Jordan Spieth had just completed a turbulent 4-under 68 in Round 2 of the Players Championship and was asked, \u201cLater today, will you be able to think mostly about the good stuff and sort of set the finish?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNever,\u201d Jordan shot back at the reporter. \u201cHave you ever played golf?\u201d<\/p>\n
There was, however, plenty of good and bad Friday at TPC Sawgrass, yielding what is known as the \u201cSpieth experience.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
After a first-round 73 with a double on the last, the three-time major champion opened his second round with another damper: a bogey. Then, things gradually improved. A birdie, four straight pars and six birdies in seven holes, including a 50-footer on No. 2 (he started on the back nine). Suddenly, Spieth was within four strokes of the lead.\u00a0<\/p>\n
An adventure on his last, though, would stain his scorecard. The 32-year-old pulled his tee shot on the par-5 9th into the trees and punched out. His third shot was again pulled so badly that he hit a provisional, which ultimately wasn\u2019t needed. Then, from the pine straw, his shot landed short, into the greenside bunker. And from there, he\u2019d knock his ball to 6 feet, lip out his bogey putt and sign for a double-bogey 7.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve been playing really well, trying to let the course come to me,\u201d said Spieth, whose best finish at the Players was a T19 in 2023. \u201cDon\u2019t have to force anything. It\u2019s not quite there yet, but it’s like close enough to where I can do what I did today for a while.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cYeah, so just kind of stinks because to finish like that. Some days you wonder if you shot one stroke worse but you finished with a birdie if you would actually be happier. It\u2019s a weird deal, weird game.\u201d<\/p>\n
Jordan Spieth is making moves on Friday @THEPLAYERS<\/a> \ud83d\udd25<\/p>\n \ud83d\udcfa PGA TOUR LIVE on ESPN+ pic.twitter.com\/Wja40RaXci<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) March 13, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n Spieth is in the midst of his second season since undergoing wrist surgery in August 2024 that caused him to shelve the clubs for several months. Having not won since the 2022 RBC Heritage, Spieth appears to be on the mend, coming off consecutive top 12 finishes. Finally healthy again, he feels freed up.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cMy wrist, it\u2019s awesome,\u201d Spieth said. \u201cI don’t think much about it. There\u2019s days where I wake up and it\u2019s tighter and I\u2019ve got to get it loosened up because one of the key factors to my ball control is using my wrists more. I used to use it a lot more and then I got away from it when I was hurt. So it is really nice. It was nice to work on structure in the off-season and not worry about rehab or anything like that.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cSo I\u2019ve mentioned this the last two weeks, the last two or three tournaments, just feels like things are getting better and better each week.\u201d<\/p>\n Now, through 36 holes at TPC Sawgrass, Spieth, at 3 under, sits nine strokes off Ludvig \u00c5berg\u2019s lead<\/a>. He\u2019s certainly not out of it, but, despite the many positives he had Friday, it\u2019s hard not to think where he\u2019d be on the leaderboard had he not finished the first two rounds with doubles.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI toed a drive on 18 yesterday and then on one of the easiest holes I made a 7 today,\u201d he said, \u201cand it\u2019s just a bit of a bummer to finish that way, right? They don\u2019t tell the story of how I\u2019m really playing; they were just two swings that I just needed to miss on the other side.\u201d<\/p>\n