WATCH: Jordan Spieth Hits Incredible Flop Shot At Ryder Cup

The Texan showed off some short game magic on the famous par-3 17th at Whistling Straits

Spieth's spectacular flop shot at the Ryder Cup
Screenshot: @SkySportsGolf

The Texan showed off some short game magic on the famous par-3 17th at Whistling Straits

Jordan Spieth is known as a wizard on and around the greens, and he showed his sublime skills on day one of the 43rd Ryder Cup.

The Texan was in a torrid spot after his foursomes partner Justin Thomas pulled the approach onto the famous par-3 17th at Whilsting Straits.

Jordan Spieth played one of the most spectacular recoveries in the history of the competition but, as it transpired, it proved to be his final shot in the match as Jon Rahm and Sergio Garcia closed out a brilliant match against he and Justin Thomas.

The Spaniards picked up six birdies after a brilliant display of ball striking from Garcia and a putting masterclass from the World No. 1.

The only option for Jordan was to open the face, smash it as hard as he could and hope for a good result.

Watch the shot below:

 

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Spieth discussed his flop shot after the round and how he almost ended up in Lake Michigan.

"I guess so," he confirmed of how close he was to falling into the lake.

"I'd like to say, I don't think I exaggerated that fall, you know how steep that is.

"Once I started moving, I was like, I've got to keep moving until I find a flat spot.

"Yeah, it's kind of one of those shots that you practice as a kid for fun, and you don't ultimately want to have it.

"And the chances of it going there, you could roll a thousand balls off the green, and it's not going it stay where it was.

"I hit like a 52-degree because a 60 might have gone over the back of my head, and you know, just tried to flick it right underneath and hit it as hard as I could, as high as I could.

"You know, it ended up right on a crown where it was a tough putt, and I think it's maybe a situation, first one in wins, and we just kind of got a really tough break there."

Garcia, watching on, was actually worried about his opponent’s safety.

“I was truly afraid for him to hurt himself, I didn’t think there was a chance he could get it on the green.

“I was clapping. I was truly afraid for him to hurt himself because of those wood logs that are there, and it was very close to the wall.

"So I was hoping that he wouldn't hurt himself, but he hit an unbelievable shot. I didn't think there was a chance he could get it on the green.”

Rahm added that a short putt at the 6th that wasn’t given got him going in the match as he began to roll in putts from all over the place.

“It's all part of the Ryder Cup. It's a lot of times where people are going to try to play mind games. In my case, I have a foot and a half to tie or win holes, I will make it, honestly.

"It's always a bonus to see the ball go in the hole and I feel like it did put a bit of an extra thought in our mind. I feel like that's when it got into gear, I started really well after that and played nearly flawless golf.

"It's a lot easier when you have a robot off the tee with the irons so all I had to do was help him make a few putts and not get in his way.”

Garcia was equally effusive about his new foursomes partner as they upset the pairing that took three out of four points in Paris.

“I knew who I had on my side and I wouldn't change him for anyone, it was amazing. He made every putt he had to make.

"They played well, and we had to play very, very well to beat them.”

Spieth and Thomas were split up for the afternoon fourballs but expect to see them back together in the morning.

“I think we could wager anything we could on who is going to make more putts, us or them, we would have wagered us and caught a lot of lips, and they made about 150 feet of putts.

"So sometimes you run into a buzzsaw. We would have won a lot of matches the way we played today.”

Elliott Heath
News Editor

Elliott Heath is our News Editor and has been with Golf Monthly since early 2016 after graduating with a degree in Sports Journalism. He manages the Golf Monthly news team as well as our large Facebook, Twitter and Instagram pages. He covered the 2022 Masters from Augusta National as well as five Open Championships on-site including the 150th at St Andrews. His first Open was in 2017 at Royal Birkdale, when he walked inside the ropes with Jordan Spieth during the Texan's memorable Claret Jug triumph. He has played 35 of our Top 100 golf courses, with his favourites being both Sunningdales, Woodhall Spa, Western Gailes, Old Head and Turnberry. He has been obsessed with the sport since the age of 8 and currently plays off of a six handicap. His golfing highlights are making albatross on the 9th hole on the Hotchkin Course at Woodhall Spa, shooting an under-par round, playing in the Aramco Team Series on the Ladies European Tour and making his one and only hole-in-one at the age of 15 - a long time ago now!

Elliott is currently playing:

Driver: Titleist TSR4

3 wood: Titleist TSi2

Hybrids: Titleist 816 H1

Irons: Mizuno MP5 5-PW

Wedges: Cleveland RTX ZipCore 50, 54, 58

Putter: Odyssey White Hot OG #5

Ball: Srixon Z Star XV