Coming off a top-five finish at the Masters, the defending RBC Heritage champion deserves a high position in this week’s power rankings.
Jordan Spieth finished top-12 in his first three visits to Harbour Town and made all five cuts. He had never won the tartan jacket until outlasting the field last year.
It didn’t look to be in the cards for Spieth during the week, but others in or near the lead kept faltering.
Ultimately, rounds of 69-68-68-66 (-13) were enough to get him into a playoff where Spieth defeated Patrick Cantlay.
"“You have to have all the ball flights,” Spieth was transcribed by ASAP Sports in 2013 when discussing a key to success at this event, “can’t let one stray.”"
A fair amount of creativity and shotmaking are needed to play well at Harbour Town. Spieth has that in spades.
It’s what’s allowed him to play well at Augusta National. The 2015 Masters champ overcame a four-over-par third round this year to finish T-4th and just a shot out of second.
That was Spieth’s fourth top-six in his last seven starts.
He ranks 25th on the PGA Tour this season in total strokes gained per round (1.012) and is 19th in SG around the green (.398). At a place like this where it’s not easy to find the putting surface, Spieth can use his short-game magic to get it done.
The Texan has yet to win since doing so at the 2022 RBC Heritage, but I see him getting in the mix to repeat.