PALM HARBOR, Fla. (AP) – Jordan Spieth should have a good idea what it will take to make the cut in the Valspar Championship.
The last time the world’s No. 1 player competed against a full field, Spieth opened with a 79 on Thursday afternoon at Riviera for his worst start ever on the PGA Tour. He returned the next morning and could only try to shoot the lowest score he could and hope that it would be enough. He didn’t, and it wasn’t.
Spieth had one of those starts to a round at Innisbrook where if anything could go wrong, then it would. A tee shot that stopped rolling behind a tree. Another that left him no swing because it was right next to a tree. A gust that sent a wedge long. A gust that kept a wedge short.
He was angry. He was laughing. And he shot a 5-over 76 that put him in a tie for 117th.
The wind was at its worst Thursday morning when he play. He tees off Friday afternoon and should know what it takes to get two more cracks on the weekend.