Jordan Spieth at PGA Championship 2015: Thursday Leaderboard Score and Reaction

Jordan Spieth has had a masterful 2015 season. Even with two months left on the PGA Tour calendar, the perfect and appropriate capper to this year would be a win at the PGA Championship. 

While there is still time for the 22-year-old to win his third major of the year, Spieth has to dig himself out of a hole after shooting a one-under 71 in the first round at Whistling Straits. He's five shots behind the leader, Dustin Johnson, with the full standings seen here:

Coming into the tournament, Spieth didn't have the mindset of a player who has already won two majors in 2015. He told reporters, per Steve DiMeglio of USA Today, that his finish at the British Open still gnaws at him:

"

Unlike the first two majors I had a chance to win and I didn’t pull it off. And that was the hardest part to get over for me. My frustration was we were tied for the lead with two holes to go, with one of them being a birdie hole and we didn’t close it out. We didn’t even get into a playoff. That was the hardest part for me and I certainly have a chip on my shoulder off of that that I’m wanting to get off.

"

It was difficult for Spieth to get that chip off his shoulder Thursday, though things could have been worse, as he got off to a pedestrian start with 10 straight pars to begin the round. 

Compare that to how Spieth has started the previous three majors, as ESPN Stats & Info did:

A majority of those birdies (nine) came in the opening round at Augusta National, but the ability to start fast has been a hallmark of Spieth's. He was tied for seventh after the first round at the U.S. Open and tied for eighth after 18 holes at the British Open. 

On the bright side, Spieth was able to salvage his biggest mistake—a bogey on the par-five No. 11—with his first birdie on No. 12. That follows a pattern for the young Texan, per Golf Channel's Justin Ray:

For perspective, Ray noted that the PGA Tour average for bounce-back percentages in 2015 majors is 20 percent. 

However, the putter didn't really help Spieth until his birdie on No. 16. His first time reaching the red numbers on a hole came thanks to this chip, per PGA Tour:

The problems for Spieth weren't all his doing, as the weather in Kohler, Wisconsin, was particularly blustery on this day. The winds were whipping hard, with Weather.com showing gusts ranging between 15-21 miles per hour. 

In his Twitter play-by-play of the PGA Championship's opening round, Norm MacDonald noted how the wind was hurting Spieth:

"

There is wind to be sure and it is messing with the greatest putter, Jordan Speith. He is even and so is Rory.

— Norm Macdonald (@normmacdonald) August 13, 2015"

The numbers support MacDonald's analysis, as Ray noted Spieth was among the worst putters in the field on Thursday:

It was about midway through the round that Spieth's frustration with things became apparent, which ESPN's Jason Sobel noted may not be a bad thing:

Once again, the numbers supported Sobel's predictive hypothesis. Spieth hit two birdies on the back nine and largely avoided trouble after hitting his only bogey. 

Even though this wasn't a round he will want to put on his 2015 highlight retrospective, it was telling. 

Despite the problems, Spieth managed to finish the round under par. That's the sign of a player operating on a different level. It's easy to see what happens when things are going well, but when the weather and a player's ability are being tested, finishing in the red is impressive.       

Spieth's confidence should be high heading into Friday. He's got work to do, but the stage is set for him to have a big second round provided the wind calms down just a bit. When he finds that next level, the rest of the field will be on alert.