Round 1 highlights of John Deere Classic

PLAYA DEL CARMEN, Mexico – Last week’s Shriners Hospitals for Children Open was a disappointment for Jordan Spieth, who was making his first U.S. fall start. After carding an opening 66, he struggled with a new driver and 3-wood, and finished T55. That was then. Making his first visit to the Riviera Maya for the Mayakoba Golf Classic this week, Spieth, the 2015 FedExCup champion, has gone back to the driver, 3-wood he’d played for the last five years. And it’s gone so well, he said, Vegas is a distant memory. “It’s way more positive than that,� Spieth said after his pro-am round on the El Camaleon Golf Course at Mayakoba on Wednesday. “Last week I just, I was looking at something different, and the performance just wasn’t coming out the same. It’s been totally different the last couple days for me here. I’ve been striking the ball extremely well, hitting a lot of the fairways, and the short game has been just—trying to improve a little bit more. “The ball-striking is as good as it’s been in quite a while,� he added. “It’s just the short game I need to dial in a little bit.� One of the best barometers for Spieth, as with many players, is his putting. After carrying him to 11 victories before the age of 25, it suddenly fell off for much of last year. He said he likes the paspalum grass at Mayakoba, which bodes well in his struggle for form. That said, Spieth rightly pointed out that getting to the greens in the first place is no picnic. The course is tighter off the tees than he expected; beautiful but narrow. “You’ve got to keep it in between the beacons,� he said. In other words, the old driver and 3-wood could be huge. “I feel like he’s going to drive the ball well this week, which is needed around here,� said Rickie Fowler, who played a practice round with Spieth on Tuesday. Spieth is trying to rebound from a winless 2017-18 season, when he finished 31st in the FedExCup and missed the TOUR Championship. Meanwhile, he’ll soon wed longtime girlfriend Annie Verret, who is back in Dallas, doing wedding planning, leaving Spieth single until the arrival of his parents here later this week. Not that Spieth isn’t doing a little planning himself. Speaking at a Monday fundraiser for the MD Anderson Cancer Center in Dallas, he said he’d kicked out his housemates, including TOUR rookie Kramer Hickok, a former teammate at Texas, in preparation for married life. Asked if Mayakoba would mark his last start as a single guy, Spieth laughed. “Yeah, I guess it is,� he said. “Yeah, not much will change. I’m just excited to be here. It’s pretty awesome here, as you know. I mean, I get the afternoon on the beach.�

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Jordan Spieth carded a 5-under 67 in the first round of the Valero Texas Open on Thursday, good enough for the solo lead amongst the morning-wave finishers. That was good enough for a one-shot lead over Scottie Scheffler and Tom Hoge. Related: Full leaderboard "I certainly would have signed up for 5 under starting out," Spieth said. "Felt like I played some really nice golf on our front nine, the back nine. Then just kind of got a little loose off the tee on the front nine, our second nine, and was able to kind of make do. "I hit some decent drives, ended up in iffy spots," he continued. "Overall, just chipped and putted really well, which was the difference maker today. I didn’t quite hit it as good as I have been." Mired in a slump at the start of this year, Spieth has regained his form with the help of longtime coach Cameron McCormick but also an unlikely ally: fellow TOUR pro Jason Dufner. Speaking about the upcoming Masters in a conference call Wednesday, Brandel Chamblee and Rich Lerner suggested that Spieth has been copying some of Dufner's moves. "Well, if you watch him when he rehearses before he hits a shot now, it's weird," Chamblee said. "Even when he's hitting bunker shots, he'll make this very flat golf swing and then in transition, he'll bring his right elbow much closer to his left elbow than I've ever seen him, and then he will round it off and sort of curve the hub. "He'll swing very much around and to the left," he continued. "The only other person I've ever seen make practice swings like that is Jason Dufner. So it would not surprise me in the least if he was not — if he wasn't taking lessons from Jason Dufner, talking to Jason Dufner about the golf swing, or watching Jason Dufner make golf shots. Or Cameron McCormick is." Added Lerner: "He has, Brandel. I spoke to their camp at Bay Hill and he has confided in Dufner, which sort of caught me by surprise." Asked about the Dufner connection after making seven birdies and two bogeys, one of them on his last hole, the par-4 ninth, Spieth said they've been friends, but that's about it. "Yeah, he’s somebody that has a good knowledge of the golf swing," he said. "He’s helped a lot of guys. Just kind of bounce ideas off him. He’s been a good friend of mine for a long time. "He’s been somebody I can always kind of bounce off - ‘Hey, I’m trying to do this, you know, what’s this feel like to you?' - that kind of stuff," Spieth added. "He’s been a good buddy, as I’ve had a lot of different guys over the years that have been offering advice on and off the golf course to the young guys and that’s not out of the ordinary out here."

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Sometimes, no matter the motivation, you just need to go for it. Suffice it to say that the inaugural edition of the Zurich Classic of New Orleans as a two-man team competition found the target in 2017. The reaction from the 160-man field was overly positive and Kevin Kisner’s eagle on the last hole of regulation to force a playoff gave the new format its first “moment.” Not too shabby. This year’s groundbreaking introduction at TPC Louisiana is walk-up music chosen by each of the 80 teams. It’s optional, but given the love affair that most (all?) golfers have with other sports in which it’s a constant if not an expectation, and with the tournament’s unique exploration to attract talent and fans, any usual respectful greetings and applause sans tuneage on the opening tees might seem out of place this week. Once again, there are fascinating connections among the commitments. I’ve segregated 10 with intrigue. Scroll beneath the ranking for five others considered as well as more on the format and the host course. POWER RANKINGS: ZURICH CLASSIC OTHERS CONSIDERED Daniel Berger & Gary Woodland Jason Dufner & Pat Perez Rafa Cabrera Bello & Sergio Garcia Russell Knox & Martin Laird Louis Oosthuizen & Charl Schwartzel PGA TOUR Fantasy Golf presented by SERVPRO omits the Zurich Classic of New Orleans, so Tuesday’s Fantasy Insider will be presented in an abridged format. In last year’s foray and in less-than-ideal conditions during the last three rounds, Jonas Blixt and Cameron Smith prevailed in a four-hole playoff with Kisner and Scott Brown. Both teams hung up 27-under 261s after two rounds each of alternate shot and best ball. The winners were the only duo in the field without a bogey or worse on their card. They set the bar. Tournament organizers have reversed the alternating order of play this year. Rounds 1 and 3 will be best ball, while alternate shot will be used for Rounds 2 and 4. The low 35 teams and ties at the conclusion of 36 holes will survive the cut. Unlike last year, the secondary (MDF) cut no longer applies. Per standard membership provisions, both winners will receive two-year PGA TOUR exemptions or the customary one-year extension in fully exempt status (not to exceed five years beyond this season) if already exempt through 2019-2020. The winners will also receive berths into THE PLAYERS, PGA Championship and all remaining invitationals this season. They’ll also gain entry into the 2019 Sentry Tournament of Champions at Kapalua. FedExCup points and earnings will be distributed just as ties for any place in the final standings are currently determined. The winners will share first- and second-place values and receive 400 FedExCup points and $1,036,800 apiece. Because of the format, Official World Golf Ranking points are not rewarded. This means that the Zurich Classic of New Orleans essentially is a free play from contributing to one’s divisor. If there was a common thread among the winners and contenders at TPC Louisiana last year, it was variety. All shapes and sizes were represented on the final leaderboard, and that’s exactly what any tournament and every golfer wants. The par-72 stretching 7,425 yards is inviting off the tee. Precision on approach is rewarded properly on greens averaging just 5,225 square feet because they’re segmented with undulations that must be respected. The longest rough is trimmed to two inches. Prepped to run at 12 feet on the Stimpmeter because persistent rainfall often assists in pumping the brakes, the overseeded bermuda greens actually might touch that goal this week. The only reasonable threat for inclement weather is forecast for Thursday’s opening round. Thereafter, drier air will take hold. Daytime highs might not reach 80 degrees and wind is not expected to be a factor throughout. It’s going to be beautiful. In benign conditions, 30 under par cannot be ruled out in this format. All members of the teams that finish inside the top five in the tournament will earn exemptions into next week’s Wells Fargo Championship if not already eligible to compete. ROB BOLTON’S SCHEDULE PGATOUR.COM’s Fantasy Insider Rob Bolton covers numerous angles in between tournaments. Look for his following contributions this week. MONDAY: Rookie Ranking, Qualifiers, Reshuffle, Medical Extensions, Power Rankings TUESDAY*: Sleepers, Facebook Live, Fantasy Insider WEDNESDAY: One & Done * – Rob is a member of the panel for PGATOUR.COM’s Expert Picks for PGA TOUR Fantasy Golf presented by SERVPRO, which also publishes on Tuesdays.

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