HONOLULU, Hawaii – A tree-laden quadruple bogey for former FedExCup champion Jordan Spieth has derailed what appeared a promising opening round at the Sony Open in Hawaii. Spieth was working his way towards the top of the leaderboard at Waialae Country Club at 4 under through 16 holes of his opening round before disaster struck. Playing the par-4 8th hole – after starting his round on the back side of the course – Spieth sat inside the top five. But his tee shot pulled left off the tee and collected with a tree, knocking it down into the rough. His next shot also hit a tree and was barely advanced, getting him just 18 yards closer to the hole and still in trouble. Incredibly his third also hit a tree and not to be outdone so did the fourth. Four shots, four trees. From there Spieth advanced the ball into a greenside bunker but was unable to get it up and down from the sand, eventually walking off with a quadruple bogey eight. A birdie on the final hole left him with a 1-under 69, six shots off the early pace set by Chris Kirk. Spieth’s collapse was made even more frustrating given he’d created a good score despite some average putting. He missed two putts inside five feet and needed 30 putts in his round with two three-putts. Spieth, who finished third at the Sony Open last season, declined to talk about his round but stopped with fans for a significant time signing autographs.
Click here to read the full article…
