Jordan Spieth: Why Last Fall Created His Success in 2015
Jordan Spieth does not seem to lack in confidence, but he said in his press conference at the BMW Championship, that winning two events in the fall of 2014 made a big difference in developing a winning attitude for 2015. He certainly credits the victories at the 2014 Australian Open and the Hero Word Challenge as creating more of a springboard for his career than his first victory at the 2013 John Deere.
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"“The John Deere in 2013, although it was a great finish, we made some birdies coming down the stretch, I think four in the last six holes, the same as this year, there was quite a bit of luck involved, and I just hung around,” Spieth explained. “I didn’t do anything special. I made a couple par putts and I got good breaks between Zach hitting the pin, Zach missing a short putt, David missing a couple short putts. I didn’t deserve to win that tournament necessarily. I got a nice break to win it.”"
Then 2014 was, initially, not stellar, in his opinion.
"“I had self-doubt, and it showed throughout 2014,” Spieth admitted. “There was self-belief every time I started a last round, but as I got into it, not everything is going to go your way that day. It’s a matter of how little you let it affect you. I just let it affect me a bit more, had a little bit of a lack of patience.”"
In fact, his 2014 is still remembered primarily for his loss to Bubba Watson at the Masters. That and his second at the Hyundai Tournament of Champions were his best finishes of the regular season.
In the fall, after The 2014 Presidents Cup, he played in Japan, but not as well as he would have liked. Then it was on to Australia where Spieth said he was frustrated over average putting.
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“My instructor was there, and we found in my putting, my path was a little bit straight back so it was absolutely pulled,” Spieth explained about the stroke error.
They worked Tuesday and Wednesday of that week, hitting, by Spieth’s estimate, 500 putts a day.
"“I love the greens there, that Bermuda,” Spieth said about the turf conditions in Australia. “It’s just like what I grew up on.”"
By the time the Emirates Australian Open started, he was more confident in his putting stroke.
"“It finally started to peak on the weekend, and that Sunday was, to this day, arguably the best round I’ve ever played, other than maybe the first round of Augusta this year minus if I had played the 15th hole the way I should,” Spieth insisted."
(To recap his 15th hole in round one: Tee shot to the fairway. Second shot over the green nearly into the pond at the16th. Chip up short of the green by two feet. Left the first putt what looked to be six to eight feet from the hole, missed that. Made short putt for bogey.)
In Australia, though, the putting fix got him on a hot streak that lasted through the final round and beyond.
"“That day, just having the confidence in my own game to peak at the right time, and when it started to peak, to run with it and to not back off of it on that last round in Australia, and then into Tiger’s event, although it’s a small field, we played that golf course as good as I’ve ever played a golf course,” Spieth explained in a run-on style similar to Fred Couples. “We really didn’t miss hardly any shots in 72 holes.”"
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He thinks that last year’s Emirates Australian Open is the best four-day stretch he’s ever played. Making it more significant was the fact that Rory McIlroy was there, then at No. 1, and Adam Scott was there, then at No. 2. Jason Day was also in the event.
"“This was a good field, in a place I’m not familiar with, which is a continent I’ve never been to, and then to go back on a shortened week off of a lack of sleep to Tiger’s event and do it in Florida, I think that’s where I established a different level of self-belief where I could continue to have it even when things didn’t quite go well,” Spieth summed up."
He still didn’t get everything out of the early year that he thought he should have. He felt he let one go at Riviera.
“I believe I should have won this event that year,” Spieth said. “I need, one shot out of that playoff, and I bogeyed the last hole, too, thinking I needed to birdie it.”
He said he felt better after the victory at the Valspar in Tampa because he was finally able to close another one out.
“The point is, once you’ve had it, you know you can do it again,” Spieth said about the importance of his end of 2014 victories.
Now he’s looking to contend this week and to win in Atlanta at the Tour Championship. He feels he understands how it the FedEx Cup points work.
"“As far as the final tally or the FedEx Cup, it’s not going to make much of a difference if I win this week or finish 70th because it’ll be re-paired, and I’ll be in the top 5,” Spieth said, adding that the top five control their destiny. “I’ve just got to get some points going into next week.”"
However, he added the reshuffle after the BMW makes him feel like it’s time to go for broke. There’s more at stake than just points. The world No. 1 hangs in the balance. There’s a large purse at stake. And the result may determine his position in the top five.
"“There’s a lot going on within the week where you want to win the event. When you think about the FedEx Cup picture, it doesn’t make that much of a difference. But for the top few guys,” Spieth added, “Yeah, this is still a very big PGA TOUR event, one that I certainly want to win.”"
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