Jordan Spieth’s wild opening-round 73 at U.S. Open continues frustrating odyssey

MAMARONECK, N.Y. – Jordan Spieth sounded exhausted. Frustrated. Cooked.

His 3-over 73 was far from the worst round at the 120th U.S. Open at Winged Foot, but it might have been the most eventful. He got his ball stuck in a tree (second hole, double-bogey), made three straight birdies (holes 4-6), hit just three fairways (Phil Mickelson style), and putted well (Jordan Spieth style).

At least there, on the greens, the 27-year-old still looks like the 2015 FedExCup champion.

“There's a lot that's off,” he said. “I'm not really sure. If I knew, I'd fix it. So I'm kind of just – kind of working through it and looking forward to having a little more time off to figure it out.

“I mean, yeah, I'm late behind it,” he added. “The second I try to get back out in front of, it's hooking.”

Spieth’s record is beyond enviable. He’s an 11-time PGA TOUR winner, three of those majors. But he has not won in over three years (The Open Championship). And while he was sputtering Thursday, playing partner Patrick Reed (66, including an ace), his old Presidents Cup and Ryder Cup colleague, was zooming up the leaderboard. What’s more, by day’s end Spieth was already eight shots behind another familiar contemporary, Justin Thomas (65).

The whole experience left him sounding equal parts exasperated and bewildered.

“Standing on a tee at the U.S. Open and not exactly knowing where the ball is going to go is not a great feeling,” Spieth said. “I know you guys probably haven't experienced that before, but it's not incredibly enjoyable. But I'll grind it out. I don't ever give up. I have no reason to. I'm here.

“I feel that, even with not having much tee to green, I can somehow still shoot an even or under par round on this course,” he added, “and that's incredible self-belief in the grind.”

Spieth’s day began with a bogey followed by an escorted ride in a golf cart after he couldn’t find his drive and had to go back to the second tee. While he rallied with three straight birdies to get back to even par, it didn’t last.

Things began to unravel with a bogey at the par-3 10th hole, where he couldn’t save par from a greenside bunker. He was in the trees at 11, but hit a terrific second shot under one branch and over some others to inside 11 feet.

Then he missed the birdie putt and double-bogeyed the par-5 12th.

Needing another run of birdies, he couldn’t find one, and wound up with the same score as fellow former U.S. Open champions Tiger Woods, Justin Rose and several others. It goes like that at Winged Foot.

While Spieth told himself going into the round that he would just try to play a succession of draws off the tees, he said he unaccountably found himself hitting fades, and getting into trouble.

“All in all, shooting 3 over at a U.S. Open, feeling like I had no control, it's not bad,” he said. “Really struggling ball-striking. Found a way to kind of grind it out on and around the greens.”

The grind continues Friday.