Jordan Spieth has been responsible for what might be both the best and weirdest shots at the Valero Texas Open this week. Which is a very Jordan Spieth thing to do.
The best came in the first round on Thursday, when Spieth turned around a rough day with a hole-in-one from 199 yards on the 16th hole in San Antonio. He did it with a brand-new 7-iron and birdied the next hole to leave the round at only 1-over.
The weird came in the third round on Saturday, though the shots that set it up were also pretty bad. Spieth hit a 354-yard drive on the par-5 18th hole that landed him behind a tree, then hit his next shot into a drainage ditch. From right next to a concrete drain, Spieth hit his third shot onto the rooftop of the clubhouse of TPC San Antonio.
The ball eventually settled into a gutter. The shot needs to be seen to be believed.
The funny part about all that is Spieth likely hit the gutter shot on purpose because he knew he would get a free drop from the building. Because of that, he was still able to putt for par. The errant shot allowed him to place his ball only 100 yards from the green, and his fourth shot got him on 54 feet from the hole. Hitting a shot onto a clubhouse rooftop sounds like a round-killing mistake, but it actually gave him a shot to save par.
Unfortunately, Spieth didn’t save par. He three-putted for double bogey and exited the round at 3-under, tied for 17th on the leaderboard and 12 shots back from leader Akshay Bhatia.
We can only wait and see what he does on Sunday.
