It was mid-morning at Memorial Park in Houston proper and a son of Texas was sneaking up the Houston Open scoreboard.
Jordan Spieth, yes, that Jordan Spieth, the guy who had a bunch of majors and double-digit PGA Tour wins by the age of 24, was two-under par through his first nine holes.
At the 456-yard par four 10th, Jordy hit a perfect drive then stuck his approach shot inside six feet. Remember that guy? Of course he rolled in that birdie putt and suddenly, there he was at the TOP of the board — the leader!
Wow, was this the start of a comeback that he’d been hoping for?
Hardly. At the 11th, there was a three-putt bogey from 54 feet. No worries, he immediately bounced back with a birdie from inside five feet at the 12th. All’s well?
Then it all started going to hell in a handbasket.
Back-to-back bogeys at 13 and 14 then a double-bogey five at the 110-yard par three 15th. Yeah, you read that right, five shots on a 110-yarder. Oops. Another double at the 17th and Jordy played the final six holes in six-over par. Sigh.
Spieth went from first to a tie for 79th in less than two hours, once again the victim of assorted devil balls and other wayward, off-line golf shots. By the end of the back nine misery, Spieth put a 40 on his card. Thirty-three on the front, 40 coming home — 73.
“Well, 15, 16, 17 are where you can make some birdies, but you can also get into some trouble,” Spieth said after his round. “So some risk-reward when you’re attacking stuff or whether you are or not on.”
For Spieth, this one went down at “on” then “not on” over those final six holes.
It’s pretty common for what we’ve come to expect from Spieth, who hasn’t won since the 2017 Open Championship.
Harry Higgs Out Of Field With Positive COVID Test:
One of the great characters on the PGA Tour is full-figured Harry Higgs. Higgs, who lives in Dallas, was looking forward to playing at Memorial Park. But he became the 16th player to test positive for the COVID-19 virus.
“While I am disappointed to have to withdraw this week, I am grateful that I drove to Houston by myself and was alone as I awaited my pre-tournament screening results,” said Higgs said in a statement “I look forward to returning to competition when it is safe to do so.”
Higgs must now go through 10 days of self-isolation and he was replaced in the field by Kramer Hickock. Higgs is not in the field at the Masters.
In a non-virus withdrawal, Rory Sabbatini withdrew from Houston after the first round on Thursday.
Players Happy To See Fans On Site:
There was applause for birdies, applause for first tee introductions and other cheers going up around Memorial Park on Thursday as the Tour allowed 2,500 face-masked fans on site.
“When they said my name on the first tee, it was cool to have some people kind of cheer,” Tony Finau said. “It’s been a while since I’ve heard that.”
“I think we have to see,” said Jordan Spieth, a member of the PGA Tour’s policy board. “It certainly felt more normal as we were playing today, and especially as we were finishing up, just the look of it is way more normal than when it was just so bare.
“Obviously, if we’re able to do it safely, that’s a huge win for the tournaments and the Tour, so hopefully it continues to go well like it did this morning,” Spieth added.
