Jordan Spieth took full advantage of Moving Day at the RBC Heritage — until he got to the final hole.
Standing on the 18th green, he was four under for the round, and his nine-under total put him just two shots behind the leaders. Better yet, Spieth had a birdie putt from just under 12 feet at the par-4 finisher to cut the lead to one heading into the final round.
Unfortunately, his birdie putt just missed on the low side, burning the edge for what would have been Spieth’s fourth birdie of the day. The ball came to rest 18 inches beyond the hole, and all he needed was to tap in for par to put the finishing touches on an excellent Saturday in Hilton Head.
He drew the putter blade back while balancing on one foot and wacked his ball at the hole. The ball horseshoed around the cup and stubbornly stayed above ground.
“Oh no!” CBS broadcaster Jim Nantz shouted. “Holy smokes!”
Spieth tapped in his bogey putt and stared into the distance in disbelief.
“What the heck?” added Nick Faldo. “You cannot believe that.”
The miss dropped Spieth to eight under for the tournament, and three shots off Harold Varner III’s 11-under lead heading into Sunday.
“Who knows,” Nantz said. “It could be the difference between finishing second and being in a playoff. Who knows.”
This marks the second time in three weeks at golf fans have watched Spieth get a little yippy around the hole. Two weeks ago at the Valero Texas Open, Spieth three-putted from just over 3 feet from the cup.
Let’s hope this isn’t the beginning of a worrying trend for the three-time major winner.
