At RBC Heritage, the 'group' was a mixed bag

It was what just about everybody wanted to see.

Before the first round of the 2015 RBC Heritage Presented by Boeing ever teed off, it was clear what the story of the day would be.

The group.

Jordan Spieth, who won the Masters last week in record fashion, was paired with 2014 RBC Heritage champion Matt Kuchar, who wowed the fans last year with a bunker shot for birdie on No. 18 to seal the victory.

Patrick Reed, the 14th-ranked golfer in the world who both electrifies and infuriates fans and fellow golfers alike, was the third.

Did the golf live up to the hype?

It was a mixed bag.

But the group and the fans certainly did.

From the beginning the three were on three distinct paths.

Reed was all over the place. He hit a shot off into the waste area behind the gallery, way left on No. 6. He found the gallery, again, right of the green on No. 8. On No. 9, he buried his ball in the pine straw directly behind a tree, leaving a huge gash in the pine on his second shot.

Yet he constantly saved himself. He finished at even par, despite double-bogeying 18 after he hit the ball just out of bounds on the right in someone's bushes.

Kuchar seemed to find the game that had eluded him last week, when he struggled to a 2-over 290 at the Masters. He was steady and under par from the second hole on the way to a 3-under 68, good for a tie for fourth.

"It was a lot of fun for me to get back on the course, having the great memories from last year," Kuchar said. "This is a place I think everybody loves. I came out looking forward to getting on the course, playing, trying to defend the title. And this course just gets me excited again playing golf."

Spieth never found a groove, struggling to a 3-over-par 74.

He refused to blame his poor round on the crazy schedule he's endured since Sunday in Augusta. He didn't make it to Harbour Town until late Tuesday and played no practice rounds on the course.

But he was relieved, he said, to get back between the ropes and off the talk-show circuit.

"It was just an off day, and it happens," he said of his round.

But if Spieth was having a rough time of it, the fans sure didn't notice.

They showed their appreciation for the 21-year-old and the others by flocking to them from the start. The first tee was swamped even before the golfers arrived.

Volunteer Dan Castro, the vice chairman of the Back 9 Marshals, called the gallery the "biggest I've seen in 17 years."

The throng only grew as the trio made its way through 18 holes. The gallery was stacked four- and five-deep at the ropes by the time the players reached 18.

"The ovation out here was fantastic," Spieth said. "The fans at Hilton Head are awesome. It was just an interesting scenario, because I was upset about missing the green, and then there was a standing ovation walking up to the green. It's like, 'Thank you, I just hit a terrible shot, thanks.'

"So it was kind of tough to find the balance there, but we had a good time."

After the media crush behind the 18th green, Spieth and Kuchar signed autographs and posed for pictures for at least 20 minutes before leaving, satisfying so many fans that most of the crowd had cleared when the golfers finally departed for the locker room.

The best part about Thursday, though, might just be that the same three will do it all again Friday.

And the fans will be there, too.

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This article was written by Mike Mccombs from The Island Packet Online and was legally licensed through the NewsCred publisher network.