Jordan Spieth is back at the top of a PGA Tour leaderboard.
The man who managed to make the FedEx Cup Playoffs without getting in the top 10 a single time all year is threatening to go on a run in the postseason. An opening-round 65 at the FedEx St Jude leaves him tied for the lead after 18 holes.
Spieth has not won for four years, with his last victory coming at the 2022 RBC Heritage. He’s battled injuries over the last few seasons, but this year the three-time major winner has shown glimpses of returning to his best form.
Every part of his game has looked elite at various points in the year, but he’s not been able to string everything together at once. But this could be the week. Especially after he did something during round one of the St Jude that he hasn’t done for three years.
Jordan Spieth has a bogey-free opening round for the first time in three years
Spieth had the cleanest start he’s had to a tournament in three years. His opening round of the FedEx St Jude was his first bogey-free opening round since the 2023 edition of the same tournament.
The 33-year-old was just one-under par on the front nine, but four birdies on his closing nine holes shot him into the lead of the tournament, overtaking his playing partner, Tommy Fleetwood, who finished four-under par.
Spieth was also the round one leader back in 2023, as he shot a seven-under opening round to put himself in pole position for the win. It didn’t work out for Spieth on that occasion, as he went four-under on his final three rounds to fall off the pace and finish four shots back of the winner, Lucas Glover.
He’ll hope to put those memories behind him this year and continue this strong pace. If Spieth returns to the winner’s circle for the first time since 2022, he’d be one of the most popular winners of the season.
The reason Jordan Spieth is leading the FedEx St Jude
Spieth looked in complete control of his golf ball at TPC Southwind. This wasn’t the usual Spieth experience, with him spraying the ball all over the place. Instead, he made nearly every single green on the day and putted brilliantly.
He ranked sixth in Strokes Gained: Approach and ninth in Strokes Gained: Putting, which is a recipe for success around this golf course, which rewards accuracy. You cannot get away with wild misses around this golf course, and for the most part Spieth eliminated them from his round.
Speaking afterward, he called it “stress-free”: “If you look at the stats, you’ll see four or five missed greens, but I had a putter in my hand on every single one of them; they were on the fringe. If you want to count that as 18 greens, it becomes about as stress-free as it can be.
“I had a couple of those last weekend, which was nice. But I could have gotten into some trouble early in the round today, and I played the right spots, stayed patient, and my tap-ins didn’t frustrate me. In fact, it was like, all right, well, this is kind of the worst that I could have played this hole, and I tapped in for par. So let’s just stay the course.
“Once one fell on No. 9, the lid came off, and I made a few early there in the back.”
Staying patient is much easier when you’re at the top of the leaderboard, so now Spieth has no one to chase heading into round two, he can continue to play at this pace and stay in contention for the week.