Late triple bogey halts Jordan Spieth's charge at Kapalua
For 16 holes, it looked like Jordan Spieth was putting himself back in contention at Kapalua.
The defending champion at the SBS Tournament of Champions opened in a disappointing 1-under 72 to sit seven back in a tie for 22nd, but he went about putting himself in the mix late Friday.
A double bogey at No. 8 undid two early birdies, but Spieth then went on a tear, birdieing his next five holes and adding on another at No. 16 to suddenly reach 7 under and move within two.
Then, disaster. Spieth hooked his tee shot at the par-4 17th into a hazard and knocked his third into another. He hit a beautiful fifth shot but couldn’t drop the remaining 4-footer for double bogey. In the end, it was a demoralizing triple-bogey 7.
“Really one hiccup swing trying to just pound one on 17 (cost me),” Spieth said in his post-round interview on Golf Channel. “I just hit a foul ball, and just rushed a couple holes when I got into trouble instead of taking my time.”
Spieth would birdie 18 to shoot 4-under 69, a good score on Friday. But certainly a bit disappointing when he had nine birdies on the round and was 6 under for the day with one hole to play.
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The 23-year-old guessed that at 5 under overall he might be 10 shots back by day’s end (he’s currently five back in a tie for 17th as the round progresses) and is already wondering whether the late slide may already have him out of contention with 36 holes to play.
“We were in contention and now pretty surely out of it,” Spieth said. “It’s a bummer not to really have a chance to win after two rounds.”
