SOUTHPORT, ENGLAND - JULY 23: Jordan Spieth of the United States celebrates victory after the winning putt on the 18th green during the final round of the 146th Open Championship at Royal Birkdale on July 23, 2017 in Southport, England.
Jordan Spieth‘s struggles are one of the biggest topics in golf. Even as the Masters approached, the 25-year-old Texas native couldn’t seem to get in his groove. Some expected him to use his home away from home as a reset but a 10-month slump continued by a three-over-75 performance isn’t an easy fix.
That’s not out of the ordinary. Momentum for any sport is huge but with golf and the Masters, it’s damn near essential. Over the last 16 years, close to every Masters winner has posted multiple top-15 performances in their Augusta warmups. Eight of the past nine and a total of 13 of the past 16 did so. And in the last seven years, six winners had three or more top-15 finishes. Spieth is obviously lacking in that quality.
While his game has always had holes in it, most notably putting, now it seems that everything has gone haywire. He’s outside the top 200 off-the-tee and is still at no. 175 in greens in regulation. Yet, Spieth is regarded as a championship contender when his numbers reflect that of someone struggling to even appear on the tour.
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Throughout the struggles, Spieth has preached practice and patience. Similar to Rory McIlroy, he acknowledges the process and not just winning.
“I feel like my recent results aren’t a tell of where my game is actually at,” Spieth said on Tuesday, “and I feel I’ve made a lot of strides in the last couple days in the tee‑to‑green game, really just off the tee, my long game, which has been the only separation from being able to win golf tournaments over the last month or so.”
But still, Spieth’s performance can’t be ignored. He birdied on the 16th hole and even shot for par on the 13th and 15th, the two easiest holes on the course. While there’s a great deal of hope that Spieth is in the midst of a down year, in a tie for no. 63, there’s not much hope he comes back Saturday.
When he breaks the slump is anyone’s guess. However, he did have one of the most interesting shots of the tour this week. Here it is below:
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