AUGUSTA, Ga. — Jordan Spieth — and plenty of golf fans — have been hoping for weeks and months that the magic of Augusta National would provide an instant life to the 2015 Masters Champion. But Spieth got his 2019 Masters off to a rough start on Thursday when he missed a two-foot putt at No. 1 for an opening bogey.
Spieth found the fairway with a 3-wood off the first tee on Thursday, and then hit the middle of the green with his second shot. His putt from 37 feet was a good one, leaving him inside two feet for par. But whether due to a poor read or stroke, his effort grabbed the right lip and spun out.
A missed shortie doesn’t mean much on its own, of course. But for Spieth, the flat stick has been the weapon that has ailed him of late. The last two years, Spieth’s ball-striking has been good enough to offset some of his struggles on the green. But not this year. He’s 161st on putts from inside 10 feet, and 180th on putts between four and eight feet. The putt in question on Thursday was just two feet, but the PGA Tour considers those such a sure thing that they don’t even list statistics from that point.
One thing is for sure: Spieth has plenty of golf left. Time will tell if that opening putt was just a blip on the radar or a sign of things to come.
Through one hole, it appears that the magic of Augusta National has not insta-cured Jordan Spieth pic.twitter.com/fZZ6IwrtlH
— Dylan Dethier (@dylan_dethier) April 11, 2019
The three-time major winner Spieth, who is looking for his second green jacket, is one-over through four holes at Augusta National on Thursday. Follow Thursday’s first round action with our live blog and leaderboard.
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