Jordan Spieth sends Valero Texas Open crowd into frenzy with hole-in-one on 16
Jordan Spieth has great memories at the Valero Texas Open (TPC San Antonio–Oaks Course), especially considering it’s in his home state. He won the tournament in 2021, shooting 18-under par, defeating Charley Hoffman by two strokes. On Thursday afternoon, just one week ahead of the Master’s, Spieth continued to add to his special memories at the tournament. He amazingly drilled a hole-in-one on hole 16, sending the Valero Texas Open crowd into a frenzy.
The par 3 is 199 yards long.
Spieth was 4-over par for his first round before the hole-in-one. After the shot, he moved to 2-over par and into a tie for 99th place. After the hole in one, he birdied the 17th hole, moving him to 1-over par. Spieth ended up finishing Thursday’s round with a 73, 1-over.
After his round, Spieth had to take a picture of his scorecard to commemorate the occasion.
Following the up-and-down opening round, Spieth took some time to sign autographs with fans and then hit the driving range on Thursday evening. Following the round, he spoke about feeling like he’s been playing well, but not necessarily getting the scores to match that.
The first day leader of the Texas Open is phenom Akshay Bhatia at 9-under par. Spieth will have some work to do if he wants to climb into contention, but there’s three days left.
Keep in mind, the winner of the Texas Open will punch their tickets to Augusta National next week, if they haven’t already done so. So, there’s plenty at stake beyond prize money this weekend in San Antonio. Justin Lower is currently tied for second place at 6-under par. He’s joined in second place by Brendon Todd.
There are currently five golfers tied for fourth place at 4-under.
Spieth has had a very up and down 2024 so far. He started out very good with two Top 10 finishes (The Sentry and Waste Management Open). But since he was DQ’d (signing his scorecard incorrectly at Genesis Invitational), missed two cuts (TPC Sawgrass and Valspar), and his best finish was a T30th at the Arnold Palmer Invitational (Bay Hill). Right now, he sits in a tie for 80th place in the Valero Texas Open, but there’s still plenty of time left to play. He’ll have to get going and in a hurry.
Of course, next week is a magical place for Spieth, The Master’s. He boasts one of the best track records at Augusta National of any player in the field. And that’s saying something, since it’s the strongest field in all of golf.
Since 2014, Spieth has finished in the Top 5 six times, including a win in 2015 and T2 in 2014 and 2016. No matter what his recent results on the course might show, Spieth will always be mentioned among the favorites at Augusta National. His track record there is simply too impressive to ignore. He’ll be joined by a large group of players not playing very well leading into the Master’s, so it’ll be interesting to see who can get themselves into contention for the highly coveted green jacket.