There was nothing ho-hum about Jordan Spieth’s opening round of 2-under 70 at the 2025 Players Championship. Well, except if you put it into the context of Spieth’s entire career. The three-time major champion hit for the cycle Thursday at TPC Sawgrass, and in the process, shot his way into contention in the PGA Tour’s flagship event.
Spieth started his tournament in ideal fashion by kicking in a birdie on his first hole, the par-4 10th, before flashing brilliance from the greenside bunker on the par-5 11th by holing out for eagle. In a blink of an eye, Spieth was 3 under through two holes, and his name stood atop the leaderboard.
However, one must remember that Spieth is Spieth. The good does not come without some bad, and vice versa. Nothing is ever as it seems. It can never be that easy.
Following a pair of pars, Spieth lost his tee shot left into the water on the difficult par-4 14th. As the ball barely crossed any land,Spieth had to play his third from just in front of the tee box; he ultimately landed a double bogey. A bogey followed on the next with all of Spieth’s early magic vanishing.
However, his opening act was not finished. Greenside in two on the par-5 16th, Spieth summoned another trick by flipping his third onto the green and watching as it tumbled towards the hole before disappearing. Back to red figures he went pulling another eagle out of his hat.
A 3-putt bogey on the island green was offset by a conventional birdie on the par-4 18th.
In total, Spieth’s opening nine featured two eagles, two birdies, two pars, two bogeys and a double bogey. All that added up to a 2-under 34.
His second-nine 36 may have appeared more mundane on paper, but that would be far from the truth. Exchanging a birdie on the par-5 2nd — he played the par 5s in 5 under on the round — with a bogey on the par-4 7th, Spieth’s inward half saw him put seven pars on the scorecard. They were all hard-earned.
He hit only one fairway on his second nine, the par-5 9th, and two greens in regulation. Leaning on his short game, which has held him back at times during his comeback from injury, Spieth looked like his old self. He was hitting tee shots into the trees and pine straws, getting up-and-down from greenside bunkers and jail alike.
The 31-year-old showed off his entire bag of tricks at TPC Sawgrass.
A rousing applause and place inside the top 10 as he entered the clubhouse were Spieth’s reward. The golden child put his best and most Spieth-ian foot forward Thursday towards raising the golden boy on Sunday.
