Jordan Spieth has had three strong tackles since missing the cut at Torrey Pines
At the beginning of February, Jordan Spieth was close to dropping out of the world top 100. Three strong shots after that, he knocks on the door of the top 50. So, is he back?
The excitement began after a spectacular Saturday in early February at the Phoenix Waste Management Competition. Top 10 birdies in terms of career lead to 61, matching his low career score on the PGA Tour. Share of the lead in the third round. A place in the final group on Sunday – his first in nearly two and a half years.
Is he back?
The chat continued the following week when he held the one-man lead after the second and third rounds at AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, evidence from his fans that the previous week had not been a fluke. Twice, he stretched out more than 100 yards – just the second player in Tour history to take that action away.
Spieth fell to 92nd in the world in January
Is he back?
Another positive mark through the first two rounds of The Genesis Invitational – with controversy and within the top 12 of the board for the 10th consecutive week. Consistency and confidence were fully demonstrated.
So, is Jordan Spieth back?
It depends on your interpretation and perspective, of course. If he needs to return to the winner’s circle, then no, Spieth is still not on the way back. He is still chasing his first PGA Tour award since the 2017 Open, a thirst that is currently starting at 79 worldwide. For a player who will eventually enter the World Golf Hall of Fame, it is to win the gold standard.
But if being back means just leaving an abyss of extended dark time that was both difficult and difficult – as well as invisible, of course – then yes, it is probably Spieth back. With T4 at TPC Scottsdale and T3 at Pebble Beach, Spieth recorded five consecutive finishes for the first time since 2018.
5:00 Jordan Spieth ’long wait for another win goes on after a disappointing final day at Pebble Beach, but he vowed to continue his recent recovery at Riviera next week.
More importantly, he shows progress and feels confident that he is on the right track. With the PGA Tour schedule heading into its vast array of champions starting with the Players Tournament in March, it doesn’t seem to be a question anymore whether Spieth will make a sound, but to what extent it will. every week.
“As long as I have confidence in what I’m doing, I know I’m moving in the right direction,” said Spieth. “That’s just the headache I wanted to get into – and for a while now. “
Some time, of course. When Spieth won at Royal Birkdale in 2017 in a final full of drama, this was his third award of the year and 14th of the Tour’s career. He finished a couple of second place through the FedExCup Playoffs and looked set to be ready for the incredible 2017-18 season.
But after Sunday’s 64 at 2018 Masters that sparked an incredible rally from nine strokes down – finished in third place, two looks behind Patrick Reed – Spieth failed to build on the move. In fact, he went the other way. He took out just one top-10 finish in his last 13 starts of the season and did not qualify for the Tournament Championship. It was his first winless season on Tour.
1:54 Jordan Spieth jumped back into a stretch of the lead at Pebble Beach in some sort of style at the 16th, where a massive 160-yard draw found the hole for a spectacular double-backed eagle.
The 2018-19 season was equally unreliable, with just one top-five finish in 23 starts. Again, there is no Tour Competition. And the 2019-20 season was even less of an achievement; he opened the season with T8 at the CJ Cup, and could not match that in the 16 starts that followed. He made the FedExCup Playoffs but was kicked after two rounds. And he was not selected for the 2019 Presidential Cup, the first time as a pro he did not represent Team USA.
So what happened?
“There were a number of things I got off mechanically,” Spieth explained. “It was very frustrating because I felt just as competitive and feeling the same; still the same me. I was just taking the club back and feeling lost.”
The numbers carry out. In the last season he won in 2017, he finished second in Gained Strokes: Tee-to-Green. The next season, it dropped to 23rd. Then 157th in 2019 before moving back into the top 100 (90th) of last season.
At the same time, it was put all over the map. In 2018, he was 123rd in Gained Strokes: Putting. The next season, he got second place. Last season, he was 105th. Of course, he couldn’t count on the flat stick to save it.
Lead Spieth going into the final round two weeks in a row
For a player who wears his emotions on his back, he was definitely looking lost. Golf fans suffered right along with it. It was hard to see him struggling.
“For the first time in my life I had great success,” said Spieth. “It had been very difficult every year. So it was hard to even learn how to deal. to do that – and to do it in such a public way.
“But at the same time, the idea is to get to the bottom of it, turn it around, make progress every day and recognize that that is the past. I can use it as a scarf. and use it to my advantage going forward. “
People wanted to help, but Spieth was determined to make it out on his own, with help from swing coach Cameron McCormick. Everyone else was tidied up – with the exception of Butch Harmon, who provided some feedback at Spieth’s request.
“He asked if I could come over and look at what he and Cam were working on,” Harmon explained in an interview with PGA Tour Radio. “I agreed with most of the stuff they were working on. I thought I would have to change against his club at the top of the track – you know how open that gets since it has a very weak left grip – but they have been working beautifully on that.I didn’t think it was turning enough, if you don’t put stuff up, you can’t release. “
Spieth is still without a win from The Open in 2017
Spieth said: “I may have been too quiet and waiting too long to reach out to people I may have just helped, regardless of whether it is specific areas of the game. or just get through years down or something like that. “
Spieth continued to work but his first time this season was a missed cut at the Farmers Insurance Championship. He dropped to 92nd in the world, his worst ranking since winning his first Tour at the John Deere Classic in 2013 and moving to 59th as a 19-year-old. From that perspective, it was his low point. Even Spieth admitted he was “not in a big place for a head”.
And yet, a week later, he fired at 61 and found himself in the heat of battle. Golf is funny like that. Something can click after years of harassment. Spieth is probably the best explanation – if you hit “tens of thousands of golf balls the wrong way, it will take around a lot to get stuff back”.
“Did I do some really amazing work from Sunday through Wednesday, which was probably the best time of a few days of work that I put in a long time ago,” Spieth said of the days follow up to the Phoenix Open. “It made me believe in what I was doing and move forward.”
Spieth sought advice from Butch Harmon
The road back has taken longer than expected for the previous world 1, and it’s not all the way yet. Winning is still the ultimate goal, and not just one win, but multiple wins – and at the highest levels.
For now, though, Spieth feels confident about the future. That’s probably the most important thing when asking if he’s back.
“It gives me great pleasure to play golf – and for me, that makes me happy,” he said. “It’s good to go to bed asking what you love to do and you have to you go to do it. I can’t take that for granted and I’m happy to be on this side of it right now. “
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