Jordan Spieth at PGA Championship 2016: Thursday Leaderboard Score and Reaction

Jordan Spieth kicked off the year’s final major in much the same way he began the previous three, as he ended the first 18 holes at the 2016 PGA Championship at even par Thursday.

This continued Spieth’s inconsistent trend in 2016. He hasn’t been bad overall, owning two victories, but in 13 major rounds, the 23-year-old has finished over par five times and nearly added a sixth before two late birdies saved him Thursday.

Spieth has some ground to make up over the next three days.

Jimmy Walker ended his day with the lead after firing a five-under 65 in the first round. 

Here’s the leaderboard from Baltusrol Golf Club:

Spieth’s score wasn’t great Thursday, but he did not play a bad round of golf. He bounced back well after a double bogey on the seventh hole. He was hitting pars with regularity, so getting to even par felt like a win for him.

His best hole of the day was the par-three 16th, where he nailed his first birdie to get back to one over par.

PGA.com provided the video:

.@JordanSpieth fights back to +1 with this birdie on the par-3, 16th. MORE: https://t.co/ADH3eyfE8q https://t.co/7RgwhpmZGQ

— PGA.COM (@PGAcom) July 28, 2016

That was a big spot for Spieth, both to build confidence and, per ESPN’s Chris Fallica, to continue his streak of 55 consecutive major rounds with at least one birdie. He nailed a five-foot birdie putt on the 18th hole to get back to even par.

Putting is Spieth’s greatest strength on the golf course, so if he doesn’t have that working, it can get out of hand in a hurry. He was able to salvage something Thursday, but this was a round for him to put out of his mind to focus on the next day.

Mike McAllister of the PGA Tour’s official website noted …

continue reading in source www.bleacherreport.com