One of the most overused nuggets of information on the PGA Tour is that Jordan Spieth and Justin Thomas, two of the best young players in the game, just so happen to enjoy one another’s company. They’re friends, if you haven’t heard.
It makes sense, of course. They were born four months apart in 1993 and as heralded junior players, they often crossed paths becoming friendly and both eventually reached the pinnacle of their sport.
Your 2017 PGA Championship winner Justin Thomas with the 2017 Open Championship winner Jordan Spieth, as kids and today. pic.twitter.com/ZjKAM6Mz5Z
— Darren Rovell (@darrenrovell) August 13, 2017
On Thursday at the Travelers Championship, the pair did something that isn’t often seen, even by two players at the very top of their sport: they holed out eagle shots on the exact same hole back-t0-back.
Spieth, playing in the group ahead of JT, reached the bunker short left of the par-5 6th hole in two shots and, as he is wont to do around TPC River Highlands, knocked in the sand shot for an eagle 3. Waiting for the green to clear just behind Spieth, Thomas found the same bunker and had the same result.
? First group: @JordanSpieth holes bunker shot
? Next group: @JustinThomas34 holes bunker shot#MustSeeMoments: https://t.co/EnqKxqbpf0 pic.twitter.com/CbXpr7RDg0— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) June 22, 2018
“Yeah, hit a good drive there,” Spieth said. “Hit a 5-iron just a little too far left. It was a pretty tough bunker shot. A little bit of a down slope, I had to get close to the ball and nip it. Obviously, a bonus for it to go in, but when I struck it, I was excited about the way that I hit the shot and the real commitment to the shot, which was what it required to get it close to the hole.”
Things the rest of the way around went more in favor of Spieth than Thomas as the defending champion posted a 7-under par 63 to share the first-round lead with Zach Johnson. Thomas wasn’t too far behind, shooting a 4-under par 66 to enter the second round in the top-10.
Other notables near the top of the leaderboard include Rory McIlroy who was a bogey on the last hole of the day away from making it a three-way tie at the top. Like McIlroy and also bouncing back from a missed cut at last week’s U.S. Open, Jason Day matched Thomas’ 4-under par mark to put himself into the mix heading towards the weekend.
The back-to-back U.S. Open Champion, Brooks Koepka, didn’t miss a beat on the front nine shooting a 4-under par 31, but some admitted and understandable fatigue caught up with him on the back side as he faltered to shoot a 2-under par 68.
