THE PLAYERS Championship: Don’t overreact to Jordan Spieth’s struggles
THE PLAYERS Championship is one of the few tournaments that Jordan Spieth has yet to figure out in his stellar PGA TOUR career. Those struggles continued Thursday, as the 24-year-old fell well off the pace early.
THE PLAYERS Championship is called the “fifth major” for a reason. Not only does the event routinely host the year’s strongest field – stronger than most “real” majors – but the course is just plain tough. When Pete Dye developed the course that became the home of the PGA TOUR, he created a monster that players still struggle with some 35 years later..
As it turns out, Jordan Spieth is no exception. Despite having a magnificent career already, taking down three of the four majors and skyrocketing to No. 1 in the world, he just can’t seem to crack the code at TPC Sawgrass.
In Thursday’s opening round of THE PLAYERS Championship, Spieth started off miserably. Starting on the back nine, he bogeyed his first two holes. Not good, right? While many players would be thrown off their game that early, Spieth did what he always seems to do.
He took out driver on the reachable par-4 12th, then stuck it nine feet from the pin. One eagle putt later, he was back to even.
Unfortunately, that’s as good as the day got for him. One hole later on the par-3 13th, Spieth’s tee shot went in the drink, and he wound up making double-bogey. The golf gods giveth, and the golf gods taketh away.
Why THE PLAYERS Championship won’t ruin Jordan Spieth
Here’s the thing, though. Check golf Twitter out right now, and you’ll be bombarded with “what’s wrong with Spieth?” takes, of the hottest variety. They’ll say that his game is off, and wonder if his laser putting can come back in time to salvage the summer.
Two things. No, his game isn’t “off”. Remember how he almost won the Masters from way behind on Sunday a month ago? Remember how he shot 66 the week before that to finish tied for third in Houston? If that’s “off”, then sign me up.
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Moreover, this isn’t anything out of the ordinary for Spieth. Granted, it’s impossible to think that any course has got this guy’s number. He almost won the Masters in his debut year, and he could easily have 3 or 4 green jackets instead of the one currently in his Augusta National locker. But, unfortunately, the stats don’t lie right now.
In the first 54 holes Spieth played at THE PLAYERS, he went 67-66-71, good for 12-under-par in his 2014 debut. That Sunday, he shot 74 and finished tied for fourth. It was a magnificent debut for one of golf’s hottest rising stars.
Since that Sunday, Spieth has played seven competitive rounds at TPC Sawgrass. He’s broken par precisely once, a second-round 71 in 2016 that saw him miss the cut at -1 for the week. Check out this stat from Golf Channel researcher Justin Ray to see just how bad things have been here for Spieth:
Jordan Spieth played the first 58 holes of his Players career without a bogey or worse. He has made bogey/worse on 24% of the holes he has played in this tournament since (33 of 140).
— Justin Ray (@JustinRayGolf) May 10, 2018
Of course, there’s also the other side of this particular coin. Since the 2014 PLAYERS, Spieth has won ten PGA TOUR events, three majors, and a FedEx Cup Championship. In other words, his best seasons have taken place when he’s blown it at THE PLAYERS.
Next: Rory McIlroy refreshed ahead of THE PLAYERS
So no, don’t worry about Jordan Spieth, regardless of whether or not he can finally break par again at TPC Sawgrass. You may call it his kryptonite, but doesn’t that make him Superman?
Count me among those who aren’t worried at all about this latest blip on the radar.