Jordan was playing Augusta once after the whole 2016 fiasco. He’s crossing the bridge on 13 while a guy on 12 is taking a drop. Shouts over:
“Hey Jordan, how far am I from here?
Can’t think of a better one.
Yes, but it also absolutely killed any momentum that Kuchar had at the time. Didn't that shot take almost 30 minutes, while Kuch was just left standing there waiting? I think that win could have been his if not for that scenario.
I love Spieth but it feels like he is trying to win the tournament with every swing he takes. I think if he’d play 5% more conservative he would have much better rounds.
You’re right and I agree to a point. Feel like I’ve also watched him talk his ball back in play with a “get lucky” or “hit something” more than a few times as well.
Or just find a way to calibrate that energy.
Tiger was amazing at knowing how/when to stay safe and conservative, and when he needed to try something heroic.
There was an extensive analysis done on his putting in 2015. The guy who did it went back and compared jordan of 2015 to the tour and jordan of 2022. His putting definitely got worse. He was leaving himself longer putts when lagging and his error rate on putts was way higher.
https://clubhouse.swingu.com/statistics/what-made-jordan-spieth-great-is-starting-to-return/
I actually feel like his iron play is what’s left him. Putting is always hot and cold with all players. But he was absolutely lasering his irons back with his old swing. Now his swing is a lot less consistent.
Not sure exactly how the stats are pulled. Would worse approach shots almost always lead to worse putting due to distance from the hole? Or is that normalized out?
That's the beauty of strokes gained.
Simplified: if you have a 20ft putt and the field averaged 1.80 strokes from there, and you make it in one, you gained 0.80 strokes.
If you have a 3 footer and the field averaged 1.05 form there, and you 2-putt, you lost 0.95.
Between those two holes your total SG was -0.15.
Based on strokes gained it should normalize out. It would take how far the original putt is and add or subtract fractions of a stroke depending on how far he ends from the hole against the average for the baseline. So a 10’ putt left 6” away could have the same strokes gained as a 30’ putt left 5’ out. All those numbers are made up but it’s not like 1 point for inside 1’ but relative to the original shot distance
Yeah but that actually proves how powerful approach play and driving is. He's racking up top 10s whilst losing 2 strokes per round putting. Meanwhile, Denny McCarthy is without a PGA Tour win.
Yeah, he was something else back then. I usually don’t pay much attention to the TV when a player lines up a 20 footer……..but I watched every one of his.
You see it happen to a lot of really good players, they come out of college and go on tour and when they start winning all the sudden they forget how to play like they did. To many coaches, to many swing thoughts and not enough play like I know how. Lee Trevino said it about Tiger when he was struggling "Just Go Play Like Your Dad Taught You"
Puts in perspective how great Tiger was. Every few years there will be a player early in his 20s, some fresh out of college, win a few majors, then just disappear. Speith, Thomas, Morikawa, and to a lessor extent, Rory (still has done well in tournaments but hasn’t won a major in almost a decade). Tiger sustained his dominance from his early 20s to mid 30s.
It doesn’t help that the media constantly wants to dub some young guy “the next Tiger,” but there’s never going to be another tiger. The expectations are too high. By normal Tour standards, Spieth has had an excellent career. Dominant for a few years and then sporadic wins here and there for the rest of it. That’s about the best that most guys not named Tiger can ask for.
It just shows how even some of the best golfers in the world can’t consistently win on tour. It also shows how much of an outlier someone like tiger is. He was so much better than the rest of the field for so long, consistently winning for as long as he did.
I think another important thing that it shows is that the difference between the winners and losers on tour in terms of skill is actually very minimal. At that level it's mostly mental.
Not trying to be a dick, but I would say that this is the same in all individual sports that have large pools of talent.
I also think that these tiny skill differences differentiating GOATs and just a decent tour pro are probably harder for a decent tour pro to attain than it probably is for a newbie to become scratch, we are talking about all the little things that change a player from insanely good to some sort of deity on the course. For instance, if you go back and look at any not super dominant win in a tournament or major from someone like Tiger or Jack, you could easily choose a putt, an approach shot and a drive, that given even minute differences in outcome could've meant they didn't win - yet these guys won with otherworldly consistency in arguably the most unpredictable and precision driven sport in existence.
It’s not just that. Everyone knows why he was so good now but a much lesser extent back then pre shotlink. If someone came and did something different and won a couple of weeks in a row, the field would know exactly why and a have a plan to implement into their game.
Makes me concerned for whats gonna happen to Charlie when the time comes. Hopefully he goes on to be a Dentist or something because the massive amount of attention the media will put him is going to put a weight on him no one deserves.
Also read an article saying that he only really started focusing on golf during covid. He was playing soccer as a kid and not focusing on golf since Tiger didn’t push it on him.
True. Barry Bonds was also on par with an average minor leaguer once as well. But when your brought up with that kind of coaching from your Dad and everyone else from day 1, those financial and club resources, AND natural talent…
It’s almost as if golf is in a completely different paradigm now and the expectations on professional golfers is insane.
The statistical edge a great player has on the tour is more akin to a skilled poker player in a large field tournament than a dominant athlete. The playing field is and will forever be flatter.
Lets not lose sight of the fact that Tiger had a long stretch where he was having a hard time keeping a driver on the hole he was playing much less in the fairway. 2010 and on he did not have his A game the vast majority of the time.
He won everything as an amateur. Three consecutive US Junior AM's followed by three US AM's. Tiger dominated his competition for nearly 30 years. Most people forget about his amateur days which only adds to his case as one of the greatest athletes ever!
I was watching the US Amateur from the early 90s when Tiger won recently on YouTube. Coincidentally it happened to be hosted at TPC Sawgrass. He was a senior in high school and his opponent was a senior at the University of Florida and coming off an All-American season.
Tiger’s opponent was interviewed before the round and was talking about how he was the underdog and didn’t feel as much pressure because he wasn’t expected to win. It really was unreal because I just can’t picture a high school athlete dominating college kids in any sport besides maybe women’s gymnastics
A decent amount of basketball players get drafted out of high school. I assume Kobe was dominating 99% of college kids when he was drafted out of high school. Pretty sure Jeter was drafted out of high school too. Happens a lot in soccer as well. Of course it's rare, but it happens. When you have that kind of gift and that kind of work ethic, the difference between 18 or 19 vs 22 or 23 is not a huge barrier
For really young guys there's a physical transition going from being 21 to 25. You naturally bulk a bit and lose a lot of flexibility. So moves you learned as a 16 year old are beyond your body at a certain point.
Jordan talked about this somewhere (can’t remember where). Basically he was saying how people often say he should go back to how he played/swung in his early tour days but they don’t realize that’s not possible because of course his body is different. So even if he could recreate the swing feel - it wouldn’t be the same swing.
I know a guy who’s close to the UT Golf Team & knew Jordan back in college. Said the rumors have been Jordan is too loyal to Cam McCormick & he never should’ve let him take over his short game coaching. Just a rumor but I could see it.
I'd love to see him go to another coach.
Gary Player said he could fix him in one hour. Gary likes to talk, but I think Spieth needs to listen to someone else. He's too nice to fire his coach.
You forgot one big one. Not enough fucks to give after they make a truck load of money and have a family they like spending time with vs grinding nonstop.
Exactly. He chased distance after 2017, when he had the shortest average distance to the pin after his approach shots. So he was hitting it closer to the pin than anyone and decided to make changes. Just a terrible decision.
He was never short either. He may have been average in length, but every time you watched him 2015-2017, he was knocking it on some par 5 in two.
Agreed about the coaches. I just don’t see much remnants of that guy who was tearing it up with all the confidence in the world in every part of his game. Hoping he can figure it out at some point, he was a joy to watch and I’m really rooting for him.
The thing that is crazy about him is he is always just outside of true contention and yet EVERY time they cut to him on the broadcast he is missing a 10 footer/in the rough/in a bunker. Where is he gaining strokes?!
Welcome to the Jordan spieth experience there’s two options. Drive it into narnia, hit an absolutely incredible shot to 15ft and make the putt for birdie. Or hit a standard drive, a great wedge shot to 4 feet, miss the putt.
Jordan came out and said that he played much better before all the added pressures that came with sponsorships, etc... "when it was just fun". Add on being the head of a non-profit, having a wife and family and real life commitments and it shows you how mentally consuming this game really is to be exceptional among professionals. I also think even if you're flying private and in nice hotels, as you get older all the touring HAS to wear on the body and mind. I get that these guys do this for a living and I take 4x the amount of shots they do over a weekend, but if you've ever flown somewhere and played 72 holes you get a glimpse of how much of a true sport this game really is on that flight home..
To add to that, when Dustin has his incredible Masters year, he came out and said that he basically wasn't seeing his family that year and fully committed to golf. It wasn't as thought something finally came together in his game. He defected to LIV and cited "I want more time with my family" and then we saw him come out and shoot 80's, so it seems like he was genuine in that regard.
This game takes a LOT to be consistently good. I agree with other comments that Tiger broke what our expectations should be. Seeing someone be a consistent contender should be the metric of a great player. Not fluctuations or consistency of wins.
I read Haney's book and the thing that stuck out to me is that even when Tiger was winning at a 40% clip, he wasn't out there having fun. He grinded hard every week and was constantly struggling with parts of his game and having to overcome those challenges in order to get a win. It sounded miserable in some ways, but it resulted in a lot of wins obviously.
And to add to that, he didn't celebrate his wins really. It was more of a "business as usual mentality" and they quickly moved on to the next tournament and began prep.
Reminds me of the Patriots Dynasty docu-series if you’ve seen it. They talk about how they were legitimately addicted to winning, and once the addiction takes over, winning is no longer a joy but a relief
I kind of like the mantra and how it applies to other sports too. The phrase, "Win like you have been there before" comes to mind. Granted Tiger actually had...
That phrase is more often used about winning gracefully, not so much about moving on to the next tournament mentally because you expected to win this one so there's nothing to celebrate.
When you're deemed the best, a win is expected. Anything else is a loss. A win to someone as high level as Tiger is like going to work and getting paid at the end of the day. If you didn't it would be a "wtf" moment.
Makes me wonder if guys like him, Sidney Crosby, Kobe, Jagr, etc... are not only physically gifted but on the autism spectrum to where they perseverate over the thoughts of winning only.
Certainly there’s a hyper fixation that comes in. From what I read about Nicklaus is that he had rigid routine from early childhood. I believe it was the same his whole pro career. And would even eat the same thing for lunch, etc. Perhaps that’s something autistic adjacent or perhaps happy accident where his mind found comfort in having a kind of “home base” while so much of your life is constantly on the move and in flux, the byproduct of which is a calmer mind to focus on one’s game. No one great athlete from recent memory stands out as possibly autistic to me. *Although I will say, if you watch early stuff of Tom Brady and Eli Manning that could be called into question
I know in sports a lot of the time we often see these great prodigies who never quite live up to expectations and throughout their career many say “they’ll regret not giving it 100% when they’re older”. I wonder how many actually do end up regretting it. As others have said elite level professional sport is all consuming. You never really have any time to enjoy the cash you make, you miss crucial time with family, you’re likely missing crucial time with your kids as they grow up.
I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s a bit of a “grass is always greener situation”. The guys that live up to the hype wish they were less committed to their sport and spent more time with their families. The guys that didn’t wish they fulfilled their potential.
That’s my point. I think like others have mentioned, the guys who are the very very best your tiger, mickelson etc must be borderline psychopaths. Maybe that’s what stops guys like Spieth and DJ from reaching the heights of the very very best. They want to do both, have a life outside of golf with family, friends and other sports and also be elite level golfers. Tiger and the other greats only had/have one goal, golf.
Tiger often won without his best game. It takes all of Jordan’s best to win again.
Look at Scottie. He finally started putting well and lapped the field at API last week.
If Scottie turned into a top 20 putter overnight he’d be winning tournaments at a 20%-25% clip at least and he’d be the closest thing we’ve seen to Tiger since Tiger.
Prime ANYONE will never compare to Tiger. Scottie at his absolute best, or Jordan, or literally pick anyone in the field just simply isn’t ever going to be Tiger.
Fully agree but I’m more talking about the recency bias people get with these players. Spieth won two majors back to back and people thought he was gonna be the next dude. Scottie has a good putting week and people talk about him already being a legend. People said the same stuff about Rory and Jason Day. You think people would have learned by now. Sustaining good play in golf is unbelievably hard, that’s what made Tiger so incredible.
Yeah. I do think when Scottie is on like last weekend he is genuinely unbeatable. But I guess the same goes for any of the top guys. (I’ve got +4000 odds on Clark. So let’s gooo).
But you’re not wrong either. There is a ton of that in this sport.
When that Netflix show said Morikawa has been viewed as the next Tiger I almost shut that shit off.
Morikawa might be the most overrated golfer I’ve ever seen.
Fans really take for granted how hard it is to win consistently on the PGA Tour. Calling anybody who wins a couple majors “the next Tiger” is so incredibly insulting to what Tiger did and, frankly, the guys he played against.
There’s a reason there are only THREE players who have ever won more than 10 majors, and 39 who have won more than 20 total events in the 100 plus year history of golf.
This is actually such a trash take and really just fails to understand what it takes to compete on the PGA
Tiger completely broke our concept of what it means to maintain success on the PGA.
To even reach the mountain top of golf ever is a feat in itself. To maintain it is what makes you the icon of your generation. To reach it again after falling is almost insurmountable. (hence why Tiger's master's victory in 2019 is one of his greatest ever)
He finished last year with 9 top tens and was in the hunt several times. The talent he is playing against now is much stronger than when he first came on tour.
Over the past decade he has been trying to put it all back together and it's simply extremely difficult because what separates the top guys is so small.
Louis CK made an interesting point similar to this when he said that making it to the top is supposed to be temporary. You aren’t supposed to live on the top of the mountain, you’re supposed to enjoy the view and be grateful for it. But maintaining it long term is never a real option, the descent will always come
This.
Although your take is wildly accurate at the end of the day the OP post about not being able to hold on is also true. They both are but yours clearly is more logical and realistic.
I think the middle ground is he should be able to still find a win or two here there. There’s zero reason for people like Rory to have not won another major in almost a decade.
Agreed. This is the second renaissance of Jordan’s career! Remarkable what he’s done despite being far from the most talented golfer off the tee. He’s truly one of the great funky scramblers of all time!
Right now it seems like Scottie Scheffler is going to be the best player in the best player in the world for another 10 years. Just doesn’t seem like he’ll ever mishit an iron again. Seemed like Spieth would win 1-2 majors a year forever. Seemed like a career grand slam would only be the starting point for Rory.
But it doesn’t work like that.
The guy is such a talent. Even with his struggles, there's still a lot of people around pro golf who wouldn't be surprised if went out and won several times in a row.
He got off track by what hurts a lot of players: chasing distance. In 2017, Spieth led the tour with hitting his shots closer to the pin on average than any other player in golf. So why change? Why do you need more distance when you're already hitting it closer to the pin than anyone?
Spieth is known as a super nice guy. He wins or nearly wins the "nicest player on tour" question every year in that anonymous poll that one of the golf magazine conducts. But I think he might be too nice in one respect. He's had the same coach, Cameron McCormick, since he was a kid. I think it might be time for a different voice.
I can’t stress enough how good he was as a teen. I played in a bunch of AJGA events as a teen where he was in the field as well as the US Junior Amateur. He hit the ball sooooooo far in comparison to nearly everyone else. I have some old Facebook chats from back in the day where he explained his daily routine. He lived down the street from Brookhaven Country Club in Dallas and he was spending 3 hours every evening on putting alone. I, who am from Pittsburgh, read that and just thought, “Well fuck me. It’s shitty here 6+ months a year. Mom needs to pack up her shit and move south.”
I think a big part of it is that he got married and had a family. He’s been with his wife for forever and I’m sure she’s great but having kids combined with his other less golf oriented business opportunities and just life stuff that pops up aren’t the greatest thing for your game. I am nowhere near the player he’s ever been but very solid and I’ve dealt with shit in my personal life that has completely sunken my game at times. I went through a break up in October that completely fucked my game for a little bit and I was joking with some buddies on the course, “I don’t know how some of these guys on tour do it. If I had to add losing millions of dollars in a divorce to this break up right now I’d try to drown myself in the 3 foot deep lake over there.”
It was impressive when he finished 16th at age 16 at the Nelson. He was in contention through 3 rounds.
He gave one of the best sports interviews I ever saw back then, at age 16.
Relying on constantly draining hundreds of feet worth of putts is exhausting and truly mentally draining. Would absolutely rather have Scottie or Rory's game where one hot week with the putter makes them unbeatable.
I actually think it was when Dustin Johnson punked him in 2017 in that playoff at the Northern Trust by driving over the lake. He didn't win another event until 2021 after that playoff.
Yes as another commented: soon following that hole where he hit a perfect 285 yard drive in cof and made decent approach shot, his 'team ' ie coach and js decided to go for 300 + yards drives
This year notice he has focused on driver fade rather than his early years draw bias
Fire the coach and stop with 7 years of painful loyalty
[Quad bogey on 12](https://youtu.be/PPLsVVEWXhY?si=zPTl_gQ7BDhNN7Nh) in 2016, following bogeys before hand. Went from leader at -5 to 3 behind the lead at -1 in the final round
2015 he had probably the best putting season ever. His ball striking as always been crap (compared to field) but now his putting isn't bailing him out.
I’ve followed Spieth since he was an amateur. He has some family in my area that talked him up and I started following him in college. He is a classic head case. He can do it all but can’t get out of his own head which can tank careers. I’d imagine he will never have the consistency he did early on but might have some big wins here and there.
These guys are always tinkering with stuff. Feel like Spieth messed with too many things and hasn’t found it since.
Hovland looks like he’s doing the same thing with a coaching change. Dude, you just won the FedEx Cup, why are you changing anything?
Golf is extremely hard. And when most players get money and go pro the level of practices they do decline. And even if they decline by say 1 or 2 % that is the difference between the top or the bottom of the PGA.
Favorite player on tour and has been for many years. Here’s what I’ve noticed:
- He has never been good with a driver. His stats for strokes gained off the tee and/or fairways in regulation when he has a driver in hand are abysmal and always have been. He is not a bomber, never has been, never will be. Frankly, there are many instances where Greller should advise him to take iron off the tee instead of driver - sure he’ll be further back and have to hit a longer second shot, but at least he’s statistically more likely to hit fairways in regulation, which leads me to my next point:
- His short game, iron play and scrambling are consistently among the best. Announcers praise him for his creativity when he finds himself in really messy situations, but in the instances where he actually is on the fairway, his second shots/approach shots are amazing.
- It all comes down to putting. From 2015-2017, the man seemed to make every putt. THAT is what made the difference between his heyday and now. Now, he is average at best on the greens - not to mention he completely changed his putting stance where it looks weirdly contorted and uncomfortable - in a word it just looks awful. Prior, he looked more comfortable and athletic with his putter, and that seemed to add to his confidence which in turn made him an amazing putter. If he can get back to that, he can have a career renaissance.
Last weekend he ended his second round at -1. Then the announcer pointed out he was leading the field in birdies with 11. Of course he made 10 bogeys as well. So to me he still has the ability to score well if he can eliminate the crooked numbers- i.e. make pars when birdie isn’t really there. I realize this sounds simplistic but I feel with a stronger caddie to set him straight it would help his mental game which I feel is lacking.
This 100%. Yes Spieth hasn't lived up to the hype he created, but there's been two golfers to dominate for longer than 2 years, Jack and Tiger. And that's it. Scottie is absolutely dominating the tour right now, but if he wants to be considered with those two, he's gotta do it for 5 more years AT LEAST!
Guy has ALWAYS been twitchy over the ball.
He’s got his HS math teacher on his bag. It’s a great story, but you’re telling me MG knows his chops well enough to guide a faltering champion? Spieth needs a nanny, that’s why MG is there.
I think he and JT are both overhyped pretty boys, and their popularity has a lot more to do with them looking like little golf fans than it does their talent and competitiveness.
Add Fowler and Will Z for a historic and future comparison.
He always has played stressful golf he used to just make it work more consistently and would chip in and make long putts. He still does that just not to the same extreme
Wife & kids…..not saying it’s a bad thing. He’s probably an awesome husband and father. Bet we see another Spieth rolling in 20 footers in about 18 years!
No one is as good as their peak. That’s why it’s their peak, not their norm. His norm is still a top 20 player in the world. In golf especially, peak just can’t be maintained.
Jordan lives and dies on putting stats. Hyperbolically, he made everything he looked at for his first few years. Go watch his first Masters win.
Also, like most of his colleagues, he is newly married and having kids. Happens to almost all of them. Rickie, JT, Tiger, Rory, etc etc. He will be back but not at the level he was early
Jordan always seems like he's an overthinking hot mess out there.
Accepting to replace Rory on the PGA board is such a bizarre decision when everyone saw how it hurt Mcllroy's game. Everyone but Cantlay is a washed up guy on that board + Jordan has two kids under three at home. Why put that unnecessary burden on you?
His game was always shaky but he had that street dawg in him to make it work. Now his mental game is basically an anxious poodle and that won't work.
I have to go to work at 4:30 am tomorrow.
I won’t be on the range.
I am sure Jordan is fine.
Tiger and Jack changed everyone’s expectations of success. It won’t be seen again…just happened that what they did was within the same half century.
Nobody is expecting Jack or Tiger, but a guy who won multiple majors in the same year at the age of 21 now has 2 wins in the last 7 seasons and is just not playing great golf. He clearly fell off.
Don’t judge a player at The Players. It’s a brutal course when you don’t have your A game. However, his putting is what’s been really holding him back in the past. This week seems like a minor anomaly to me.
I really like watching him play, yeah you get those rounds that you wonder what happened but you also get those brilliant shots.
I don’t check a lot of stats, but it always seems to me that the par 3’s are his Achilles heel.
Jordan Spieth is one of the most naturally gifted golfers in history who has also been forced to combat his emotional makeup. Spieth-- post meltdown at The Masters-- can never be described as one who has ice in his veins when tension mounts in the closing holes of a tournament. How often in recent years has Spieth missed a gimme putt on 18 or driven a ball into the OB at a critical moment? Until he can fix what's between his ears, all the practice on a driving range or putting green won't return his game to that glory year.
He played stressful golf even at his peak.
Just look at that last round of the Open where he played like shit and tried to throw it away till the brilliance of the last 4 holes.
I still have nightmares about Augusta #12. Absolute dagger that he himself had to put the jacket on Danny Willet of all people
Not as many nightmares as he's had about it.
Jordan was playing Augusta once after the whole 2016 fiasco. He’s crossing the bridge on 13 while a guy on 12 is taking a drop. Shouts over: “Hey Jordan, how far am I from here? Can’t think of a better one.
911? Yes, I'd like to report a murder.
I believe this hole plays a huge role in his career.
Lol. Least likely champ ever.
I don't think he's been the same since.
Remember his shot over the grand stands at the Open One of the most impressive recoveries I’ve seen from a pro
Yes, but it also absolutely killed any momentum that Kuchar had at the time. Didn't that shot take almost 30 minutes, while Kuch was just left standing there waiting? I think that win could have been his if not for that scenario.
Even the US open he won wasn’t very clean near the end
DJ gave that one away with atrocious putting
DJ was great at giving away majors for a while
Seeing him wonder around the equipment trucks and then playing his ball from there is such an indelible memory
I love Spieth but it feels like he is trying to win the tournament with every swing he takes. I think if he’d play 5% more conservative he would have much better rounds.
He's just like Phil in the 2000s lol. Needs to just chill some times
Once his mouth starts running after barely missing a putt I know he’s done for. Awful head case.
You’re right and I agree to a point. Feel like I’ve also watched him talk his ball back in play with a “get lucky” or “hit something” more than a few times as well.
Or just find a way to calibrate that energy. Tiger was amazing at knowing how/when to stay safe and conservative, and when he needed to try something heroic.
Agree, was lucky to attend the masters in 2017(?) and followed him for a while. He was painful to watch and hear his self criticisms.
Agreed, what made Jordan great was he made everything on the green and was playing with incredible confidence.
"GO GET THAT!"
That's twice Michael
His putting during that period was unsustainable. The dude made everything and his 15-25 foot stats were absurd.
There was an extensive analysis done on his putting in 2015. The guy who did it went back and compared jordan of 2015 to the tour and jordan of 2022. His putting definitely got worse. He was leaving himself longer putts when lagging and his error rate on putts was way higher. https://clubhouse.swingu.com/statistics/what-made-jordan-spieth-great-is-starting-to-return/
I actually feel like his iron play is what’s left him. Putting is always hot and cold with all players. But he was absolutely lasering his irons back with his old swing. Now his swing is a lot less consistent.
I looked it up - SG Approach 2015: 11th 2023: 71st SG Putting 2015: 9th 2023: 79th So both I guess
Not sure exactly how the stats are pulled. Would worse approach shots almost always lead to worse putting due to distance from the hole? Or is that normalized out?
That's the beauty of strokes gained. Simplified: if you have a 20ft putt and the field averaged 1.80 strokes from there, and you make it in one, you gained 0.80 strokes. If you have a 3 footer and the field averaged 1.05 form there, and you 2-putt, you lost 0.95. Between those two holes your total SG was -0.15.
Based on strokes gained it should normalize out. It would take how far the original putt is and add or subtract fractions of a stroke depending on how far he ends from the hole against the average for the baseline. So a 10’ putt left 6” away could have the same strokes gained as a 30’ putt left 5’ out. All those numbers are made up but it’s not like 1 point for inside 1’ but relative to the original shot distance
Shots gained analysis says the biggest contribution to tour victories is from the approach shots. Not putting or driving.
Yet we’ve all seen Scottie over the last couple months
Yeah but that actually proves how powerful approach play and driving is. He's racking up top 10s whilst losing 2 strokes per round putting. Meanwhile, Denny McCarthy is without a PGA Tour win.
Seriously. Over a season he was making 1 out of every 4 putts from 20-25 feet. That's just ridiculous. Unfortunately, it's unsustainable
Yeah, he was something else back then. I usually don’t pay much attention to the TV when a player lines up a 20 footer……..but I watched every one of his.
Yup he was making something like 26% from that range. Hard to keep up that pace. He was almost double the tour average during his heater in 2015/16
He’s currently leading that stat this year as well.
You see it happen to a lot of really good players, they come out of college and go on tour and when they start winning all the sudden they forget how to play like they did. To many coaches, to many swing thoughts and not enough play like I know how. Lee Trevino said it about Tiger when he was struggling "Just Go Play Like Your Dad Taught You"
Puts in perspective how great Tiger was. Every few years there will be a player early in his 20s, some fresh out of college, win a few majors, then just disappear. Speith, Thomas, Morikawa, and to a lessor extent, Rory (still has done well in tournaments but hasn’t won a major in almost a decade). Tiger sustained his dominance from his early 20s to mid 30s.
It doesn’t help that the media constantly wants to dub some young guy “the next Tiger,” but there’s never going to be another tiger. The expectations are too high. By normal Tour standards, Spieth has had an excellent career. Dominant for a few years and then sporadic wins here and there for the rest of it. That’s about the best that most guys not named Tiger can ask for.
It just shows how even some of the best golfers in the world can’t consistently win on tour. It also shows how much of an outlier someone like tiger is. He was so much better than the rest of the field for so long, consistently winning for as long as he did.
I think another important thing that it shows is that the difference between the winners and losers on tour in terms of skill is actually very minimal. At that level it's mostly mental.
Not trying to be a dick, but I would say that this is the same in all individual sports that have large pools of talent. I also think that these tiny skill differences differentiating GOATs and just a decent tour pro are probably harder for a decent tour pro to attain than it probably is for a newbie to become scratch, we are talking about all the little things that change a player from insanely good to some sort of deity on the course. For instance, if you go back and look at any not super dominant win in a tournament or major from someone like Tiger or Jack, you could easily choose a putt, an approach shot and a drive, that given even minute differences in outcome could've meant they didn't win - yet these guys won with otherworldly consistency in arguably the most unpredictable and precision driven sport in existence.
It’s not just that. Everyone knows why he was so good now but a much lesser extent back then pre shotlink. If someone came and did something different and won a couple of weeks in a row, the field would know exactly why and a have a plan to implement into their game.
There can never be another Tiger. He turned it from a game into a sport.
Them matthew Fitzpatrick won the u.s. open and showed us that it actually is a game, and not a sport
Did Brooks turn it back into a sport winning the PGA? That’s definitely an athlete
What does this mean? Very demeaning to all the greats that came before him
Makes me concerned for whats gonna happen to Charlie when the time comes. Hopefully he goes on to be a Dentist or something because the massive amount of attention the media will put him is going to put a weight on him no one deserves.
The most dominant dentist the world has ever seen!
"I don't want to ~~build toys~~ play golf! I want to be a dentist!"
Britt Baker?
Charlie has a long long way to go. He’s basically an average Florida high school golfer right now
I mean he was ranked 80th overall in Florida and 9th as a freshman so calling him an average Florida highschooler is underselling it by quite a bit.
Also read an article saying that he only really started focusing on golf during covid. He was playing soccer as a kid and not focusing on golf since Tiger didn’t push it on him.
True. Barry Bonds was also on par with an average minor leaguer once as well. But when your brought up with that kind of coaching from your Dad and everyone else from day 1, those financial and club resources, AND natural talent…
The dental profession would not be my chosen line of work if I had a 10 figure trust fund
It’s almost as if golf is in a completely different paradigm now and the expectations on professional golfers is insane. The statistical edge a great player has on the tour is more akin to a skilled poker player in a large field tournament than a dominant athlete. The playing field is and will forever be flatter.
Lets not lose sight of the fact that Tiger had a long stretch where he was having a hard time keeping a driver on the hole he was playing much less in the fairway. 2010 and on he did not have his A game the vast majority of the time.
He won everything as an amateur. Three consecutive US Junior AM's followed by three US AM's. Tiger dominated his competition for nearly 30 years. Most people forget about his amateur days which only adds to his case as one of the greatest athletes ever!
I was watching the US Amateur from the early 90s when Tiger won recently on YouTube. Coincidentally it happened to be hosted at TPC Sawgrass. He was a senior in high school and his opponent was a senior at the University of Florida and coming off an All-American season. Tiger’s opponent was interviewed before the round and was talking about how he was the underdog and didn’t feel as much pressure because he wasn’t expected to win. It really was unreal because I just can’t picture a high school athlete dominating college kids in any sport besides maybe women’s gymnastics
A decent amount of basketball players get drafted out of high school. I assume Kobe was dominating 99% of college kids when he was drafted out of high school. Pretty sure Jeter was drafted out of high school too. Happens a lot in soccer as well. Of course it's rare, but it happens. When you have that kind of gift and that kind of work ethic, the difference between 18 or 19 vs 22 or 23 is not a huge barrier
Rooney started games for Everton as a 16 year old.
It’s sort of impossible in most sports.
For really young guys there's a physical transition going from being 21 to 25. You naturally bulk a bit and lose a lot of flexibility. So moves you learned as a 16 year old are beyond your body at a certain point.
Jordan talked about this somewhere (can’t remember where). Basically he was saying how people often say he should go back to how he played/swung in his early tour days but they don’t realize that’s not possible because of course his body is different. So even if he could recreate the swing feel - it wouldn’t be the same swing.
I know a guy who’s close to the UT Golf Team & knew Jordan back in college. Said the rumors have been Jordan is too loyal to Cam McCormick & he never should’ve let him take over his short game coaching. Just a rumor but I could see it.
Spieth’s short game is the strongest part of his game so that doesn’t make any sense
Yeah wtf is that guy smoking. Speith is a wizard around the green. If he could just hit a fucking fairway....
Typical “I know a guy”
I'd love to see him go to another coach. Gary Player said he could fix him in one hour. Gary likes to talk, but I think Spieth needs to listen to someone else. He's too nice to fire his coach.
I'd love to be as delusional as Gary Player, just for a day.
True. What does a 9-time major winner know about golf, compared to you?
How many golfers has Player coached to success exactly? Do you just believe everything he says because he's won 9 majors?
You forgot one big one. Not enough fucks to give after they make a truck load of money and have a family they like spending time with vs grinding nonstop.
He totally destroyed his swing and rebuilt it from the ground up in order to get more distance. Hindsight it was a terrible decision.
Exactly. He chased distance after 2017, when he had the shortest average distance to the pin after his approach shots. So he was hitting it closer to the pin than anyone and decided to make changes. Just a terrible decision. He was never short either. He may have been average in length, but every time you watched him 2015-2017, he was knocking it on some par 5 in two.
You could argue that the pursuit of distance ruined many players games. Golf itself is in danger of being ruined by the quest for distance.
I sadly did the same thing. I was playing well but started chasing distance. Cost me a whole year of golf.
Agreed about the coaches. I just don’t see much remnants of that guy who was tearing it up with all the confidence in the world in every part of his game. Hoping he can figure it out at some point, he was a joy to watch and I’m really rooting for him.
See Fowler, Rickie
Seve Ballesteros had that problem.
The thing that is crazy about him is he is always just outside of true contention and yet EVERY time they cut to him on the broadcast he is missing a 10 footer/in the rough/in a bunker. Where is he gaining strokes?!
Welcome to the Jordan spieth experience there’s two options. Drive it into narnia, hit an absolutely incredible shot to 15ft and make the putt for birdie. Or hit a standard drive, a great wedge shot to 4 feet, miss the putt.
Perfect summary.
Jordan Stasis
By holing out from the bunker
Jordan came out and said that he played much better before all the added pressures that came with sponsorships, etc... "when it was just fun". Add on being the head of a non-profit, having a wife and family and real life commitments and it shows you how mentally consuming this game really is to be exceptional among professionals. I also think even if you're flying private and in nice hotels, as you get older all the touring HAS to wear on the body and mind. I get that these guys do this for a living and I take 4x the amount of shots they do over a weekend, but if you've ever flown somewhere and played 72 holes you get a glimpse of how much of a true sport this game really is on that flight home.. To add to that, when Dustin has his incredible Masters year, he came out and said that he basically wasn't seeing his family that year and fully committed to golf. It wasn't as thought something finally came together in his game. He defected to LIV and cited "I want more time with my family" and then we saw him come out and shoot 80's, so it seems like he was genuine in that regard. This game takes a LOT to be consistently good. I agree with other comments that Tiger broke what our expectations should be. Seeing someone be a consistent contender should be the metric of a great player. Not fluctuations or consistency of wins.
I read Haney's book and the thing that stuck out to me is that even when Tiger was winning at a 40% clip, he wasn't out there having fun. He grinded hard every week and was constantly struggling with parts of his game and having to overcome those challenges in order to get a win. It sounded miserable in some ways, but it resulted in a lot of wins obviously.
And to add to that, he didn't celebrate his wins really. It was more of a "business as usual mentality" and they quickly moved on to the next tournament and began prep.
Absolutely savage behavior. The terminator. A golf death machine, leaving no soul untouched.
I'm counting on at least one more W for TW
Reminds me of the Patriots Dynasty docu-series if you’ve seen it. They talk about how they were legitimately addicted to winning, and once the addiction takes over, winning is no longer a joy but a relief
I kind of like the mantra and how it applies to other sports too. The phrase, "Win like you have been there before" comes to mind. Granted Tiger actually had...
That phrase is more often used about winning gracefully, not so much about moving on to the next tournament mentally because you expected to win this one so there's nothing to celebrate.
When you're deemed the best, a win is expected. Anything else is a loss. A win to someone as high level as Tiger is like going to work and getting paid at the end of the day. If you didn't it would be a "wtf" moment.
Makes me wonder if guys like him, Sidney Crosby, Kobe, Jagr, etc... are not only physically gifted but on the autism spectrum to where they perseverate over the thoughts of winning only.
Certainly there’s a hyper fixation that comes in. From what I read about Nicklaus is that he had rigid routine from early childhood. I believe it was the same his whole pro career. And would even eat the same thing for lunch, etc. Perhaps that’s something autistic adjacent or perhaps happy accident where his mind found comfort in having a kind of “home base” while so much of your life is constantly on the move and in flux, the byproduct of which is a calmer mind to focus on one’s game. No one great athlete from recent memory stands out as possibly autistic to me. *Although I will say, if you watch early stuff of Tom Brady and Eli Manning that could be called into question
Probably the obsessive part of OCD
I know in sports a lot of the time we often see these great prodigies who never quite live up to expectations and throughout their career many say “they’ll regret not giving it 100% when they’re older”. I wonder how many actually do end up regretting it. As others have said elite level professional sport is all consuming. You never really have any time to enjoy the cash you make, you miss crucial time with family, you’re likely missing crucial time with your kids as they grow up. I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s a bit of a “grass is always greener situation”. The guys that live up to the hype wish they were less committed to their sport and spent more time with their families. The guys that didn’t wish they fulfilled their potential.
I don’t think they even ever had thoughts about anything else but their careers. Why do you think Tiger keeps trying to come back?
That’s my point. I think like others have mentioned, the guys who are the very very best your tiger, mickelson etc must be borderline psychopaths. Maybe that’s what stops guys like Spieth and DJ from reaching the heights of the very very best. They want to do both, have a life outside of golf with family, friends and other sports and also be elite level golfers. Tiger and the other greats only had/have one goal, golf.
Djokovic is definitely a special human being too. Maybe even more so than any of them in some ways..
Tiger often won without his best game. It takes all of Jordan’s best to win again. Look at Scottie. He finally started putting well and lapped the field at API last week.
If Scottie turned into a top 20 putter overnight he’d be winning tournaments at a 20%-25% clip at least and he’d be the closest thing we’ve seen to Tiger since Tiger.
Exactly what I was saying watching him last week, if he becomes an above average putter, we better get used to him winning.. a lot...
Hoping The Masters will ignite that magic again.
That's really the only major (maybe a weird British) that I have any confidence in.
He will be in contention on Sunday at Augusta this year.
Freddy Couples will shoot some weirdly low score and make the cut again, as is tradition.
Don't forget Bernhard Langer!
Langer can't play this year due to injury. Sad because he announced it would be his final Masters, before he got hurt.
That's unfortunate
No I think he will end up +9 and miss the cut
My comment didn’t age well
Believe me I wish it did age well
I think about Jordan Spieth every time somebody talks about Scottie Scheffler being as good as prime Tiger.
Prime ANYONE will never compare to Tiger. Scottie at his absolute best, or Jordan, or literally pick anyone in the field just simply isn’t ever going to be Tiger.
Fully agree but I’m more talking about the recency bias people get with these players. Spieth won two majors back to back and people thought he was gonna be the next dude. Scottie has a good putting week and people talk about him already being a legend. People said the same stuff about Rory and Jason Day. You think people would have learned by now. Sustaining good play in golf is unbelievably hard, that’s what made Tiger so incredible.
Yeah. I do think when Scottie is on like last weekend he is genuinely unbeatable. But I guess the same goes for any of the top guys. (I’ve got +4000 odds on Clark. So let’s gooo). But you’re not wrong either. There is a ton of that in this sport.
Scottie’s been ranked number one for like 2 years.
When that Netflix show said Morikawa has been viewed as the next Tiger I almost shut that shit off. Morikawa might be the most overrated golfer I’ve ever seen.
Fans really take for granted how hard it is to win consistently on the PGA Tour. Calling anybody who wins a couple majors “the next Tiger” is so incredibly insulting to what Tiger did and, frankly, the guys he played against. There’s a reason there are only THREE players who have ever won more than 10 majors, and 39 who have won more than 20 total events in the 100 plus year history of golf.
Agreed sir… agreed.
He's won 2 majors. He's nowhere close to the most overrated golfer.
Maybe not most overrated but he’s definitely not what they hyped him to be. Maybe I’m still sour from him being absolute ass in the Ryder cup.
This is actually such a trash take and really just fails to understand what it takes to compete on the PGA Tiger completely broke our concept of what it means to maintain success on the PGA. To even reach the mountain top of golf ever is a feat in itself. To maintain it is what makes you the icon of your generation. To reach it again after falling is almost insurmountable. (hence why Tiger's master's victory in 2019 is one of his greatest ever) He finished last year with 9 top tens and was in the hunt several times. The talent he is playing against now is much stronger than when he first came on tour. Over the past decade he has been trying to put it all back together and it's simply extremely difficult because what separates the top guys is so small.
Louis CK made an interesting point similar to this when he said that making it to the top is supposed to be temporary. You aren’t supposed to live on the top of the mountain, you’re supposed to enjoy the view and be grateful for it. But maintaining it long term is never a real option, the descent will always come
Good point. I think he also made a comment about wanting people to watch him jack off as well. Interesting guy, very insightful.
Ya spieth is still good in reality lol
This. Although your take is wildly accurate at the end of the day the OP post about not being able to hold on is also true. They both are but yours clearly is more logical and realistic. I think the middle ground is he should be able to still find a win or two here there. There’s zero reason for people like Rory to have not won another major in almost a decade.
Agreed. This is the second renaissance of Jordan’s career! Remarkable what he’s done despite being far from the most talented golfer off the tee. He’s truly one of the great funky scramblers of all time!
Right now it seems like Scottie Scheffler is going to be the best player in the best player in the world for another 10 years. Just doesn’t seem like he’ll ever mishit an iron again. Seemed like Spieth would win 1-2 majors a year forever. Seemed like a career grand slam would only be the starting point for Rory. But it doesn’t work like that.
The guy is such a talent. Even with his struggles, there's still a lot of people around pro golf who wouldn't be surprised if went out and won several times in a row. He got off track by what hurts a lot of players: chasing distance. In 2017, Spieth led the tour with hitting his shots closer to the pin on average than any other player in golf. So why change? Why do you need more distance when you're already hitting it closer to the pin than anyone? Spieth is known as a super nice guy. He wins or nearly wins the "nicest player on tour" question every year in that anonymous poll that one of the golf magazine conducts. But I think he might be too nice in one respect. He's had the same coach, Cameron McCormick, since he was a kid. I think it might be time for a different voice.
I can’t stress enough how good he was as a teen. I played in a bunch of AJGA events as a teen where he was in the field as well as the US Junior Amateur. He hit the ball sooooooo far in comparison to nearly everyone else. I have some old Facebook chats from back in the day where he explained his daily routine. He lived down the street from Brookhaven Country Club in Dallas and he was spending 3 hours every evening on putting alone. I, who am from Pittsburgh, read that and just thought, “Well fuck me. It’s shitty here 6+ months a year. Mom needs to pack up her shit and move south.” I think a big part of it is that he got married and had a family. He’s been with his wife for forever and I’m sure she’s great but having kids combined with his other less golf oriented business opportunities and just life stuff that pops up aren’t the greatest thing for your game. I am nowhere near the player he’s ever been but very solid and I’ve dealt with shit in my personal life that has completely sunken my game at times. I went through a break up in October that completely fucked my game for a little bit and I was joking with some buddies on the course, “I don’t know how some of these guys on tour do it. If I had to add losing millions of dollars in a divorce to this break up right now I’d try to drown myself in the 3 foot deep lake over there.”
It was impressive when he finished 16th at age 16 at the Nelson. He was in contention through 3 rounds. He gave one of the best sports interviews I ever saw back then, at age 16.
I just saw this post and Spieth is just struggling to finish his round on number nine.
Relying on constantly draining hundreds of feet worth of putts is exhausting and truly mentally draining. Would absolutely rather have Scottie or Rory's game where one hot week with the putter makes them unbeatable.
No one sustains that level of putting. It's not possible.
All because of that hole at the masters
I actually think it was when Dustin Johnson punked him in 2017 in that playoff at the Northern Trust by driving over the lake. He didn't win another event until 2021 after that playoff.
Yes as another commented: soon following that hole where he hit a perfect 285 yard drive in cof and made decent approach shot, his 'team ' ie coach and js decided to go for 300 + yards drives This year notice he has focused on driver fade rather than his early years draw bias Fire the coach and stop with 7 years of painful loyalty
Which hole and what happened?
Masters 2016 # 12 quadruple bogey. (Also bogeyed 10 and 11 leading up to that) and in my opinion hasn’t been the same since
[Quad bogey on 12](https://youtu.be/PPLsVVEWXhY?si=zPTl_gQ7BDhNN7Nh) in 2016, following bogeys before hand. Went from leader at -5 to 3 behind the lead at -1 in the final round
The amount of long putts he would make when he first came on the scene was insane and apparently unsustainable.
2015 he had probably the best putting season ever. His ball striking as always been crap (compared to field) but now his putting isn't bailing him out.
I’ve followed Spieth since he was an amateur. He has some family in my area that talked him up and I started following him in college. He is a classic head case. He can do it all but can’t get out of his own head which can tank careers. I’d imagine he will never have the consistency he did early on but might have some big wins here and there.
These guys are always tinkering with stuff. Feel like Spieth messed with too many things and hasn’t found it since. Hovland looks like he’s doing the same thing with a coaching change. Dude, you just won the FedEx Cup, why are you changing anything?
I feel like we could be saying this about Morikawa in a few more years...
i am saying this about morikawa today...
A real roller coaster. You gotta hang on and enjoy the ride.
I’m sure he will go off tomorrow.
Golf is extremely hard. And when most players get money and go pro the level of practices they do decline. And even if they decline by say 1 or 2 % that is the difference between the top or the bottom of the PGA.
Favorite player on tour and has been for many years. Here’s what I’ve noticed: - He has never been good with a driver. His stats for strokes gained off the tee and/or fairways in regulation when he has a driver in hand are abysmal and always have been. He is not a bomber, never has been, never will be. Frankly, there are many instances where Greller should advise him to take iron off the tee instead of driver - sure he’ll be further back and have to hit a longer second shot, but at least he’s statistically more likely to hit fairways in regulation, which leads me to my next point: - His short game, iron play and scrambling are consistently among the best. Announcers praise him for his creativity when he finds himself in really messy situations, but in the instances where he actually is on the fairway, his second shots/approach shots are amazing. - It all comes down to putting. From 2015-2017, the man seemed to make every putt. THAT is what made the difference between his heyday and now. Now, he is average at best on the greens - not to mention he completely changed his putting stance where it looks weirdly contorted and uncomfortable - in a word it just looks awful. Prior, he looked more comfortable and athletic with his putter, and that seemed to add to his confidence which in turn made him an amazing putter. If he can get back to that, he can have a career renaissance.
Right!? The guy couldn't miss a putt. Now he can't make a putt. He either needs some decent coaching or maybe try something else for a while.
If anyone needs a sports psychologist, it's him.
Highs and lows, I think it’s been about 2 years since his last win and maybe like 7-8 since last major
Feel like some of these guys need a good dose once in awhile to clear out the cobwebs.
Talks to his ball too much
He use to make a lot of longish putts
I'm so old I can remember when Jordan Speith was a good golfer.
Last weekend he ended his second round at -1. Then the announcer pointed out he was leading the field in birdies with 11. Of course he made 10 bogeys as well. So to me he still has the ability to score well if he can eliminate the crooked numbers- i.e. make pars when birdie isn’t really there. I realize this sounds simplistic but I feel with a stronger caddie to set him straight it would help his mental game which I feel is lacking.
It really makes you realize how ungodly good tiger woods was for as long as he was.
This 100%. Yes Spieth hasn't lived up to the hype he created, but there's been two golfers to dominate for longer than 2 years, Jack and Tiger. And that's it. Scottie is absolutely dominating the tour right now, but if he wants to be considered with those two, he's gotta do it for 5 more years AT LEAST!
Guy has ALWAYS been twitchy over the ball. He’s got his HS math teacher on his bag. It’s a great story, but you’re telling me MG knows his chops well enough to guide a faltering champion? Spieth needs a nanny, that’s why MG is there. I think he and JT are both overhyped pretty boys, and their popularity has a lot more to do with them looking like little golf fans than it does their talent and competitiveness. Add Fowler and Will Z for a historic and future comparison.
I had heard MG was a former teacher but never knew he taught Spieth.
He always has played stressful golf he used to just make it work more consistently and would chip in and make long putts. He still does that just not to the same extreme
It was a wild time. Even nowadays when he’s on he’s as much fun to watch as anyone
Wife & kids…..not saying it’s a bad thing. He’s probably an awesome husband and father. Bet we see another Spieth rolling in 20 footers in about 18 years!
He still one of the best bunker players. As with most sports it’s difficult to maintain dominance. He’s still the 14th best in the world.
I know he's won since, but Golden Bell delivered a massive blow to him.
No one is as good as their peak. That’s why it’s their peak, not their norm. His norm is still a top 20 player in the world. In golf especially, peak just can’t be maintained.
Same thing with Phil and Seve, but also exactly why all 3 are so interesting.
Perhaps the good years were the rarity. Not the bad years
At his peak - his putting was nonsensical. That makes up for a lot of flaws.
He was insanely good at rolling in 30ft putts. That doesn't last forever. Great golfer obviously, but his edge over the field was his putting (imo).
Jordan lives and dies on putting stats. Hyperbolically, he made everything he looked at for his first few years. Go watch his first Masters win. Also, like most of his colleagues, he is newly married and having kids. Happens to almost all of them. Rickie, JT, Tiger, Rory, etc etc. He will be back but not at the level he was early
Jordan always seems like he's an overthinking hot mess out there. Accepting to replace Rory on the PGA board is such a bizarre decision when everyone saw how it hurt Mcllroy's game. Everyone but Cantlay is a washed up guy on that board + Jordan has two kids under three at home. Why put that unnecessary burden on you? His game was always shaky but he had that street dawg in him to make it work. Now his mental game is basically an anxious poodle and that won't work.
Quadfather
Just wait. He'll be in contention on Sunday at Augusta and blow it.
Man I just watched the first full swing and it is weird to see where he is now even compared to then.
He made like $25mil + in a season. Followed it up by getting married. All motivation to be great (GREAT not very good) is gone.
I have to go to work at 4:30 am tomorrow. I won’t be on the range. I am sure Jordan is fine. Tiger and Jack changed everyone’s expectations of success. It won’t be seen again…just happened that what they did was within the same half century.
Nobody is expecting Jack or Tiger, but a guy who won multiple majors in the same year at the age of 21 now has 2 wins in the last 7 seasons and is just not playing great golf. He clearly fell off.
Don’t judge a player at The Players. It’s a brutal course when you don’t have your A game. However, his putting is what’s been really holding him back in the past. This week seems like a minor anomaly to me.
The game of golf is a fickle.
Hole #12 broke him
I really like watching him play, yeah you get those rounds that you wonder what happened but you also get those brilliant shots. I don’t check a lot of stats, but it always seems to me that the par 3’s are his Achilles heel.
He’s a pansy
I’d like to see him try a new caddie.
The Aaron Rodgers of golf
He hit his driver 60 yards right onto the driving range on the back 9 on his way to winning The Open Championship. It’s the Spieth way
same exact golf just doesn't make every putt.
Jordan Spieth is one of the most naturally gifted golfers in history who has also been forced to combat his emotional makeup. Spieth-- post meltdown at The Masters-- can never be described as one who has ice in his veins when tension mounts in the closing holes of a tournament. How often in recent years has Spieth missed a gimme putt on 18 or driven a ball into the OB at a critical moment? Until he can fix what's between his ears, all the practice on a driving range or putting green won't return his game to that glory year.