Jordan Spieth. Justin Thomas. Two names that have brought loads of excitement to golf over the course of the last decade. But can either one of them do it again this week at the U.S. Open on what most consider one of the most difficult courses in the world?
Spieth won three majors early in his career and in fairly rapid succession, taking both The Masters and the U.S. Open in 2015 and adding The Open Championship in 2017.
Thomas has won the only major his good friend hasn't, earning two PGA Championship victories, the first at Quail Hollow in 2017 and the second in 2022 at Southern Hills.
But can either of them conquer Oakmont Country Club's tough examination?
Spieth has long had a bit of an accuracy problem, saving his rounds with a miraculous short game. This season, in the two most important statistical categories for a U.S. Open, he’s not high on the list. His driving accuracy (59.81%) ranks 87th on the PGA Tour, and his greens-in-regulation number (65.28%) is slightly worse at 97th. If he plays according to these stats, he’s likely to miss the cut.
Thomas’ driving is worse than Spieth’s for the season, which is hard to believe, with his 56.86% accuracy good for just 121st. But his greens-in-regulation figure (66.22%) is a bit more reasonable at 68th. Unfortunately, in a U.S. Open, it’s fairly impossible to move up the leaderboard missing fairways.
Both have had wrist problems in the past, and hitting out of five-inch rough at Oakmont is not going to be good for anybody with a wrist issue, as Jason Day recently told us. Both seem to be fine in that regard at this point, but it's certainly worth keeping an eye on.
Despite some of Spieth's struggles this season, several pundits have suggested that he is actually trending up this week, citing his good play at the Memorial, where he tied for seventh.
“I felt like I was in the mix on the weekend in pretty much a major championship, a top-5, top-8 tournament that we play in the world. So that was fun,” Spieth said about the Memorial, which is known for extra-healthy rough and lightning-fast greens.
At the PGA Championship at Quail Hollow, despite missing the cut, he said he felt good about his mechanics and the way he was swinging the club.
“I'm getting more confident in that, feeling like I can play all the ball flights that I'd like to,” he said.
Thomas is still the No. 5 player in the world right now, and as such, was deemed interview-worthy at Oakmont.
“It's still extremely challenging,” he said about the course. “It's just hit the fairway, and if you don't hit the fairway, you're just kind of trying to base off of the lie and figure out what you're doing from there the rest of the hole and just try to minimize the damage when you get out of position.”
He said that if a golfer gets lazy on any shot, they can look stupid quickly, noting that mistakes can happen anywhere.
“Once I start second-guessing myself or not trusting my instincts is kind of where I get myself in trouble,” he explained. “When I do that, I naturally am pretty pissed off if it doesn't work out. It wasn't because of the shot, it was more from the lack of commitment. That's where it starts for me generally.”
He recalled playing the first two rounds at Oakmont with Brooks Koepka in 2016 and remembered how the then-future five-time major champion was furious the entire time.
“One of the best rounds of golf I've probably ever played in my career was in 2016 here on Friday. I think I hit four fairways, but I remember I hit seven greens, and I shot 69. I chipped in three times,” he recalled. “I was beyond exhausted when I got done.”
Will Spieth or Thomas float their way to the top of the leaderboard?
Nothing is impossible, even in a very, very, very tough U.S. Open. While it’s unlikely either will win, stranger things have happened in golf, and either would be a popular champion.