PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. (AP) — Jordan Spieth was coming off four straight birdies Friday at The Players Championship when he turned to thousands of fans along for the ride and asked them a question that summed up why he rarely lacks for entertainment.
“Did anyone see where that went?” he said.
His hard draw turned into a hook and hit a tree on the par-5 second hole, and he was fortunate it bounced away from a forest and into short grass just 200 yards away. Instead of having a chance to reach in two, he hit 7-iron back into position and 8-iron short of the green.
And then he holed a 50-foot putt for his fifth straight birdie.
This is the essence of the “Spieth experience,” and it was full on before a large crowd that witnessed a little bit of everything in the second round. But it ended the same way it did on Thursday — a double bogey — that made him settle for a 4-under 68 and left him in the middle of the pack.
“It was just a bummer, both days finish with doubles,” Spieth said. “I just played better than that.”
So much of that work came undone on his final hole at the par-5 ninth — another pull off the tee into the woods, a tree restricting his back swing that forced him to punch out, a 3-hybrid hooked so badly to the left he hit a provisional in case he couldn't find it, a shot from the pine straw that came up short and bounced back into the bunker, a lip-out from 6 feet for double bogey.
He made seven birdies, hit three trees, made two long putts from off the green and twice had to ask the gallery for help finding his golf ball.
“It was really good. I’ve been playing really well, trying to let the course come to me,” Spieth said. "It's not quite there yet, but it’s, like, close enough to where I can do what I did today for a while. Just kind of stinks because to finish like that ... some days you wonder if you shot one stroke worse but you finished with a birdie if you would actually be happier.
“It’s a weird deal, weird game.”
It's his life at the moment. Behind him is wrist surgery in August 2024 that he thinks cost him six years because he tried for too long to treat it with rest and therapy. He has been out of the top 50 in the world since July. He is not eligible for the U.S. Open yet.
The game is there, just not always, and certainly throughout the entire round. It seems something is bound to happen at some point, and it was like that Friday.
He closed out the back nine with three straight birdies, including that enormous break when his tee shot was headed well right and caromed off a tree into the fairway. He hit that to 6 feet. Then came a wedge to 3 feet on No. 1, and the birdie on No. 2 from that 50-foot putt to make it five in a row.
And then he missed a 4-foot birdie putt. Go figure.
The real drama came on No. 6 when Spieth tugged his tee shot toward a bunker without seeing the white puff of sand.
“Anyone over here see it land?” he said to the gallery.
Turns out it was embedded into the bank of the grass. After a free drop, his wedge from an awkward lie hit the thick of a palm tree and plopped into the fairway. His pitch was too short and didn't reach the green. He used putter to hole that from 30 feet.
The Spieth experience.
“The goal was to play 7 and 8 normal golf,” Spieth said, a rare choice of words for him. “Don't play weird golf like I played on 6, just normal golf ... fairways and greens, and then try to attack the par 5. So yeah, I did my job on 7 and 8 there.”
And then came the ninth, another tree, another double bogey to finish his round, and more frustration. He was the co-leader after 54 holes in his TPC Sawgrass debut in 2014, and he hasn't been better than a tie for 19th since then.
“The last two or three tournaments, just feels like things are getting better and better each week,” he said. “This place has gotten the best of me in the past, and I let it get the best of me a couple times this week already. That cost me probably four shots, so hopefully it’s not too much to make up.”
AP golf: https://apnews.com/hub/golf
Jordan Spieth climbs into a cart during a practice round for The Players Championship golf tournament Wednesday, March 11, 2026, in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)
Jordan Spieth hits onto the 11th green during the second round of The Players Championship golf tournament Friday, March 13, 2026, in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)
Jordan Spieth hits off the 12th tee during the second round of The Players Championship golf tournament Friday, March 13, 2026, in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)
HAVANA (AP) — Cuba has held talks with the U.S. government, Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel said Friday, marking the first time the Caribbean country has confirmed widespread speculation about discussions with the Trump administration as it grapples with a severe energy crisis.
Díaz-Canel said the talks “were aimed at finding solutions through dialogue to the bilateral differences between our two nations. International factors facilitated these exchanges.” He did not elaborate on those factors, or provide any specifics about the talks, which U.S. President Donald Trump has alluded to in the past.
Cuba's relations with the U.S. have been fraught for decades and punctuated by animosity, with the exception of a brief rapprochement during former President Barack Obama's second term.
Asked for comment on Friday, the White House pointed to Trump's public comments about discussions with Cuba that he said were being led by U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and intended to press major changes in Cuban policies and governance.
Trump has suggested that top Cuban leaders would be smart to avoid the fate of former Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, who was ousted and arrested in a U.S. military operation in January.
Shortly after Díaz-Canel spoke, two U.S. officials said that Rubio, the son of Cuban immigrants and a longtime Cuba hawk, and top aides met at the end of February in the Caribbean with the grandson of retired Cuban leader Raúl Castro, who is believed to play an influential role in the government despite not holding an official post.
The officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the discussions, said that Rubio had met secretly with Raúl Guillermo Rodríguez Castro on the sidelines of a Caribbean Community leaders meeting in St. Kitts and Nevis on Feb. 25.
At the time, Rubio refused to say who, if anyone, he was speaking with in or close to the Cuban government.
Díaz-Canel said that the purpose of the talks with the U.S. was to identify “bilateral problems that require solutions based on their severity and impact” and find solutions to them.
He said that the aim was “to determine the willingness of both parties to take concrete actions for the benefit of the people of both countries. And in addition, to identify areas of cooperation to confront threats and guarantee the security and peace of both nations, as well as in the region.”
Díaz-Canel said that no petroleum shipments have arrived in Cuba in the past three months, which he blamed on a U.S. energy blockade. He said the island is running on natural gas, solar power and thermoelectric plants, and that the depletion of fuel oil and diesel forced two power plants to shut down and has limited the generation of power at solar parks.
The most recent blackout was blamed on a broken boiler at a thermoelectric plant that forced the shutdown of Cuba’s power grid.
The president said that Cuba, which produces 40% of its petroleum, has been generating its own power, but that it hasn’t been sufficient to meet demand. The lack of power has affected communications, education and transportation, and the government has had to postpone surgeries for tens of thousands of people as a result, he said, adding: “The impact is tremendous.”
“Even with everything we’re putting together, we still need oil,” he said, adding that production output also has dropped. “Without energy, no country can produce at normal levels. All of this has meant making adjustments to employment.”
Last month, Cuba implemented austere fuel-saving measures and has converted more than 115 bakeries to run on firewood or coal.
“Cubans are desperate,” said Elvis Hernández, 62. “You can’t live without water or electricity. That’s why we want a consensus to be reached. If there are talks, let them be productive. Let them achieve something good through those conversations.”
Miguel García, 65, welcomed the news of talks with the U.S.
“If all of this leads to agreements and solutions that will improve our lives, then all the better, because the situation is quite difficult right now,” he said.
The U.S. State Department has weighed potentially drawing down staffing at the U.S. Embassy in Havana as the fuel shortages caused by the American blockade could affect day-to-day diplomatic operations, according to three U.S. officials.
The officials stressed that there is still time to solve the problem and that the embassy and the State Department were looking at potential solutions, including possibly importing fuel from private sources if the Cubans allow it.
A reduction in staffing at the embassy in Havana would likely lead to a U.S. demand for a similar reduction in staffing at the Cuban embassy in Washington, the officials said.
Brian Fonseca, who studies the Americas at Florida International University, said that a reduced presence at the U.S. embassy would be a less than ideal scenario at a moment when Trump is pressing for dramatic change in the Cuban government.
“The diplomatic staff are your eyes and ears on the ground,” Fonseca said. “A downgrading scenario could complicate or challenge U.S. understanding of what’s going on, on the ground.”
Critical oil shipments from Venezuela to Cuba were halted after the U.S. attacked the South American country and arrested Maduro.
Since then, the Trump administration has been warning Cuba of a similar fate.
Trump told a gathering of Latin America leaders in Florida last week that Cuba is “very much at the end of the line” and that he was looking forward to “great change” coming soon to the island.
Díaz-Canel also said Friday that FBI officials would visit Cuba as soon as both countries continue to share information about the recent shooting of a Florida-flagged boat in Cuban waters. Four of 10 Cubans from the U.S. were killed after the government accused them of opening fire on local troops.
A fifth suspect later died from his injuries, according to the Cuban government. The five other suspects have been detained and face terrorism charges.
Coto reported from San Jose, Costa Rica; Lee and Madhani from Washington. Ariel Fernández, in Havana, Seung Min Kim, in Washington, and María Verza, in Mexico City, contributed to this report.
President Donald Trump listens while Secretary of State Marco Rubio speaks at the Shield of the Americas Summit, Saturday, March 7, 2026, at Trump National Doral Miami in Doral, Fla. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)
President Donald Trump listens while Secretary of State Marco Rubio speaks at the Shield of the Americas Summit, Saturday, March 7, 2026, at Trump National Doral Miami in Doral, Fla. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)
People wait for public transportation in Havana, Cuba, Friday, March 13, 2026. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)
A vendor having breakfast sits by her table holding various products, from cigarettes to sandals, in Havana, Cuba, early Friday, March 13, 2026. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)
Mexican ship ARM Huasteco, carrying aid according to the Mexican government, arrives to Havana Bay, Cuba, Friday, March 13, 2026. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)
An image of Cuban Revolutionary hero Ernesto "Che" Guevara stands next to a TV showing Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel speaking, inside a souvenir shop in Havana, Cuba, Friday, March 13, 2026. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)
People inside a private convenience store see Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel speaking on TV in Havana, Cuba, Friday, March 13, 2026. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)
FILE - Cuba's President Miguel Diaz-Canel attends the 17th annual BRICS summit in Rio de Janeiro, July 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Eraldo Peres, File)
