Make no mistake about it, Jordan Spieth’s second round at the 2023 Players Championship was a whirlwind.
It started with birdies on the 10th and 11th holes early Friday morning at TPC Sawgrass in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida. Then came a bogey. A double. Another bogey. Another double.
Standing on the ninth tee, his final hole of the day, Spieth was 2 over for the tournament and 5 over in the second round. He likely needed birdie to guarantee a weekend tee time. His smacked his tee shot on the par 5, and it was heading toward the water.
Good thing for Spieth, a fan’s knee was in the way. Instead of likely bouncing into the water right of the ninth, it bounced back into the fairway.
@JordanSpieth made sure to check on the fan and gave him a glove @THEPLAYERSChamp. pic.twitter.com/pNn2o7FHZr
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) March 10, 2023
Spieth proceeded to hit his approach shot short right of the green, and in typical Spieth fashion chipped in for eagle. He’s at even-par 144 and will make the weekend.
“I got an extremely lucky break on 9 or I wouldn’t be playing the weekend,” Spieth said. “Trying to get that guy’s information and see literally whatever he wants this weekend because everything from here on out is because it hit him.”
Kudos to the fan, too, who gave the glove Spieth handed him after the mishap to a kid.