Jordan Spieth has reason to be encouraged at Charles Schwab Challenge

Jordan Spieth is continuing his recent strong play at the Charles Schwab Challenge, and he looks to be gaining more confidence by the day.

It’s no secret that Jordan Spieth has had an up and down 18 months on the golf course or that his game is still a work in progress, but his third-place finish at the PGA and his second place standing after round one at the Charles Schwab Challenge is encouraging.

"“I know my game has been progressing. I’ve been saying that for the last month or six weeks or so,” he said to media after round one. “Results just end up coming when I actually start playing better golf.”"

In fact, without a double at the 18th hole, his ninth on Thursday, he would be in the lead. There are still a few tweaks to go before he gets back to the golf game everyone looks for in Spieth, but at least he’s high on the leaderboard.

"“I feel like I progressed last week day-to-day, and I felt like today was even a progression off Sunday last week,” he added about the headway he’s making. “It was pretty similar to that final round where I just kind of held in there.”"

While hanging in there works at major championships, it isn’t what’s needed at a course where 20-under par won a year ago. But should he keep up this same pace, he’d be at 20-under.

Spieth thinks his putting has turned the corner. Success there rubs off on the rest of his game or anyone’s game.

"“I made a couple early, so the hole starts to look a little bit bigger,” he explained. “You start to fully trust your reads when you get a couple tricky reads and guess right early.”"

After that, he focused on tempo and also the speed on long putts. Making long ones, he added, kept him “stress-free” on what was a windy day in Fort Worth.

Other than the double at the 18th hole, which was his 9th, Spieth played very tidy golf. He had only one bogey, at the par 3 8th, and he had eight birdies. His ball striking and his putting helped him get to 5-under for the day.

On his first nine, which started at No. 10, he had four birdies, starting at the par 3 13th, where he made a Jordan Spieth you’ve-got-to-be-kidding-me, chip-in, 75-footer. At the 15th and 16th holes, the birdie putts were more normal length, nine feet and five feet.

At the 17th he dunked another one, a 30-footer. He had to be driving his playing companions, Kevin Kisner and Ryan Palmer, nuts by then. Unfortunately, the golf course got him back at the 18th when he pulled a wedge into the lake left of the 18th.

Making the turn, he bounced back with a birdie at the first, making an 8-footer. He sunk a 15-footer at two, then dropped another Jordan Spieth special – a 45-footer – at the 4th, and a 6-footer to close out his back nine. His only flaw that side was the bogey at the 8th.

"“It’s one round, but all in all just playing kind of stress-free and being able to see my lines and get through the ball nicely on and around the greens was the goal,” Spieth added. “I knew that once I started to get the club back out in front of me that the golf would start to be fun again, and it certainly is.”More from Pro Golf NowGolf Rumors: LIV set to sign Masters Champion in stunning dealFantasy Golf: Grant Thornton Invitational DFS Player SelectionsBrutal return leaves Will Zalatoris looking towards 2024Stars You Know at World Champions Cup Starts Thursday at ConcessionFantasy Golf: An Early Look at the 2024 Masters Tournament"

However, he noted that there is still a lot of work to be done tee to green, mainly to eliminate those doubles which have plagued him for most of the last 18 months.

Conditions at Colonial Country Club were windy, which is not unexpected in Texas.

“The good news about playing in Texas is you normally don’t have to figure out where it’s coming from,” he said. “You do have to deal with it blowing pretty hard.”

Spieth does love the golf course and one reason is because he knows how to play out of the gnarly Bermuda grass.

"“I think it’s a fantastic golf course, one the best ones in the United States in my opinion,” he said. “Just forces you to hit every shot off the tee. It doesn’t favor a bomber or a short hitter. You have to golf your ball really nicely around it and miss in the right places and know how to play out of the Bermuda. I grew up on this stuff, so I think that’s my advantage there, is playing out of the rough into and around the greens.”"

We all believed Jordan Spieth would turn things around eventually, and a “home game” of sorts is never a bad thing. This recent string of solid play is starting to look like it’ll keep going for a while.