It hasn’t been the same for Jordan Spieth since his epic run in 2015, a year where he finished top-five in all four majors (winning The Masters and U.S. Open).
After that the pressure mounted on the 22-year-old’s back to become the next Tiger Woods, a youthful player who dominates the field. Spieth was going to be the hero golf wanted, not the one it deserved.
Thursday morning at Royal Birkdale, Spieth took his first step back to redeeming himself and finding that dominance of 2015, as he shot first-round 65 which shares the lead in the clubhouse with Brooks Koepka and Matt Kuchar.
Spieth had a secret to why he played so well, and he shared that with us after the the first round.
“I’ve never taken a trackman out in a tournament round before,” Spieth said. And Cameron brought it out today to see how much the 55 degree weather was affecting my (swing) speeds versus 90 (degree weather) at home. Which is what we were doing last week.
And I was hitting it 10-15 yards shorter without any wind factored in. And then the wind was affecting it another 20-30 yards on the range. Pretty much through the bag, the long irons it affected less. But because I knew how far balls were carrying from our session this morning I was able to know how far that ball would carry. And I can trust that.”
Tracking his ball certainly paid off as Spieth was deadly with his approach shots on Thursday morning. Check below for some of the best shots Spieth recorded on his way to his 65.
You’ll also notice that Spieth’s putter was on fire during these highlights. This was something that separated him from the field in 2015, any putt within 10-feet was was as good as snuck if Spieth was overtop it.
Now it’s only day one, but if Jordan Spieth continues this scientific approach then he may very well find himself one step closer to the career grand slam on Sunday afternoon.
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