He’s their big draw, the one the crowds turned out for and sadly, he fell right on his face Thursday at the very difficult Copperhead Golf Course at Innisbrook Resort.
We’re talking about Jordan Spieth, the No. 1 player in the world who played like No. 201 during the first round of the Valspar Championship.
The defending champion started slow and things didn’t get any better throughout the day as he battled errant tee shots, wayward approaches and a short game that simply wouldn’t cooperate.
The result for Spieth was an embarrassing five-over par 76 that left him nine shots behind co-leaders Keegan Bradley and Ken Duke from the morning wave then late in the day, Charles Howell III made it a threesome at the top.
As unlikely as it was for Bradley and Duke to be leading, it was more unlikely that Spieth would flounder as he did. He hit only six greens all day, made just one birdie and missed half of the fairways. Add in the fact that he did not like the pace of the greens.
“The greens are as slow as I can remember on the PGA Tour,” Spieth said. “My score is not holding up well against the field.”
His score wouldn’t hold up well anywhere.
He wasn’t alone in his struggles. The average score was two-over Copperhead’s par of 71. Firm greens and winds that gusted up to 20 miles per hour saw to that. It didn’t affect Bradley or Duke. Bradley, who has been missing in action from the top of the PGA Tour leaderboards, had only one bogey for his day’s work and Duke was even better. He’s one of the few who made it around the tree-lined course without a bogey.
Both Bradley and Duke played early when the winds hadn’t worked up to their full velocity. For Bradley, it was his best effort of the year. “I had a nice day on the greens. It’s been a while,” Bradley said afterward.
Overall, it was a difficult day. Testament to the toughness was the fact that only seven players managed to break 70 and only 24 managed to break par.
