Jordan Spieth Nearly Hits 1 Fan at Shinnecock Hills

jordan spieth nearly hit a person in the head with a wedge shot Monday during a practice round at Shinnecock Hills ahead of the U.S. Open. The near miss came from a player who has not won on the PGA Tour since April 2022, adding an odd flashpoint to a week built around his major-championship form.

Spieth and Greller at Shinnecock Hills

Spieth reacted immediately after the shot, saying, "Oh God, Jesus" when he realized how close the ball came to the person near the green. Before he hit it, he checked with his caddie, Michael Greller, and asked, "Are we good, or not?"

Greller told him the man was on the back edge of the green. That was enough for Spieth to go ahead, but the shot still came close enough to raise the question every player wants answered before a wedge swings toward a crowded practice area: where exactly is the safe line of play?

Jordan Spieth's recent form

The near miss landed in a week when Spieth carries stronger form than his raw results from earlier in the season suggest. He has nine Top 25 finishes in 15 starts in 2026, and his last start on Tour was a missed cut at The Memorial in early June.

Shinnecock also carries old baggage for him. He missed the cut there during the 2018 U.S. Open, then managed his first Top 25 finish since 2021 in a major a year later. That history, plus his status as a three-time major champion, is part of why his actions in a practice round drew so much attention.

Shinnecock Hills and Spieth

The setting makes the moment stand out even more. Shinnecock is already tied to one of Spieth's rougher major memories, and this Monday scene turned a routine practice round into a reminder that shot placement around the greens still matters when players are working close to spectators.

For Spieth, the episode does not change the scorecard, but it does sharpen the focus on the opening days at Shinnecock Hills. A player with 13 major championships in the field does not get the benefit of anonymity, and every swing in a practice round comes with a crowd close enough to make one wedge shot newsworthy.