The Players Championship: Jordan Spieth’s Lucky Break
The Players Championship is always a difficult tournament to play, as the TPC Sawgrass course is full of challenging holes that can quickly make or break a golfer’s round. On Friday, Jordan Spieth found himself in a precarious position, needing a birdie to make the cut and in serious danger of missing it.
What happened next was nothing short of miraculous. Spieth’s drive on the par-5 ninth hole sliced to the right, headed for the cart path and then the water. But then it took an unexpected turn—it bounced off the leg of a fan and went into the short grass. This good fortune gave Spieth a second chance, and he made the most of it. He ripped a 3-wood from 277 yards to the right collar of the green and then chipped in for an eagle to limit the damage to a 75 and assure a spot in the middle of the pack going into the weekend.
Spieth was certainly not the only one to experience a rollercoaster round on Friday. Viktor Hovland finished his opening round on Thursday with four birdies on his last five holes, and he started Friday with four birdies on his opening seven holes. But he then ran into trouble, with a double bogey on the fourth and a bogey from a fairway bunker on the next. He three-putted for bogey on the eighth, and finished with a 71, which was anything but a ho-hum round.
Max McGreevy had an even more tumultuous round. He opened with a 69 on Thursday but then shot a whopping 20 shots worse on Friday, tying the Players Championship record with a score of 89. He made double bogey on No. 4, followed with a triple bogey on No. 5, and ran into short-game issues for a double bogey on No. 6, before making birdie on the final hole to break 90.
Lucas Herbert had quite the adventure in the first two rounds, shooting 82 and then 85. His round included an 8 on the par-3 17th when he hit one tee shot and another long, and this being an island green, both had the same fate. He also had a 9 on the fourth hole by hitting three balls into the water.
Jordan Spieth can certainly count himself lucky to be playing the weekend after his lucky break on the ninth hole. With the big numbers being posted at The Players Championship, luck can be the difference between making the cut and missing it.
