The USA is down in three of four matches early on Friday at the Ryder Cup, but the player carrying them is the one with the maybe the most uncertainty at the start of the week. Only one player on the U.S. roster did not make the final 30 at the FedExCup’s Tour Championship. Jordan Spieth got the week off after failing to qualify, so he stayed home while his other 11 teammates went to Atlanta.
Jordan Spieth starts the Ryder Cup on fire to lead Team USA
After his worst season as a pro, Jordan Spieth is getting to work early at the Ryder Cup with an unconscious start.
Photo by Stuart Franklin/Getty Images
It was an earlier-than-expected end to Spieth’s most disappointing season as a pro, but you’d have no idea he struggled with anything watching the start of the Ryder Cup. Spieth is on fire, posting birdies in five of his first seven holes to absolutely blitz the overmatched-looking European duo of Tyrrell Hatton and Paul Casey.
Spieth started the day by almost holing out on the first for a walk-off eagle. But the short birdie putt was still enough to win the hole.
Spieth has done it largely with his putter, the club that you always hear cited as his primary weapon. This bomb is a bonus and the kind you need to separate and win a hole in a match play competition where birdies can be plentiful.
On the very next hole, it became clear that Spieth things were happening and this Euro pair might not have much of a chance. Justin Thomas is not playing poorly, it’s just that Spieth is so hot that he’s carrying his partner to a nice front-nine cushion. Thomas was all too happy to retrieve his partner’s ball after this hole-out from the fringe.
That put the American duo 3-up through the first seven holes, which is a massive margin for just the front-nine. It’s all thanks to Spieth, who apparently took the week off and found something in time for this Ryder Cup.
The other three matches are all back-and-forth but this one is trending toward a point for the American side. It’s hard to envision captain Jim Furyk pulling a Tom Watson and not sending Spieth and Thomas back out for the afternoon Foursomes session.
