Jordan Spieth threw another temper tantrum last night, as his mood matched the black clouds that blanketed Pittsburgh during the first round of the US Open.
Thunderstorms caused two delays, lasting more than two and a half hours, and defending champion Spieth erupted just before the players were hauled off the course for the second time.
He could not believe his luck when his approach shot at the q17th hole – his eighth – spun back past the flag and rolled downhill into a bunker.
The world No 2 screamed “You have got to be kidding me. How is that ball in the bunker?”
Spieth, 22, then hurled his club away in disgust – and when officials told him he could not play his bunker shots because of the weather delay, he kicked his golf bag angrily.
It was reminiscent of the way Spieth boiled over when he missed the cut at the Players’ Championship last month, a few weeks after his 12th hole meltdown saw him throw away a second Masters title.
On that occasion he turned on caddie Michael Greller after missing a green and yelled: “Dude, what on earth are you thinking? That was not even close to being the right club.”
He could not control his emotions during that Augusta disaster either. He turned to Greller and groaned: “Buddy, it seems like we’re collapsing here.”
Spieth’s outbursts have attracted heavy criticism – especially as they present a stark contrast to his off course behaviour.
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He has earned a deserved reputation as one of the most polite and respectful players in the game, and he admitted he needed to keep a lid on things.
He commented: “I need to stop beating myself up so much on the course. I need to be more positive and free myself up, because it’s affecting my golf.”
Spieth had gone out knowing he needed to buck a trend to hold onto his US Open crown after letting his Masters title slip in such dramatic fashion.
In the last 65 years only one player has managed to successfully a successful defence in the championship, Curtis Strange in 1989.
With heavy rain the night before the first round drawing the fire from Oakmont’s fearsome greens, Spieth must have sensed this was an opportunity to go low and pit the pressure on his rivals.
At least his mood improved when the players returned to the course. He hit a sublime bunker shot leaving himself a tap-in to save par.
Things had started on a positive note too after he teed off on the tenth hole, as he picked up his first birdie at the long 12th – at 684 yards, the longest hole in US Open history by 13 yards.
He gave that shot back with a bogey at the 14th just before the first weather delay – and maybe he had too long to dwell on that error while the players were waiting for the thunderstorms to pass over.
Although you would have thought he would have got used to sitting around kicking his heels. This is the eighth US Tour event out of the last nine to suffer weather delays.
These latest interruptions meant there was no chance of the first round being completed yesterday, and it already looks certain the second round will spill over into Saturday.
But with a much rosier weather forecast for the remaining three days of competition, the organisers insisted they would be able to catch up, and avoid a Monday finish.
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