Eagle pitch from a bunker at No. 11. Eagle pitch from a bunker at No. 16. Double bogey in between.
The roller coaster started up at Ponte Vedra Beach on Thursday with Jordan Spieth as its captain, and sometimes, Jordan Spieth was just hanging on for the ride.
“I got off to a dream start, and then I just wasn’t very tight off the tee today, and out here eventually that will hurt you,” he said.
With two eagles from off the green and a whole lot of twists and turns, Spieth ascended the leaderboard early at Thursday’s opening round of The Players Championship before carding a 2-under 70 that doesn’t begin to describe his back nine.
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By sinking those eagles from the sand in a six-hole span, Spieth became the 36th golfer in the two-eagle round club since The Players moved to the Stadium Course in 1982. Four golfers achieved the feat in 2024, all in the first round: Ludvig Åberg (Nos. 16 and 2), Ryan Fox (Nos. 16 and 17), Matti Schmid (Nos. 11 and 9) and Davis Thompson (Nos. 16 and 9).
Two eagles from the sand, though, would place Spieth in even more exclusive territory. It’s not immediately clear how many of the two-eagle golfers at The Players achieved both of their shots from off the green.
He’ll take the red-number round. But next time, Spieth said, he’d welcome a little smoother journey.
“I feel like I’d like it to be boring,” he said, “and then I’m still in a position right now where I’m still not at the place I want to be, and just trying to work my way there.”
EAGLES TAKE FLIGHT FOR SPIETH
Spieth’s wild ride began only two holes into his 11th appearance on the First Coast.
Beginning on the back nine, he came up 18 yards short on his approach to the par-5 11th. His chip from the giant bunker right of the green bounced twice and nestled into the hole.
Then, five holes later on No. 16, he missed the green left on his second shot. In the bunker, Spieth chipped from the sand and found the hole from 26 yards.
If that had been the whole story, Spieth’s day would have been near-perfect. But his turbulent back-nine included chaos on the par-4 14th — he found water with his drive, played his third from near the teeing ground, and ended up making double bogey — as well as a bogey on No. 15 and a three-putt bogey on the Island Green at 17.
He particularly blamed an errant shot at the end of his afternoon, which forced him to settle for par on the par-5 No. 9.
“I made good decisions until my second shot on the 9th today,” he said. “And [course designer] Pete Dye got me again.”
READY TO END THE DROUGHT?
For Spieth, it’s a quest to end a victory drought that stretches nearly three years. His last first-place finish on the PGA Tour came in South Carolina at the RBC Heritage in 2022.
A former world No. 1 for 26 weeks in 2015 and 2016, Spieth has spiraled to 65th in the Official World Golf Ranking.
Spieth hasn’t often encountered success at The Players Stadium Course at TPC Sawgrass. Since shooting 67-66 in the Thursday-Friday rounds of his first Players appearance in 2014, when he ultimately tied for fourth, Spieth has encountered mostly frustration at the course.
He’s missed the cut six times in 10 Ponte Vedra appearances, including in 2024, while posting some ugly numbers like the second-round 79 in 2022. Since his first Players, Spieth has not finished in the top 15 here.
But the 31-year-old from Dallas tied for fourth at the WM Phoenix Open, then tied for ninth at the Cognizant Classic two weeks ago. On Thursday, he said his wrist is feeling good. With two eagles in six holes, he has cause for confidence — if he can ward off the mistakes.
“All the volatility was just in those first five, six holes,” he said, “and from there it was just almost and just close to being really good.”
This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Players Championship 2025: Jordan Spieth eagles, Thursday first round
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