AUGUSTA, Ga. The first round of the 2021 Masters gave customers a fun day, but a leaderboard made them hope for fireworks on Friday. Justin Thomas and Jordan Spieth were forced to combine for 11 birdies and just two bogeys, while Augusta National continued to be one of the best players in the world.
Thomas (-4) shot a 67 in the second round to get within three of Justin Rose’s lead; a thug on the last time he does not slip in second place. Spieth (-5), who played in the group behind Thomas, had him triumph with a birdie at no. 17 and on the last time to shoot 68 and get inside two from Rose.
There are endless possible combinations for duel duels this weekend, but few are as compelling as a Thomas-Spieth war that could take place at Augusta (depending on what the rest of the field can do). The pair of generational players together have won 26 times at the PGA Tour with four majors and a Players Championship. None of them even reached age 28. Now they have a chance to get together on Sunday for the biggest prize of all.
Spieth vs Thomas, Round 2
|
Spieth |
-1 (T8) |
5 |
1 |
-5 (T2) |
|
Thomas |
+1 (T20) |
6 |
1 |
-4 (T4) |
The careers of Spieth and Thomas have been crossed many times, but since they were called, they have not been intertwined regularly. For three or four years, Spieth was clearly Thomas’ superior, a model for what Thomas could eventually become. For the past three or four years it’s all been JT He was a model for what Spieth was trying to reclaim. In the middle was the magical year of 2017 when they both made money. The pair have claimed a combined eight wins, including the last two major championships of the season.
Now it would seem that their professional lives coincide again at an interesting moment in their careers when they have more depth than they have ever had. Although both won quickly at a young age, they have waged internal battles over the past few years.
Thomas beat early in the year after uttering an evil during the tournament for champions. He was really remorseful and later said he attended counseling to address what was going on in his life. Then he won the first Players Championship in his career.
Spieth’s feuds were mostly with his swing on the track. He emerged last week as an emotional winner of the Texas Open, his first victory since winning the Open in 2017 after months and months (and months!) Of explaining how his game improves, though it never did did not seem.
Thomas and Spieth are no longer miracle wounds. These are adults who are struggling. These are more than just caricatures, which makes them much more interesting than ever before.
The most playable trope in golf is that Thomas and Spieth grew up as best friends together. There is perhaps a lot of truth, as they have spent many junior golf days together as two of the best players in the country. Even this week, they played practice rounds before the main event.
But the real story here is that they are two of the best golfers of their generation, and that they are two of the three best iron players in the world who have tackled one of the most difficult courses of the past few years. Augusta National looks like it’s a nasty weekend, and no one is better prepared to do it than these two.
“With predicted winds, when there is little friction on the greens, the wind affects the ball more than you think,” Spieth said. “It’s just getting really hard to make a lot of set pieces. That’s why the scores will be more challenging this weekend if we don’t get rain.”
Thomas and Spieth have shared a lot over the years: the same team room at the Ryder Cup and Presidents Cup, the title of the number one player in the world. Together they won the Grand Slam career together. But they can not share the green jacket that awaits the winner of this golf tournament at the end of the week. It will only be worn by one man.
That exclusivity makes the nature of their relationship, the quality of the golf they play, and the high input 36 holes that are about to unfold. For all the crossings these two everyday trajectories have made, they have never struggled on a Sunday for a major championship.
We may not see this fight this week either, but after two rounds of great golf from both Spieth and Thomas at Augusta National, it sure seems like this is where we are headed.