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Jordan Spieth looking for answers after another missed cut

By Brandon Raper

May 19, 2017; Irving, TX, USA; Jordan Spieth walks off the 16th tee box after hitting two drives out of bounds during the second round of the AT&T Byron Nelson golf tournament at TPC Four Seasons Resort - Las Colinas. Spieth scored a 9 on the par 5 and missed the cut by one stroke. Mandatory Credit: Ray Carlin-USA TODAY Sports
May 19, 2017; Irving, TX, USA; Jordan Spieth walks off the 16th tee box after hitting two drives out of bounds during the second round of the AT&T Byron Nelson golf tournament at TPC Four Seasons Resort - Las Colinas. Spieth scored a 9 on the par 5 and missed the cut by one stroke. Mandatory Credit: Ray Carlin-USA TODAY Sports /
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Jordan Spieth switches putters, still left looking for answers following second straight missed cut at AT&T Byron Nelson

Jordan Spieth
May 19, 2017; Irving, TX, USA; Jordan Spieth prepares to putt on the 1st hole during the second round of the AT&T Byron Nelson golf tournament at TPC Four Seasons Resort – Las Colinas. Mandatory Credit: Ray Carlin-USA TODAY Sports /

Jordan Spieth is in a flat-out slump right now. There’s no way to sugar-coat the situation. Things have gotten so shaky that the 23-year-old PGA TOUR star put a new putter in action at this week’s AT&T Byron Nelson.

Spieth was clearly looking for a boost mentally, physically, or (most likely) a little bit of both. However, it wasn’t enough on Friday, as he’ll make the short trip from TPC Four Seasons to his Dallas home after missing yet another cut.

Golfers are curious creatures. The best players in the world will switch out an entire arsenal of clubs looking for two or three extra yards off the tee, perhaps a few hundred RPMs around the green. But once they’re comfortable with a putter, all bets are off.

Tiger Woods famously said late last year that, of all the clubs he has at home, there are only two that his kids can’t touch: the original Scotty Cameron model that he won the 1997 Masters with, and the newer one that was with him for 13 additional majors. Tiger traded in a Nike model in 2011, but as soon as the Swoosh was out of the club market, the Scotty was back in the bag.

Spieth doesn’t have that kind of history to lean on yet, but it was still a shock to see him retire his trusty old Scotty 009. “Big deal” or not, that putter took him from 15 year-old dreamer to multi-time major champion.

Spieth appears to be still dealing with too many variables all at once

As I noted in my FedEx Cup breakdown this week, Spieth’s recent down weeks can be attributed directly to his putting. To be clear, it’s not like he’s horrible all of a sudden. Entering this week, Spieth still ranked 39th on Tour in Strokes Gained: putting. Most people would kill for his brand of “bad” numbers.

Still, the contrast is stark when you consider where he’s been. Spieth hasn’t finished outside the top 20 in the Strokes Gained: Putting category since his rookie season in 2013. Currently sitting 99th in one-putt percentage – a stat admittedly skewed by a player’s ball-striking – Spieth hasn’t finished worse than second in that category since 2014.

Jordan Spieth
May 19, 2017; Irving, TX, USA; Jordan Spieth putts on the 2nd green during the second round of the AT&T Byron Nelson golf tournament at TPC Four Seasons Resort – Las Colinas. Mandatory Credit: Ray Carlin-USA TODAY Sports /

When you think of Spieth’s greatest triumphs, at Augusta National or Chambers Bay, he’s mostly been magic on the greens. That magic has faded, at least compared to his usually astronomical standards.

Obviously, I won’t pin Spieth’s troubles at the Nelson this week solely on his putting. The guy was all over the course, and Spieth admitted he was pressing when he made quadruple bogey on the par-5 16th hole at TPC Four Seasons, sealing his fate. That said, he was still losing over a stroke to the field on the greens. Not exactly a recipe for success.

Mentally or physically, Spieth must get back to basics to compete for this summer’s majors

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Spieth has now missed three of his last four individual cuts. Worse, he shot over par in six of those ten rounds. With just four weeks left until the U.S. Open, Spieth simply won’t be able to contend with bombers like Dustin Johnson without winning on the greens.

There is one small silver lining here, however, if Spieth can find it. The only other time Spieth missed back-to-back cuts in his career came at the end of his incredible 2015 campaign. Spieth – presumably exhausted from placing top-five in all four majors – went home early at The Barclays and the Deutsche Bank Championship. He just wasn’t very competitive at all.

Three weeks later, he won the Tour Championship and the FedEx Cup.

Next: Byron Nelson 3rd round tee times and pairings

It won’t be easy, and it probably won’t happen overnight. We’ve watched Spieth grow from wide-eyed rookie to steely champion. This is simply the next step in the process.

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