AUGUSTA, Ga. – Jordan Spieth’s sterling record at Augusta National took a bit of a hit Friday morning.
Returning early to complete his first round, Spieth made a mess of the par-5 15th hole and recorded his worst score of his Masters career – by three – when he signed for a 7-over 79.
His previous worst score at Augusta was a 76 – which he recorded each of the past two years.
Spieth has struggled mightily with his approach play, hitting just seven greens in regulation in the opening round. That cost him severely on the second nine, particularly on the 15th, when he airmailed the green with a short iron on his third shot, pitched into the water fronting the green, and then hit it over the back again after a drop. He walked off with a quadruple bogey.
Per stats guru Justin Ray, Spieth became the only player in the last 20 years with multiple scores of 9 or worse on the 15th hole.
Spieth added another bogey on 17, when he missed a short putt, and needed a nifty up-and-down on the last just to break 80.
Spieth won’t have much time to recover – he’s set to be back on the tee at 10:42 a.m. EDT for the start of his second round.
The 2015 Masters champion has five other top-4 finishes in his Masters career. His only other missed cut at Augusta came in 2022.