Jordan Spieth tossed his club in anger after finding the water. (Image: NBC)
Jordan Spieth’s frustration was palpable during the third round of The Players Championship on Saturday, as he was spotted throwing his club after landing in the water on the 16th hole. Starting the day three under par and eight strokes behind the leader, Spieth had a shaky start to the weekend with five birdies and four bogeys before reaching the 16th hole.
Despite his initial game plan, Spieth took an aggressive approach, aiming for the green in two shots on the par-five hole.
After a successful drive onto the fairway, Spieth miscalculated his next shot, which fell short and veered right. Visibly upset with his performance, the 13-time PGA Tour champion threw his club in exasperation over the costly error.
Despite double-bogeying the hole, Spieth managed to regain his composure for the rest of the round, securing par on the 17th and 18th holes. However, his respectable one-under turned into a one-over due to the water hazard, leaving him tied for 38th place going into the final day.
Spieth has been using The Players Championship as a chance for redemption following his exclusion from the Arnold Palmer Invitational. Although it’s not a major tournament, the former world No. 1 pledged to treat it as such. Despite adopting a more cautious strategy initially, Spieth reverted to his old habits before the club-throwing incident.
Spieth has shared his revised strategy with NBC Sports, highlighting the importance of a patient approach to success: “I think for the most part I should approach it like a major and what I mean by that is the approach to the green,” Spieth divulged. “Where you stay real patient and take advantage of the par-5’s and when you get a good number on a couple of holes.”
Acknowledging past missteps, Spieth admitted: “I’ve gotten a little bit impatient here over the years and I take a couple chances I shouldn’t take and it bites you. I think in general, being a little bit more patient.”
Spieth’s career has experienced ups and downs, including dips outside the top 100 since 2019 due to injuries and inconsistencies. Nevertheless, he boasts an impressive track record with his wins at the US Open and the Masters in 2015 and his triumph at the Open Championship in 2017.
Now 31, Spieth enters 2025 with a renewed optimism, having struggled with his game in previous seasons. “Right now, I’m on the right track back. I’m progressing, and I know that I’m on the right track. I’m not searching for answers,” he declared, following a commendable 14-under-par performance at this year’s Cognizant Classic.
“That’s a big difference. That just means it’ll come. If you had told me 14 under at the beginning of the week, I would have shook your hand and gone home. It may even be in the top 10. It’s crazy good golf out there.
“But the problem is I’ve been so far off for so many years … so hopefully it just continues to get better… I’m in a way better headspace now. I feel like I’m more capable of handling dips better than back then. If I didn’t putt well in 2019, I wouldn’t have made a cut.
“I feel like I have way more knowledge about what I do well and why I did it well and how to get back to doing that than I did back then. I feel like I can do stuff like this every week.”
This article originally appeared on