Jordan Spieth: Texas swing could provide needed boost before the Masters
Jordan Spieth has been absolutely magical at Augusta National over the years, but he’ll need some kind of boost in Texas if he has any hope of chasing a second Masters title.
Jordan Spieth has put together a career for the history books, if only for his meteoric rise to superstardom. His first five years on the PGA TOUR were marked with magical moments: his first victory at the John Deere Classic in 2013, his five-win season in 2015 that almost saw him take the Grand Slam, all the way through the 2016 Ryder Cup and turning disaster into triumph at the 2017 Open Championship.
Spieth never endured the “sophomore slump” that so many onlookers expected. Six years went by in the blink of an eye, and it started to feel like the run might just never end. In what we thought was a post-Tiger world, we had the next heir to golf’s throne. Of course, reality has a way of smacking people in the face when they least expect it, or need it, and that brings us to Jordan Spieth, 2019 edition.
I was one of those people who thought that the Spieth run wasn’t going to end anytime soon. And while I definitely don’t believe it’s “over” – the guy is only 25, for crying out loud! – this year is putting every bit of his mental and physical ability to the test. It hasn’t been quite as dramatic, perhaps because it always feels like this week is going to be the one that turns it all around for good.
November trips to the Shriners and Mayakoba came and went. At Pebble Beach, where Spieth won in 2017, he shot 74-75 on the weekend to fall out of any serious contention. He shot 81 at Riviera in the final round of the Genesis Open. There was the roller coaster in Mexico, where he shot alternating rounds of 75 (+4) and 69 (-2) to finish T-54. Most recently, Spieth opened THE PLAYERS Championship shooting 76, missing the cut even after a second-round 69.
Eventually, you have to wonder if “this week” is ever actually going to come. Which brings us to Texas, Spieth’s home state and his best chance to get his season turned around at last.
A few weeks back, I thought that Spieth needed to take some time away from competition to get his mind refocused, and to work on all the things he said he knew how to fix. Should he have skipped THE PLAYERS? Perhaps, but it’s too late for that now. With the WGC Dell Match Play opening on Wednesday and a commitment to the Valero Texas Open next week, Spieth is going to need a boost from some hometown energy. It doesn’t hurt that this week’s WGC is in Austin, where Spieth starred for the University of Texas.
Spieth has had some success in the Match Play since its move deep in the heart of Texas. He was eliminated in the Round of 16 back in 2016, and he took his group-deciding match against Patrick Reed to the final hole before falling 2&1 to narrowly miss advancing again. Match play tends to bring out some of Spieth’s best, between the head-to-head competition aspect and the fact that even the most disastrous shot can only lose a single hole. Still, he’ll need to get his putting right if he has any hope of advancement.
Jordan Spieth was assigned to Pool B, sitting 30th in the Official World Golf Ranking. He’ll have his work cut out for him in a group that includes Kevin Na, Billy Horschel and defending champion Bubba Watson. So let’s assume for the moment that Spieth is eliminated after Friday’s match with Watson, which I expect to be the deciding match. What happens then?
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Next week will provide a bit of a blast from the past for Spieth, who will return to TPC San Antonio for the first time since 2015. The PGA TOUR’s adjusted schedule gives him one more shot at a relatively open track immediately before the Masters. The field will also likely include a handful of top stars, with the likes of Tony Finau, Rickie Fowler, and Matt Kuchar already committed. Still, Spieth will be a Lone Star favorite for a second straight week. If that doesn’t help him get his mind right before Augusta, I don’t know what will.
Of course, maybe it just takes a little bit of that Augusta National magic for Jordan Spieth to get his feel for the game back where it needs to be. After all, in five trips to those hallowed grounds, he’s never finished worse than 11th. He could easily have two or three green jackets in the champions’ locker room today. But I believe that Augusta has a way of magnifying everything about a player’s game. If you’re locked in, you can become a legend. Show up with something lacking, and maybe your experience gets you by, and maybe you become an afterthought.
Next. Predicting the winners at the 2019 WGC-Dell Match Play. dark
That’s what makes these next two weeks so important for Jordan Spieth. What he’s going through right now will end, someday. But the longer it drags on, the harder it will be to turn things around. If he’s ever going to do it, a little love from the Lone Star State could be just what he needs.