This Time, Jordan Spieth Finds a Positive Start at the Sony Open

Four years ago, Spieth couldn't get away from Waialae fast enough after a missed cut. The vibes were much better Thursday.

HONOLULU — The Sony Open has been feast or famine for Jordan Spieth.

Thursday’s first round was clearly feast, with a 6-under 64 and a spot atop the leaderboard with Chris Kirk and Taylor Montgomery.

With a third-place finish, a T18 and two missed cuts, the 29-year-old's four career visits to Waialae have been both hospitable and forbidding, and in 2019 drove Spieth if not to drink, but to fly coach.

After an opening with 3-over 73 in 2019, Spieth tried to ward off a missed cut with a 4-under 66 but fell short by a shot and couldn’t get off Oahu fast enough.

“I was pissed because I was playing really bad,” Spieth said of why he didn’t wait to fly on his Sunday reservation. “Didn't know how to solve it and just missed the cut. I didn't care where I was. I just feel bad for the people around me.”

After that second round, Spieth was in the middle of trying to find a swing and talked about how if you think about the stroke, you have no touch or feel—but what if you just point, aim, and shoot?

“I just started making everything,” Spieth admitted when he went away from process-swinging back to the feel mentality. “Wish I had figured that out like the third hole in the tournament not 30-something holes in.”

It's four years later and Spieth comes with a different game and a different attitude than when he was last at Waialae, of course an opening 64 will help.

After a pedestrian T13 at the Sentry Tournament of Champions last week, Spieth never was in a position on the weekend to win for the 14th time in his career.

Instead, he had one of his worst rounds in some time last Saturday, making mental mistakes that left Sunday's round as merely a prelude to this week’s Sony versus a chance to win.

“I played really dumb shots or made really bad decisions,” Spieth said. “I made a lot of really bad decisions last Saturday. It was probably the worst mentally played round I can remember having in a long time.”

That was just five days ago and in Thursday’s first round, Spieth recorded seven birdies, but more importantly, started quickly with two birdies on the first three holes to set the tone.

Except for a blip on the 13th hole, his fourth of the day, where he missed the green and couldn’t convert a 29-footer for par, Spieth was near-flawless, with the only other disappointment coming on the 9th hole, a short par 5, where he missed a 17-footer for birdie.

While he didn’t mention his poor play in the first round of 2019, that is exactly what he was describing.

Now, Spieth craves freedom in his swing, which includes not separating his arms from his body and having to save shots, then generating a nice fluid stroke on the greens.

“That's really all it comes down to,” Spieth said. “Seems simple, but when you're still fighting the urge to want to hit it hard or get over some bad habits, days like today I'm not surprised, but what I will say is I'm confident relative to other time periods I've been off to similar starts, which is a really good place to be.”

After leading thru 18 holes, Spieth is 3-for-12 in his career, with the last win coming at the 2017 British Open.

So it’s not really written in stone, but maybe more like the sand on the beach that borders part of Waialae.

“I believe I can shoot 5 or 6 under each day out here,” he said. “Not to say that that means it'll happen, but there are other times I would be sitting there going, how do I hold this s--- together, to be honest.”