2021 Pebble Beach Pro-Am: Top 10 power rankings

Was last week a flash in the pan? Or is Jordan Spieth really back?

I find myself somewhere in the middle. That’s why Spieth is placed right around the middle at No. 6 in my rankings.

Let’s start with the good: His performance at the Phoenix Open was electric, even if the magic ran out on Sunday. That Saturday 10-under 61 was some of the most exciting golf I’ve seen in a while.

Scores of 67-67-61-72 netted Spieth T-4th, his best finish since the 2019 PGA Championship (T-3rd). The former Texas Longhorn led the field in strokes gained approach (1.96) while finishing in or around the top 10 in SG around the green, putting and tee to green.

Most importantly, he was contending in the tournament the entire way for the first time in nearly four years.

“I was comfortable in the position I was in, and that’s a very new position for me, because it’s been a little while,” Spieth was transcribed by ASAP Sports on Sunday. “So I like to compare it to how I was in 2014 a number of times in the final group and just kind of had — the putts didn’t go in on Sunday, and you got to relearn what tendencies you have and then just keep on getting there, keep on getting in position. Then they go your way sometimes.”

They have gone his way at Pebble Beach before. Spieth won the Pro-Am in 2017 (68-65-65-70) in a four-shot romp. He has never missed a cut on the property. In seven Pro-Am appearances, he’s finished T-22nd or better each time with four top-10s. Spieth earned T-65th at the 2019 U.S. Open.

It’s a good event for him given how short Pebble is. Spieth had a wayward driver last week, but he was able to recover from light rough and sandy lies. The rough expects to be more challenging this week, but he doesn’t need to hit driver as often, either.

It wouldn’t shock anyone for Spieth to miss the cut and go back to his recent ways. With that said, the guy has three majors and nine PGA Tour wins and is still just 27. There could still be plenty left in the tank.