Jordan Spieth: Will his PGA Championship performance propel him to a win?

Jordan Spieth looks to be finally getting his game back on track. Will his strong finish at the PGA Champoinship lead to him breaking a two-year winless run?

Lost in Brooks Koepka’s historic win – and his near-collapse – was the performance of Jordan Spieth at the 2019 PGA Championship. The Texan fired a final round 71 at the ferocious Bethpage Black to finish tied for third place. Spieth’s struggles the past year have been profound; this PGA Championship finish was his first top-20 this season.

With this strong finish at the infamous Black Course, is Jordan Spieth primed to contend in majors again? Let’s look at the numbers to find out.

Even during the three-time major champion’s peak he was always at a distinct disadvantage off the tee. While Koepka can mash his way to major titles, power is not part of Jordan’s game; since he turned pro in 2012 he has never cracked the top 50 in driving distance on the PGA Tour. Therefore, he has a significantly smaller margin for error than other top players like Brooks, Rory McIlroy and Dustin Johnson.

After his amazing putting in 2015, Spieth’s putting has been highly scrutinized in recent years. Despite claims to the contrary, he is still riding his flat stick; he ranks 11th in Strokes Gained: Putting this season on the PGA Tour. The real cause for Jordan’s brutal season is his driving; he is complimenting his below-average distance with horrendous accuracy, hitting under 52% of his fairways. This ranks 204th on Tour! As Ty Webb would say:

Sadly, Jordan’s driving is damaging the rest of his game; his wayward driving has resulted in him hitting less than 65% of his greens in regulation this season, which ranks 153rd on the PGA Tour. Essentially, Jordan is not giving himself a chance to succeed off the tee, limiting his chances to hit the green in regulation and make birdies consistently. Without a lot of birdie chances, it is incredibly challenging to put together four good rounds of golf and contend for a title.

So, did Spieth improve his long-range game during his high finish Bethpage Black?

With brutal rough and 78 bunkers, hitting the fairway was imperative at the PGA. Spieth missed that memo apparently; he ranked 126th in Driving Accuracy and 69th in Strokes Gained: Off-The-Tee.

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Similar to his other performances this season, the Texan’s poor driving bled into his iron game. He ranked 83rd in Strokes Gained: Approach-The-Green at Bethpage Black and hit 61% of the greens in regulation.

Both his driving and iron play did not noticeably improve, so how did Jordan finish third? The answer is golf’s great equalizer, the putter. Jordan Spieth finished first in Strokes Gained: Putting and gained over 2.5 strokes on the field with his flat stick.

Despite his high finish at Bethpage, I am no more bullish on Jordan Spieth’s chances of adding to his major championship collection this season. Clearly he has some challenges with the driver, and it is nearly impossible to contend on the PGA Tour if you are not hitting fairways and greens in regulation.

Spieth’s ridiculous putter will continue to give him a chance to win but until his swing is consistently producing the results it used to, he will struggle to return to his previous heights.