and if he makes the weekend at the Scottish Open, he will have four rounds of links-style golf to fall back on before he arrives at St. Andrews where he has a score to settle.
“I just think the history of it, playing in the town, the idea that it could be the easiest or the hardest venue that we play depending on the day,” Spieth said. “Maybe it's just I remember watching certain ones growing up, and so the holes, the kind of scenic holes starting and finishing I really kind of hold onto.
"And then it was a really special tournament for me back in 2015 trying to go for a third (major) in a row and just kind of the crowd, the putt I made on 16 and kind of the finish, it was really fun contending in that major and having a chance to win.”