Jordan Spieth had a typical members’ start on his first three holes at Sedgefield Country Club during Thursday’s opening round of the Wyndham Championship. And the slick, undulating Donald Ross greens gave and taketh away during a 5-under-par 65 that left him among the early leaders.

Teeing off before 8 o’clock, Spieth hit his opening drive on No. 10 into the left rough, but made par. At 11, he left his short-iron approach almost 50 feet from the hole, resulting in another shaky par.

The round got shakier at 12, the 212-yard par-3 with a false front on the green that slides back down a steep hill. Spieth’s shot hit well onto the green, but slipped down the slope, eventually stopping 37 yards from the hole.

“It was once about 37 feet from the cup, then it was 37 yards,” said Spieth, who eventually missed a 5-footer for par. “So if I hit it worse or better, it would have been on the green and OK, but that’s how that hole is.”

“I was kind of just a little bit off to start. I didn’t have a great warmup this morning and it kind of translated, but it was nice to hang in there, get some breaks on the greens and be a couple under while I wasn’t really, really feeling very good about my game.”

Spieth quickly hit his form, thwarting Sedgefield’s greens in the process. He birdied 13. Then, putting downhill from 46 feet, Spieth hit his birdie putt on a perfect line, though perhaps much too hard. Lucky for him, it hit square in the middle of the cup and dropped.

“My one on 14 I think would have gone off the green if it didn’t go in and that would have been in a tough spot to even go up and down so call that a two and a half shot break just on a putt,” said Spieth. “So my speed control was pretty average, but when I got uphill putts I knocked ’em in.”

Instead, Spieth followed up with another birdie at 16 and ran off a string of seven pars that included a 15-foot save at 18.

On a back (Sedgefield’s front) nine ravaged by several morning starters, Spieth sandwiched birdies at 5, 6, 8 and 9 around a bogey at 7. He made putts of 13 and 15 feet, respectively on the last two holes.

Entering the tournament 50th in FedEx Cup points, Spieth needs to stay in the top 50 after two following playoff stages to gain automatic berths in next year’s “signature events,” which offer $20-million purses.

Jordan Spieth doesn’t have to finish in the top 50 in the FedEx Cup standings to play in next year’s PGA Tour “signature events.” As he proved this year, his star status is enough to warrant sponsor exemptions.

But as Spieth told reporters Wednesday at Sedgefield Country Club on the eve of the Wyndham Championship, he doesn’t want to have to ask for one of the four sponsor exemptions into each of next year’s signature events.

This year, Spieth got into seven of the Tour’s eight $20-million signature tournaments. He had yet to return to playing from wrist surgery when The Sentry kicked off the year in early January.

Spieth stands 50th in the FedEx Cup points list — holding down the last automatic berth in next year’s signature events — with only the Wyndham, the St. Jude Championship in Memphis and the BMW Championship in Maryland remaining before the top 50 is set.

Spieth called Sedgefield “one of the best” courses on the PGA Tour and mentioned that the Bermuda greens are good preparation for Memphis.

But there’s really only one reason the 32-year-old Spieth, who has been home in Dallas with his family in five of the last six weeks, is in Greensboro playing golf this week. Spieth’s wife, Annie, gave birth to the couple’s third child, Sully, earlier this month.

“I didn’t like asking for exemptions this year at all,” Spieth told TriadGolf.com. “I was fortunate to receive a lot of them, but you just never know. And when you miss out on elevated events, the way it’s structured, they’ve got the best players in the world at all of them and you don’t want to miss any of them.

“It’s a big reason why I’m here. So it would be nice to have a huge boost this week and not have to worry about it next week, but I’m fully prepared to have some stress next weekon that 50 number, and ideally a good start this week or next week really takes a lot of that off.”

Spieth’s career earnings are more than $65 million. He’s won only twice since 2017.

Spieth has enjoyed a somewhat comeback season in 2025. He was 80th in FedEx Cup points in 2024 while struggling with the injured wrist. He’s not returned to the form he enjoyed while winning 11 PGA Tour events, including three majors, in his first four years on the Tour.

“I’m a little anxious to get going and playing more golf. Yeah, I’m really excited to be back here,” Spieth said. “I feel like my game’s been in a good spot, I just haven’t been playing tournament rounds, and really rounds, in general.”

Though Spieth has yet to win this year, he does have four top 10s and has made 14 of 17 cuts.

Spieth, who tied for 40th two weeks ago at the British Open, said he’s optimistic about his game. He said his wrist injury is no longer a factor.

“Next year’s going to be a really good year for me, I can feel it,” Spieth said. “It’s all coming along. I’ll be healthy, and just structurally putting, the mechanics are all getting really, really close. One good offseason should get me nailed down to where I could be as good as I’ve been. That’s my goal.”

Spectators who want to watch Jordan Spieth, Akshay Bhatia and Adam Scott play their first round Thursday in the Wyndham Championship better get to Sedgefield Country Club early.

Playing in one of a handful of featured threesomes, Spieth, Bhatia and Scott will tee off at 7:23 a.m. on No. 10.

Other Thursday pairings expected to see the most TV time — live and taped — include Hideki Matsuyama, Robert MacIntyre and Rickie Fowler at 12:43 p.m. on No. 1; Keegan Bradley, Ben Griffin and Andrew Novak at 12:54 p.m. on No. 1; Jake Knapp, Tony Finau and Matt Fitzpatrick at 1:05 p.m. on No. 1.

The field of 156 for the Wyndham Championship was filled Monday when recent Wake Forest standout Scotty Kennon, Austin Duncan, Stephen Franken and Tain Lee all shot 6-under 65 at Bermuda Run East to earn the four Monday qualifying spots for this week’s tournament at Sedgefield Country Club.

The tournament’s three unrestricted sponsor exemptions are recent college standouts and new pros David Ford and Jackson Koivun and veteran Zach Johnson. Zach Blair and Will Gordon received non-exempt PGA Tour member berths.

Wyndham Clark withdrew Monday.

Note: Wyndham Clark withdrew from the tournament since this story was written

Who’s going to win this year’s Wyndham Championship?

Does anybody claim to have picked Aaron Rai last year or Lucas Glover the year before?

TriadGolf.com will give it a shot, or at least a prediction of likely contenders. I had to make some adjustments. Chris Gotterup was my pick before he withdrew over the weekend while cementing his FedEx Cup position with a strong performance at the 3M Open.

1. Ryan Fox: The 38-year-old Kiwi has two victories this season, chipping in to win a playoff at Myrtle Beach, and winning on the fourth extra hole at the Canadian. A PGA Tour member for only two years, he’s hot and still hungry.

2. Andrew Novak. The Raleigh native has had a great season, rising to No. 12 in the FedEx Cup points race. With just two more chances to earn top 10 bonus money, he has a lot of incentive. Greensboro has a long history of winners with N.C. connections.

3. Wyndham Clark: Could there be a more appropriately named winner? Clark is hot — three straight top 12s in July.

4. Cameron Young: A Wake Forest product (N.C. connections), Young makes a great argument for the LIV Tour’s positive impact on pro golfers. He’s amassed more than $19 million in official earnings since 2022 — without a PGA Tour victory. He made eight straight cuts — including two T4s — before missing the cut at Royal Portrush.

5. Akshay Bhatia: The 23-year-old Triangle resident is disappointed in his season despite ranking No. 44 in the FedEx race. He’s played well in his last four outings despite disappointing final rounds at the Travelers and 3M Open. He ranks seventh on the Tour in birdie average per round, which bodes well for Sedgefield.

——————————————————-

Players to Avoid

1. Jordan Spieth: He’s 50th in FedEx points so has he some work to do in the next two weeks. He finished second in 2013, but has missed the cut here multiple times, including a third-round collapse in 2019 to miss the Tour’s last 54-hole cut.

2. Robert MacIntyre: Temperatures may be too high this week for the Scot coming off tournaments in Scotland and Northern Ireland.

3. Keegan Bradley: The pressure is on for the U.S. Ryder Cup captain. If he can’t move from No. 10 in Ryder Cup points into the top six in the next three weeks, he’d open himself to scrutiny by taking a captain’s pick.

Lincoln Newton won what turned out to be a father-son battle down the stretch to claim his second straight Triad Amateur championship Sunday at High Point Country Club’s Willow Creek Course.

The 18-year-old rising senior at Oak Grove High birdied Nos. 15, 16 and 17 to overtake his father Scott Newton and Jamal Hutchison of Fletcher by one stroke. Playing two groups ahead of Lincoln, Scott could do nothing but watch Lincoln finish off the victory with an easy par on the final hole.

Lincoln shot 4-under-par 68 to finish at 7-under 137. The 50-year-old Scott closed with 66, including an eagle on the par-5 10th. After bogeys at 11 and 14, Scott applied pressure with birdies at 15 and 17. Hutchison, a rising junior at N.C. Central University, finished with 70.

Using a live scoring app, players could stay attuned to the leaderboard. When Scott hit his approach at 15 to within tap-in distance, he gestured to Lincoln, who was within viewing range.

“He was pointing at me, so I knew I had to do something good,” said Lincoln, who has committed to playing at UNC Greensboro.
Preston Dembowiak of Kernersville, the first-round leader after opening with 66, joined Davis Delille of High Point and Jordan Williams of Charlotte at 140. Grady Newton, Lincoln’s older brother, finished at 142.

More than 70 players dealt with Sunday temperatures that reached 98 degrees. The championship flight played a course of about 6,900 yards.

Lincoln trailed Dembowiak by two strokes at the turn, overtaking him with a birdie at 11. After a a three-putt bogey at 14, Lincoln rolled in a 25-footer for birdie at 15, a 5-footer for birdie at 16 and converted a tap-in at 17. Scott had the lead before Lincoln’s three-birdie run.

“It was a pretty boring round,” Lincoln said. “I didn’t make a lot of putts.”

Lincoln bounced back after bogeys on the first hole each day.

Last year, Lincoln entered the Triad Amateur after winning the TYGA High Point Junior and taking the CGA Father-Son with grandfather Ernie Newton. But he’s had less success this summer. He’s entered in the Dogwood Junior, which starts Monday at Maple Chase.

“I haven’t really gotten anything going this year,” Lincoln said. “Hopefully, this tournament will give me some confidence.”

Steve Sharpe of Greensboro shot rounds of 68 and 74 to win the Senior Division.