But two balls into Rae’s Creek last April and no follow-up majors have made this seem like a ho-hum year for Spieth.
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MARTIN LAIRD produced his equal lowest opening round all year to muscle his way to five under par and a share of the clubhouse lead on the opening day of the Barclays Championship.
Three bogeys in his next seven holes pushed him over par but the wheels came off when he dropped four more shots in his final four holes for a five-over 76.
“It was just a real bummer finish because I actually felt like I really actually played pretty solid today”, Spieth said. He also withdrew from the U.S. Open before finishing his second round headed toward a missed cut.
Spieth was a shoo-in for PGA Tour player of the year in 2015 until Day won The Barclays and the BMW Championship, and suddenly Spieth’s wonderful run through the majors – two victories, a runner-up finish and missing a playoff by one shot at St. Andrews – was in doubt.
“Yeah, it’s one of the toughest ones”, Spieth said Thursday after his first round. Bethpage Black got the best of Stegmaier today, who was making his debut in the FedExCup Playoffs. Everyone knew it. Rory McIlroy predicted this very thing at the end of a year ago.
The 40-year-old arrived in NY having won a silver medal in golf’s return to the Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.
“I was close a year ago, but with how Jordan played in the majors, obviously he deserved it”. Figure the winning score to be closer to the 3-under Tiger Woods fashioned to win the 2002 U.S. Open.
Only the top 100 advance to the next event at the Deutsche Bank Championship, and then the top 70 move on to the BMW Championship at Crooked Stick. He knows he can make up ground in a hurry, though.
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One or two wins in the FedEx Cup, then a heroic showing in the Ryder Cup next month still could make this another memorable year for Spieth.
