Is Jordan Spieth back?
Well, he didn’t earn his first win since the 2022 RBC Heritage. But with his best finish in over a year, the three-time major champion is starting to feel his game come together.
“All in all, it was a big progress week for me,” Spieth said after finishing T4 at 16 under. “I didn’t feel like this was a one-off. It felt like this is just trending in the right direction. I’m pretty realistic with myself on that. My expectations have been low, like I’ve mentioned. Just trying to get a little bit better each time.”
Last week at Pebble Beach, the 31-year-old made his first start in five months after left wrist surgery and placed T69. He’s now No. 83 in the world rankings, his lowest since falling to No. 92 in January 2021.
Spieth, however, showed there might be light at the end of the tunnel. He was second in the field in strokes-gained approach and scrambling. Plus, he was bogey-free for a 48-hole stretch. And if his putter cooperated a little more, he might have found himself a few spots higher on the leaderboard (he finished eight back of champion Thomas Detry).
“Boy, did I burn a lot of edges,” he said after a final-round 68. “That happens out here. They’re tough pins and they're tricky reads.”
Another sign of life for Spieth’s game was that he demonstrated the thrilling ability that makes him one of the sport’s most popular players. On the par-4 11th, the 13-time Tour winner sliced his tee shot into the desert scrub. With his ball nestled in the sand next to a bush, he improbably saved par by hitting a left-handed shot with a putter.
“That was a steal,” he said. “One of the better pars I’ve ever made to be honest.”
Jordan Spieth read the break here perfectly. 😂
— Golf on CBS ⛳ (@GolfonCBS) February 9, 2025
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It didn’t help him notch a come-from-behind victory, but Spieth is getting back into the swing of things.
“I had a new putter and a new driver (this week) and a new wrist,” he said, “and I was trying to figure out how to manage all three.”
In doing so, the former Texas Longhorn has the golf world giddy that he can return to dominance. But he knows there’s still work to be done.
“I’ve got some stuff to improve on significantly within tee to green and on the greens,” he said, “and the fact that this is where I’m at right now is really cool. It’s a little bit of a monkey off the back, a little bit of a weight lifted off my shoulders, just feeling like I have a little bit of house money now, which I play a little bit better from.”
This article was originally published on www.si.com as With Low Expectations, Jordan Spieth’s T4 at WMPO Gets a ‘Monkey Off the Back’.
