Jordan Spieth found himself at an intersection after a bogey on the par-5 12th hole during his opening round at Doral.
For Spieth, it was the first blemish on his card after shooting a bogey-free, 5-under 31 on the front nine followed by additional birdies at Nos. 10 and 11. But there was a sense more mistakes could be on there way.
“I felt like I’ve had some tournaments this year where I’ve gotten off to these nice starts early in the first round, front nine, and then we play difficult golf courses or I just hadn’t really held it, so I remember I went to Michael [Greller] during the day today and just said, let’s set a new goal, let’s pretend we’re starting over just to stay aggressive, just to kind of seeing holes to make birdies versus seeing holes for how hard they are,” Spieth told reporters about a mid-round conversation with his caddie.
It’s an understandable sentiment for the three-time major winner whose last victory on Tour was at the 2022 RBC Heritage.
Spieth went on to birdie the following hole on his way to a 7-under 65 in the first round. He sits tied with Alex Smalley in second place, a shot off leader and Players champ Cameron Young when second-round play tees off on Friday in South Florida.
“Golf’s funny but that was big, that was a stolen one there,” he said of the birdie on the 245-yard, par-3 13th, where he hit his tee shot to 7 feet. “If you told me I was going to play 12 and 13 even at the tee on 12, [I] would probably take it. So, you try to kind of put things in perspective.”
Spieth said the immediate, positive result allowed him to “kick start my momentum back in gear” and helped him birdie again on the next par 3 two holes later.
“Out here, or any really hard golf course, it’s just recognizing that the par is a score and that’s hard [because] most of the courses we play it’s a sprint,” he said after his lowest-scoring round since 2023. “So when you’re playing well you want to keep doing that, but you got to take your medicine sometimes.”
Elite club twirl and iron shot through the trees by Jordan Spieth on 18 🤌 pic.twitter.com/eOEzx2h8sk
— Golf Channel (@GolfChannel) April 30, 2026
Still looking for a PGA Championship win to complete his career Grand Slam, Spieth appears to be on his way into for the field at Aronimink Golf Club in two weeks based on his early play in South Florida.
Sitting at No. 50 in the world, Spieth does still need to maintain a certain ranking level to compete in this year’s U.S. Open at Shinnecock Hills Golf Club.
His 10-year exemption from winning at Chambers Bay ran out in 2025, so there’s no exemption into the U.S. Open.
“I don’t foresee 7-unders every day, but when the wind was down to start, it was a good time to try to take advantage,” the 32-year-old Spieth said of his round opening round in South Florida. “And the greens were soft enough and not quite fast enough to where if you were controlling the ball off the tee you were going to get some looks.”