Jordan Spieth came out blazing hot at the John Deere Classic on Saturday with his lowest round of the season. He carded an 8-under 63 to sit at 14-under total. Spieth jumped 33 spots on Moving Day, making the most of his early tee time.
The former Texas Longhorn was 6-under through eight holes as he went out in 29 strokes. He added two more birdies on the 10th and 12th before his only hiccup of the day.
Spieth bogeyed the par-4 13th but quickly regrouped. Three straight pars followed before he made his ninth birdie of the day at 17. It was nearly an eagle, but it came up inches short.
“It felt a lot better than being 7-under through 16, and I feel almost like a weird disappointment at that point,” Spieth said. “So nice to hit two beautiful shots into 17 and half a roll from getting an eagle there.”
“All in all, those finishing pins were tougher. Fortunately, I don’t think the field is going to make four birdies in a row to finish. Most of them are out there a little before that. It was a good day. Did a lot of things well. I improved on yesterday and that was my goal.”
His putter proved to be one of the strongest clubs in his bag on Saturday. Spieth made 100 feet of putts through the 12th hole.
Saturday’s 63 was his best round of the week so far, but that is typically how he handles this tournament. Spieth starts slow but gets stronger as the week goes on.
“It’s a race. It’s prime scoring conditions,” he said. “We had quite a few front pins in bowls that you needed to make birdie on. Sometimes that’s the hardest part, is the shot almost seems too easy because we’re not used to it.”
“Luckily, I capitalized on those and made a couple of putts,” Spieth said. “It was just a good solid round. No chip-ins, nothing spectacular, no crazy ones here or there. But tomorrow, if I can be as solid as I was today and maybe catch a couple of extra breaks, it would take something extremely flawless to have a chance, but I’ll try and do what I did today.”
Spieth’s 14-under is currently T14 on the leaderboard. TPC Deere Run is playing into these guys’ hands, especially the front nine. The back nine is playing a little trickier. He will have to go low on Sunday to potentially win his third John Deere Classic.
Savannah Leigh Richardson is a golf staff writer for SB Nation’s Playing Through. For more golf coverage, follow us @_PlayingThrough on all major social platforms. You can also follow her on Twitter @SportsGirlSL and Instagram @savannah_leigh_sports.