Tag: Jordan Spieth

Jordan Spieth follows 61 with a closing 72 at Waste Management Phoenix Open

Jordan Spieth struggled to a 1-over 72 Sunday at the Phoenix Open, but enjoyed a victory of sorts by showing there’s life yet in his game.

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. – One day after Jordan Spieth shot a bogey-free 61 to validate the hard work to resurrect his game, he showed there is still work to be done in order to return to the winner’s circle.

Spieth shot 1-over 72 at TPC Scottsdale to finish in a share of fourth place, his first top-10 finish in nearly a year and his best result since finishing T-3 at the 2019 PGA Championship. Spieth expressed disappointment at shooting over par, but was pleased with the progress he’s made in shedding bad habits that infected his once-dependable swing.

“It is far from where I want it to be as far as how it feels, but, boy, I was debating not even playing this week, dropping out on Friday afternoon last week.”

When asked why he almost skipped playing in Phoenix, he said, “I felt like I was really far from where I needed to be and this golf course in general isn’t a great golf course for me historically, so I thought I could then go in to Pebble a little fresher. Boy, I’m glad I came.”

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Spieth opened with a pair of 67s and then blitzed TPC Scottsdale on Saturday to the tune of 10-under 61. He did it despite still struggling off the tee. He hit just 23 of 56 fairways, which ranked dead last of the 66 players that made the 36-hole cut. (Last season, he ranked 165th in SG: off-the-tee and entered the week No. 219 so far this campaign.)

On Sunday, Spieth missed the first fairway to the right with an iron. That proved to be an ominous sign of things to come. He made bogey at the first hole and took three putts from 59 feet at the par-3 7th hole. One day after canning a slew of long-range birdie putts, Spieth’s putter let him down.

“I needed to one-putt the last two to not have more than 36 putts today,” said Spieth, who made just 43 feet of putts on Sunday and lost nearly two strokes to the field with the flat stick. “Felt like I hit good putts, and as much as the lid was open other days, it was closed today.”

Spieth fanned his tee shot at No. 11 into the desert and was forced to chip out and made bogey. He didn’t make a birdie until the 13th hole. Yet he still had a chance until he tugged tee shots into the water at Nos. 15 and 17. His closing birdie was too little, too late.

Spieth played in the final group on Sunday for the first time since the 2018 British Open. On that day at Carnoustie, Spieth was paired with Xander Schauffele and they both spit the bit. On Sunday beneath a cloudless blue sky, it was déjà vu.

“We had an opportunity to get out and make it a two-man race on the front nine and we brought everybody back in. So that part is really frustrating,” Spieth said.

Spieth lead the field in Strokes Gained: approach, and he accentuated the positives from a tournament where he shot three rounds in the 60s, including a bogey-free 61, with a career-best 10 birdies.

“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,” said Spieth. “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.”

Spieth’s journey back to relevance took a big step forward, but he still needs to find a dependable ball flight off the tee and avoid a two-way miss. He played a draw this week, but still missed too many fairways by a wide margin. Golf Channel’s Brandel Chamblee had plenty to say about Spieth’s game, but he also paid the following compliment, comparing Spieth to Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes.

“Jordan’s better when he’s out of the pocket, or out of play. It’s like his weakness allows him to show his greatness. With Patrick Mahomes, most quarterbacks are trying to limit their losses but he’s looking down field and trying to make a big play. That’s Jordan Spieth in a nutshell,” Chamblee said. “That was No. 10 (on Saturday). He hit it off the golf course. Shotlink couldn’t find it. He missed the green but got it back in play. And then he chips it in. Who chips that in? Who makes birdie from that position? Who makes those putts at 16 and 17 back to back? Who does that? Tiger Woods is the only person I’ve seen who does that.”

It was five years ago that Tiger struggled with the chipping yips here and he found his game to win another Masters in 2019. Can Spieth build on this week to achieve something as memorable as his first act?

“I’m only looking forward. Only looking at this from a positive angle right now. I really am,” he said. “I believe in what I’m doing. A result like this just helps confirm what I was already feeling, and that just moves the needle the right direction.”

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Despite shooting 61, is Jordan Spieth still ‘headed for oblivion?’ Brandel Chamblee thinks so

Jordan Spieth shot 61 at the Phoenix Open, but Brandel Chamblee still says his inaccuracy off the tee has him “headed for oblivion.”

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On Thursday morning, as the Waste Management Phoenix Open began in earnest, Golf Channel’s Brandel Chamblee was kind enough to sit for a Q&A on a wide-range of topics. We’ll post that soon, but it seems especially timely to post an excerpt of that discussion that focused on Jordan Spieth, the three-time major champion who has fallen on hard times.

When asked about Spieth, Chamblee said he was “headed for oblivion.” Strong words and worthy of further conversation after Jordan started doing things like the Jordan of old.

Here’s the initial conversation before Spieth shot 67-67-61.

GW: Which former World No. 1 gets back into the winner’s circle first: Justin Rose, Jason Day, or Jordan Spieth?

BC: That’s a good question. I don’t mean any ill will towards Justin Rose and Jason Day but I hope it’s Jordan Spieth. It probably will be Jason Day. But good question all three.

I see Jason Day winning again. Rose is a little older, he left Sean Foley, didn’t hit it particularly well last year, changed equipment. Victories are hard fought at his age when you’re not hitting on all cylinders.

Spieth is headed into oblivion. That’s hard to turn that ship around.

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Day is the more logical answer. Still has a great short game, still a great putter. Still has plenty of speed. He just needs to have a week where his body isn’t banged up or he isn’t sick. I hate to say I told you so, but I told you so. Short, violent, restrictive golf swings are injuries waiting to happen, especially when a guy is spending that much time amping up in the gym.

Q: You just said Jordan is “on his way to oblivion.” I take that to mean you see him getting worse rather than better.

BC: If you go back and look at Ian Baker-Finch and David Duval’s ascent and descent in the game of golf, they track a similar path to Jordan Spieth. When they get to a point where they are really searching and they get desperate there’s not only the insecurity of whether or not you’re ever going to find it again, there’s also that psychological scar tissue. It’s like a physical wound and some of them will heal up and some of them will kill you.

Ian Baker-Finch or David Duval, no disrespect to them, but the only reason I picked them out is they made the game look so easy for a period of time as did Jordan Spieth. Their descent is a reminder to all of us that it is ephemeral. You can lose it in the blink of an eye. He seems to be searching every single week, spending lots of practice swings, over the ball a long time.

Several hours later, Spieth teed off and fired the first of consecutive 4-under 67’s. When Spieth tied his lowest score on the PGA Tour with 10-under 61 in the third round, I reached out to Chamblee since his take didn’t seem to be aging well. He was highly complimentary of Spieth’s magical round but didn’t exactly walk his comments back. Here’s what Chamblee had to say after Spieth shot 18-under 195 to grab a share of the 54-hole lead at the Waste Management Phoenix Open.

Waste Management Phoenix Open
Jordan Spieth celebrates with caddie Michael Greller after making birdie at the 16th hole during the third round of the Waste Management Phoenix Open at TPC Scottsdale. (Photo: Allan Henry-USA TODAY Sports)

GW: Do you want to walk back any of your comments about Jordan since we talked the other day?

BC: What did I say? I can’t even remember. I wasn’t probably sanguine about his comeback.

He did something today I don’t think I’ve seen. I’ll go look it up. I can’t remember a person being in the lead position in a golf tournament being dead last in fairways hit and next-to-last in distance from the edge of the fairway. That’s unprecedented. I don’t know how you do that. I guess you can in a place like the desert where there is a lot of luck involved in the lies you get and then you hit your irons like a God. He still has the ability to stun us with his short game and putter.

As I chewed on it today, there are a handful of people who lost their edge. Sam Snead in 1947-48 he won only one time because he had the putting yips and then he won 17 times when he sorted that out the next two years in 1949-50.

Henrik Stenson was No. 4 in the world after winning the Players in 2009 and he fell down to No. 230 when he got the driver yips. I’m not saying Jordan Spieth has the driver yips but on your way to them you miss by wide margins in every direction. Stenson worked his way out of it. Steve Stricker was sort of the same thing. There are some notable players fairly recently and well in the past that have come out of these slumps fairly nicely.

It’s cool to see Jordan Spieth give some hope for a comeback. As inaccurate as he was in 2016-17, he was just a little wobbly off the tee, but he’s become hugely inaccurate, which is usually a prelude to an irrecoverable slump, at least for a period of time. It was the preamble for Ian Baker-Finch’s slump, it was the preamble to David Duval’s slump, it was the preamble to Ralph Guldahl’s slump. Those are slumps that players never recovered from.

He hasn’t solved his big misses but to see him step up on 15 and hit that draw with the water left after missing it to the left so often and at times by wide margins that speaks to his commitment. He said in his post-round remarks that he’s committed to being committed. That was a helluva quote. There’s no other place for him to go. If he loses his attitude, there’s no way back. I’ve never seen him slump his shoulders, I’ve never seen him throw clubs, I’ve never seen him use profanity, I’ve never seen him give the Heisman to people asking him tough-to-answer questions. I said today on our show that I’ve never seen anybody, except for maybe Chip Beck, handle really poor play with more class. It’s easy to pull for somebody like that.

Waste Management Phoenix Open
Jordan Spieth reacts after putting out on the 18th hole during the third round of the Waste Management Phoenix Open at TPC Scottsdale. (Photo: Allan Henry-USA TODAY Sports)

I guess I would say I’m a little more optimistic than the last time we talked. I still need to see him drive it better than he does. I don’t see how he can come back and play anywhere near the type of golf he used to play unless he drives it better. There’s a difference between driving it poorly and driving it terribly. There’s generally not much hope to contend when you’re driving it terrible.

If you think about it, it’s as exciting as anything watching a player of his caliber work his way out of a slump. Tiger has given us two comebacks on an epic scale. This isn’t on the same scale because he’s not dealing with a broken leg or a broken reputation or a darn-near busted back, but he’s dealing with a broken game. It’s as compelling as his good golf was, almost.

GW: Do you think shooting 61 validates what he’s working on?

BC: To some extent. Look, you have to have selective memory in this game. If I had driven it like him and I was leading I would be thinking all I have to do is hit it a little better and I can really make a move. He’s almost dead last in Strokes Gained: off the tee and dead last in driving accuracy. Only Brendan Steele is worse than him in distance from the edge of the fairway. He’s not just missing fairways, he’s missing them by a wide margin. For him to play as well as he has the first three rounds speaks volumes about his mental strength. Outside of Tiger, you’re hard-pressed to find another player more exciting to watch than Jordan Spieth.

The only thing I’ll say is when you see someone drive it as inaccurately as he did, it’s a trip to oblivion. Henrik Stenson and Steve Stricker came back from there. If I’m Jordan Spieth I’d look at what they did and use that as positive reinforcement that he can dig his way out of this hole.

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Phoenix Open fan dressed like Borat gets booted, fans chant ‘Jordan pay his bail’

An on-course incident seemed like a long shot at TPC Scottsdale this year but this is the Waste Management Phoenix Open we’re talking about.

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — You figured with a scaled-down fan presence, an on-course incident would be a long shot this year at TPC Scottsdale.

But this is Saturday at the Waste Management Phoenix Open we’re talking about here.

About 5,000 fans per day are being allowed on site, creating some long-awaited fan atmosphere at a PGA Tour event. But one fan, dressed like Borat, simply took things too far late in the third round.

It started when Jordan Spieth, fresh off a thrilling birdie bomb on the 16th green, was sizing up another long birdie putt on 17. He was kneeling down, with his back to the lake that wraps around the left side of the green when Borat start chirping up.

Spieth noticed and even turned in his kneeling position to acknowledge him, clapping a little bit while looking over. He also noticed something else.

Waste Management Phoenix Open
Jordan Spieth applauds a fan as he prepares for his birdie putt on the 17th green during the third round of the Waste Management Phoenix Open at TPC Scottsdale. (Photo: Rob Schumacher-Arizona Republic via USA TODAY Network)

“Yeah, the guy’s chair broke, and so it broke and he fell backwards and everyone went nuts. We were all laughing,” he said.

Spieth was facing a 29-foot, 5-inch putt for birdie, and he drained it and the fans erupted.

“When I made it, I was pointing at him,” Spieth said, looking across the water.

Waste Management Phoenix Open
Jordan Spieth applauds a fan after he made a birdie putt on the 17th green during the third round of the Waste Management Phoenix Open at TPC Scottsdale. (Photo: Rob Schumacher-Arizona Republic via USA TODAY Network)

The Borat look-alike, wearing a tan jacket and tan shorts, aviator-style sunglasses, presumably a wig but also going barefoot, kept up his antics. At one point, he appeared to be taking off his jacket. A nearby security guard was right there and soon a Scottsdale police officer arrived.

Waste Management Phoenix Open
Security deal with a fan after Jordan Spieth made a birdie putt on the 17th green during the third round of the Waste Management Phoenix Open at TPC Scottsdale. (Photo: Rob Schumacher-Arizona Republic via USA TODAY Network)

Spieth and his caddie, Michael Greller, continued to watch the antics of the fan, who turned and took a few steps, almost falling into a group of fans dressed like Masters caddies.

Waste Management Phoenix Open
A fans trips over other fans while watching Jordan Spieth and his group on the 17th green during the third round of the Waste Management Phoenix Open at TPC Scottsdale. (Photo: Rob Schumacher-Arizona Republic via USA TODAY Network)

Finally, Borat tried to go under a rope and security at that point had seen enough. They grabbed his arm and hauled him away.

“I didn’t realize he was getting arrested at the time because I hadn’t seen him since he fell out of the chair,” Spieth said. “I looked up and he was getting arrested, so when I pointed at him it got him going even more, which was not the plan. I thought he was going to just yell louder.

“Then they wanted him to jump in the water and then he was trying to and resisting. I don’t know what happened overall. I felt horrible that Billy (Horschel, Spieth’s playing partner) still had to putt when that was happening in his through-line. That wasn’t my intention.”

Waste Management Phoenix Open
A fan is led away by police officers after Jordan Spieth made his birdie putt on the 17th green during the third round of the Waste Management Phoenix Open at TPC Scottsdale. (Photo: Rob Schumacher-Arizona Republic via USA TODAY Network)

Horschel two-putted for par and then talked about what he saw after his round.

“I tell you what, it’s nice to have fans back out. The energy that we all feel from them and we all sort of feed off,” he said. “Jordan did an unbelievable job of that. It’s nice to have applause. Yeah, it’s a little rowdy here which we’re normally used to, and it was funny to see the guy break the chair. I don’t know why he got kicked out. I was focused on my putt.”

Spieth wasn’t exactly sure about the chair either, other than it broke in plain view of everyone on the green.

“I thought he was just standing out of the chair that he was sitting in when it broke,” Spieth said. “But he was dressed like Borat, so definitely came to have a good time.

“I don’t think he’s having a great time right now. That was an unfortunate set of circumstances.”

As the fan was being hauled off, the remaining fans started chanting “Jordan pay his bail! Jordan pay his bail!”

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Jordan Spieth threatens course record, ignites fans at Waste Management Phoenix Open

Jordan Spieth drained consecutive long putts on 16 and 17 and ignited the fans on Saturday at the Waste Management Phoenix Open.

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — Jordan Spieth lit up the leaderboard and fired up the fans on Saturday at the Waste Management Phoenix Open.

Starting his day at 8 under, he went right to work with birdies on 3, 4, 6 and 8, making the turn in 31, leading to an outpouring of love on the internet.

On the 10th hole, Spieth was chipping from 68 feet away and rolled it in for another birdie, then followed that with another birdie on 11.

He then birdied the two par 5s, the 13th and the 15th, for the second day in a row.

On the infamous 16th, Spieth’s tee shot landed 36 feet, 8 inches away. No matter. Spieth calmly rolled it in for a birdie to get to 8 under.

But he wasn’t done. On the driveable par-4 17th, after pushing his tee shot right and chipping on, Spieth drained another bomb, this time from 29 feet, 5 inches away, his fourth putt of 25 feet or more so far this week. That got him to 10 under for his round.

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A birdie on 18 would have tied the course record of 60 but his putt came up just short. He tapped in for a 61, tying his career PGA Tour low. He walked off the course a 18 under and a one-shot lead on Xander Schauffele.

Spieth was T-7 in 2015 and T-9 in 2017 but he missed the cut the last two times here at TPC Scottsdale, in 2018 and 2020.

On Sunday, he’ll be aiming for his first win since 2017.

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Internet explodes as Jordan Spieth jumps into tie for lead at Waste Management Phoenix Open

It’s been a long road for Jordan Spieth, who’s been battling a slump, but on Saturday, Spieth co-led at TPC Scottsdale.

He was only through eight holes of the third round, but the reaction online could have made you believe he had just won.

The buzz was for Jordan Spieth, who has been trudging through a slump since winning his last PGA Tour event in 2017. After missing four cuts in his seven previous starts this season and plummeting to World No. 92, the 2015 Masters Tournament champion shot back-to-back rounds of 67 at the Waste Management Phoenix Open to make his first cut of 2021.

On Saturday, he added to his success at TPC Scottsdale by making a birdie on No. 8 share the lead at 12 under for a few glorious moments, exciting golf fans on the internet. Xander Schauffele took the solo lead at 13 under a few seconds after Spieth’s fourth birdie of the day.

Here’s the moment he tied the lead at 12 under.

Here was the reaction on the internet.

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Phoenix Open: Xander Schauffele stays ‘in his lane,’ surges into lead with hot stretch

Xander Schauffele overcame a sluggish start and played 5 under during a four-hole stretch to catapult into the lead at the Phoenix Open.

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. – Xander Schauffele has been preaching patience as the key for him to return to the winner’s circle for the first time in over two years. He’s developed a simple mantra to follow: “Control what we can control,” he said.

He and caddie Austin Kaiser did just that on Friday at TPC Scottsdale.

After seeing names leapfrog him on the leaderboard as he made just one birdie in his first 11 holes, Schauffele shifted into overdrive, playing the next four holes in 5 under, and coming home in 30.

“That’s sort of what the team and I talk about, just getting back to the old mentality where I am more patient, I don’t push as much, kind of let the round come to me,” he said. “If you’re playing well, if I try and force things sometimes it works out, but sometimes it doesn’t. So, try and kind of stay in our lane and keep doing what we’re doing.”

Schauffele stayed in his lane to the tune of a 7-under 64 and a 36-hole aggregate of 12-under 130 and a one-stroke lead over Steve Stricker and Keegan Bradley at the Waste Management Phoenix Open.

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Schauffele has been the picture of consistency on the PGA Tour, finishing no worse than T-17 in his last six events, including a share of second last week at the Farmers Insurance Open. This marks the 26th time since the start of the 2017-18 season that he has been in the top-10 through 36 holes, most of any player during that span. The 27-year-old San Diego native has climbed to a career-best of No. 4 in the world and has claimed four career victories, but hasn’t lifted a trophy since the 2019 Sentry Tournament of Champions, and went so far as to say on Thursday that he’s choked on occasion.

“I feel like I had a sense of urgency when I really didn’t need to,” Schauffele explained of some of his close calls that didn’t go his way. “I would look back at the week and I was like, ‘Man, why did I kind of jump the gun there? All I had to do was play decent and I would’ve been right there.’”

On Friday, the stretch beginning at No. 12 was nothing short of sensational: a 26-foot birdie putt at 12, a two-putt birdie at 13, sticking his approach from 180 yards to five feet at 14, and sinking a 21-foot eagle putt at 15. The latter just snuck in at the end.

“I thought it was going to miss just left,” he said. “Kind of had soft speed on it and kind of held, which is a bonus.”

Schauffele capped off his day by planting a short iron from 139 yards to five feet and sinking the birdie putt to sleep on the 36-hole lead.

Earlier in the day, Stricker, the U.S. Ryder Cup captain, carded a 5-under 66, meaning Tom Brady isn’t the only grizzled veteran seeking another title this Sunday. Stricker, who hasn’t recorded a top-10 finish since the 2017 John Deere Classic and last won on the Tour in 2012, turns 54 later this month. He’s bidding to shatter Sam Snead’s 56-year-old record as the oldest winner on Tour at age 52, 10 months, eight days when he won the Greater Greensboro Open in 1965. He would also become the first golfer age 50 and older to win on Tour since 51-year-old Davis Love III at the 2015 Wyndham Championship.

Waste Management Phoenix Open
Steve Stricker plays his third shot from a bunker on the second hole during round two of the Waste Management Phoenix Open at TPC Scottsdale. (Photo: Rob Schumacher-Arizona Republic)

“I know it’s a long shot,” Stricker said. “I’ve got to play my very best, just like anybody else does out here. But you know, I’ve been there. I’ve won a few times out on this Tour and I know what it takes, although it’s been a while. It would be fun to see how I handle it if I do get that opportunity.”

Bradley came out of the gate with birdies on his first four holes en route to shooting 6-under 65 and tying Stricker for second.

“All it was was having some putts go in. With me, that’s kind of all I need to do,” he said. “I made one really long one last night, and sometimes those get you going.”

Scottie Scheffler (65), K.H. Lee (66) and Sam Burns (67) are tied for fourth at 10-under 132, and Scottsdale resident Nate Lashley (69) is in seventh at 133. The logjam at 8-under 134 includes former major champions Jordan Spieth (67) and Brooks Koepka (66). Spieth, who is mired in a slump that dates to his last win at the 2017 British Open, hit 10 fairways and 16 greens, while Koepka, who is winless since the 2019 PGA Championship, snapped a streak of three straight missed cuts. When asked if it feels as if it has been a long time since he’s tasted victory, Koepka said, “I would say so. In my mind last year didn’t even happen. I do know it’s been a long time so I’m itching to get a W.”

So is Schauffele, but he knows that his work is only half done.

“The fact that I haven’t won, I’m not satisfied,” he said.

The field was trimmed to 66 golfers at 3-under 139 or better. Cut casualties included former Phoenix Open champions Rickie Fowler and Gary Woodland, former major champion Jason Day, and Daniel Burger and Harris English, who both rank in the top 20 in the Official World Golf Ranking. Lucas Glover, who shot the low round of the day, a 63, Webb Simpson (65) and Justin Thomas (65) all rallied to play the weekend.

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Phoenix Open: Jordan Spieth shoots a pair of 67s, confidence ‘probably higher than it’s been in a long time’

Jordan Spieth shot consecutive rounds in the 60s for the first time since August and showed signs he’s rediscovering his game.

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. – Don’t look now but Jordan Spieth put together two consecutive rounds at TPC Scottsdale in the 60s for the first time since the WGC-FedEx St. Jude Invitational in August.

Spieth, who has been mired in a slump in which he has missed four cuts in seven previous starts this season and plummeted to World No. 92, opened with a pair of 4-under 67s at the Waste Management Phoenix Open, giving himself a much-needed boost of confidence heading into the weekend.

“Probably higher than it’s been in a long time,” he said of his confidence level. “Still certainly not at 100, not feeling like I have my ‘A’ game, but I feel like it’s trending that direction.”

Spieth, 27, who trails Steve Stricker and Keegan Bradley by three strokes, called it a “tale of two rounds.” He hit just two of 14 fairways and 11 of 18 greens as he continued to spray his tee ball, primarily left. But his putter bailed him out. In contrast, on Friday, he found 10 fairways and 16 greens and his putter cooled off.

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“It felt like a 6- or 7-under day,” he said of his second-round score, “and this is one of the first times I’ve almost been disappointed shooting 4-under in a round in long time, and that’s a good sign. Versus yesterday it was one of those, like, all right, I shot 4 (under), but I got away with murder.”

So which player does Spieth most resemble? It’s hard to say, but Golf Channel analyst Arron Oberholser said Spieth is making progress to rediscover the magic that led to three major championships between 2015 and 2017, but no victories since the 2017 British Open.

“I saw a one-way miss last week,” Oberholser said of Spieth, who missed the cut at Torrey Pines. “It was a big one-way miss and he didn’t hit a lot of fairways, but it was a one-way miss.”

After Friday’s round Oberholser texted: “He has to pick a shot and dial in a cone for that shot dispersion.”

This week, at least anyway, Spieth is going with a draw off the tee, and it worked on Friday.

“I almost knew kind of through transition that they were going to be good drives,” he said. “I felt like when I really stood in that draw and really exploded off my right side, cleared out, some really good things happened.”

He added: “I know exactly what I did to produce those. I know the difference in the bad ones yesterday to the good ones today. It’s just about repping it in, continuing to trust it and just being OK with the fact that it’s going to take time for it to be fully integrated with the stuff I’ve been working on.”

Spieth stiffed a short iron and made birdie at No. 10, his first hole of the day, and strung together three birdies in a row beginning at No. 13, including a 30-footer at 14. He gave a stroke back at No. 16, but toured his first nine in 33. Spieth surged into contention with a 33-foot eagle putt at the par-5 third.

But then Spieth’s round stalled as he made five pars in a row and ended his day with a sloppy bogey from 125 yards and the middle of the fairway at his final hole. Spieth’s strong start didn’t go unnoticed by U.S. Ryder Cup captain Steve Stricker.

“I’m looking for him to just get right up in contention, and I don’t think it’s going to take much for him to get back in there and win again,” he said. “He’s done it so much in such a short period of time, even though it’s been a few years, he knows how to do it. He showed us he knows how to do it when he was winning all those events and majors. I think when he gets in there it’s going to be like riding a bike again and he’s going to feel comfortable and do well with it.”

While Stricker never won a major championship, he went through his own lean years and knows from experience what it’s like to be lost at times. He won the Tour’s Comeback Player of  the Year, not once, but twice.

“I think as soon as he figures out a few things here and there, he’s going to be right back where he was. And that’s the hard part, right; he had such great years, career years, in just a short period of time, that all of us when we do that we have those expectations that we need to do that every year, and that’s just not possible out here,” Stricker said. “There’s so many good players and the talent pool runs deep. It’s just not fair for everybody like us or him to believe that he can put those numbers up year after year.”

Before Spieth’s fan club gets too excited about his latest resurgence, he will have to prove he can do it over the weekend. He ranks 20th in scoring average since the beginning of the 2017-18 season in Rounds 1 and 2, but 148th in Rounds 3 and 4. Speith isn’t going to sweat the small stuff; he’s sticking to his process.

“It’s just about trusting what I’m doing here. If I shoot 6-under tomorrow, awesome. If I shoot even but I trusted it and it felt really good and I just didn’t get the right breaks or lipped out or something, really, that’s fine,” he said. “I know that once I am hitting the positions I want to hit in the swing, I’ve got the tempo I want, I’ve got the right swing feels, I know that I’ll end up progressing forward, shooting a lot of low rounds and winning golf tournaments because I’ve done it.

“It’s nice to have been there and been able to be the best in the world. You know you can do it. And so for me, it’s about, again, more the feels than it is the results right now, and obviously if I get in the thick of things on this weekend, then I’ll tap into that competitiveness that I love to have, and hopefully it’ll be a very confident competitiveness drawing back on good memories.”

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Is Jordan Spieth ready for help? A report says he’s visited Butch Harmon.

Many say a change might do Jordan Spieth good; he’s shown no signs he’s ready to snap out of the funk that’s dogged him the past few years.

The trials and tribulations of Jordan Spieth have been well documented. The former World No. 1 simply can’t recapture the consistency he once displayed in winning 10 tournaments and three majors in a three-year stretch, and ascending to the top of the golf world. Spieth has fallen to 108th in the Golfweek/Sagarin rankings and down to No. 84 in the Official World Golf Ranking.

And while there’s nothing indicating he’s set to part with coach Cameron McCormick, a new report insists he’s looking to have someone outside his camp take a fresh look at his swing.

Golf Digest said it has confirmed that Spieth “has sought direction from Butch Harmon on his full swing,” a sign that he realizes his current approach simply isn’t working.

Many have speculated that a change might do Spieth good — through the first six events of the new PGA Tour season, he’s shown no signs he’s ready to snap out of the funk that’s dogged him for the past few years. The former University of Texas star has thrice missed the cut in 2020-21 and his highest finish during the three weekends he made was a T-38 at the CJ Cup.

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Spieth’s strength was never the long ball, but even the game’s finer points have failed him in the new season — he’s currently 126th in Strokes Gained: Putting, 230th in Strokes Gained: Approaching the Green and a surprising 198th in Strokes Gained: Tee to Green.

Harmon, known for focusing on a player’s strengths, might be exactly what the 27-year-old Spieth needs to kickstart his career. Spieth has long been known for occasional yips, but they’ve dominated his headlines in recent years. For example, Spieth’s 40 on the back in the opening round of the Vivint Houston Open was just a few competitive rounds removed from the 81 he posted in the second round of the U.S. Open at Winged Foot.

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‘It will be eerie’: The soundtrack of the 2020 Masters will be different without patrons

Augusta National will be more elevator music than rock concert as patrons are not allowed to attend this year.

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AUGUSTA, Ga. – During one of the craziest Sundays in the storied history of the Masters, when eight players had at least a share of the lead on the back nine back in 2011, the soft-spoken Charl Schwartzel stood over a 15-foot putt for birdie on the 16th hole.

Cue the sonic boom.

“When I made the putt on 16, that was the loudest and most exhilarating roar I’ve heard. I can still remember the hairs on my arms and back of my neck standing up and for quite a long time. It went from dead silence to an eruption,” said Schwartzel, who won by two shots by becoming the only player to birdie the final four holes to win a green jacket.

On the same hole seven years later, Jordan Spieth had a similar experience. He canned a 22-footer for birdie – one of nine red numbers he put on the famous white scoreboards that day – to tie for the lead after starting the final round nine shots back. While he fell two shots shy of a second green jacket, the 2015 Masters champion won’t ever forget his moment on the 16th green.

“That was the loudest roar I have ever heard there,” he said. “Total chills. Straight chills at the time. I’ve had enough memories there and enough experiences (so) it was like, soak this in, enjoy this.”

Now, two years later, no one will be able to dial up similar explosions. Due to the COVID-19 global pandemic, the soundtrack of the Masters will be more elevator music than rock concert as patrons are not allowed to attend this year.

Quiet, please will not be said throughout the silent grounds as the ground-shaking thunder that Jason Day said can move you will be non-existent. Whispers instead of roars will drift through the Georgia Pines. Playing off the title of one of Simon & Garfunkel’s greatest hits, this year’s Masters ballad could be The Sounds and Grounds of Silence.

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“I think it will be the most noticeable by far of any tournament we’ve played to this point,” Spieth said. “I think the crowds have a massive impact on what makes this tournament so special.”

Or as Billy Horschel put it, the dearth of the tone and intensity of the roars will dilute the joy of playing the Masters.

“It’s going to be eerie,” Horschel said. “When you are the middle of those roars coming from all over the golf course, there is nothing like it. I’ll miss the anticipation when a ball is rolling off a ridge toward the hole and the fans are getting up and they start making noise.

“Honestly, it’s not going to be fun without the crowds.”

The lack of patrons won’t just affect the volume and feel.

The optics will be different, too.

Nov 10, 2020; Augusta, Georgia, USA; A course worker sits at the 10th tee box during a practice round for The Masters golf tournament at Augusta National GC. Mandatory Credit: Rob Schumacher-USA TODAY Sports

Thousands of spectators annually rim the fairways and greens and provide definition to each hole and narrow a player’s focus on the target. Now, the landscape, as beautiful as it remains, is barren.

“It’s weird because you can see almost every hole when you’re standing on 1 tee,” four-time major winner Brooks Koepka said. “I’m not used to that.”

As well, with no need to provide seating for spectators, the grandstands – observation decks, as they are called at Augusta National – are gone.

Thus, without patrons and observation decks, strategies could be altered.

“The fact that we have no spectators is going to be very different optically for a lot of us. It will be like how we normally play practice rounds there when we kind of go out there,” defending champion and five-time Masters winner Tiger Woods said. “On a couple of the holes that if you do bail out, we have had the patrons knock a few balls back in play. It will be interesting. Some of the angles may be a little bit better. Like on 2, to be able to sneak it down the right side a little bit more on the second shot, the layup. Same at 13.”

Reigning U.S. Open champion Bryson DeChambeau has had to relearn the course since he has added 50 pounds of mass and become the game’s longest player. With the course deserted, DeChambeau is seeing new lines of attack.

“I’m going to be able to hit it on certain lines where patrons would be, and I feel like that it does provide me a little bit of an advantage in that case to be able to hit into those areas without thinking about it at all,” he said. “Look at 18. I’m hopefully going to be able to hit it over those (fairway) bunkers where the patrons would be.  Another one would be 13 even.  I can hit it through almost into 14 (fairway) and they would be there, so this is a unique opportunity this year.”

Players might have to rethink approach shots into the green at the par-5 15th with the observation decks not standing on both sides of the green. Or at the par-3 fourth without the observation deck on the left side of the green. Or at the par-5 eighth where the giant grandstand behind the green is missing. Or at the par-4 17th where the observation deck was not built left of the green.

“The crowds do create barriers visually and streamline your attention,” two-time Masters runner-up Justin Rose said. “There are some wide open areas like at 9 and 18. Down to the second green at 2. Huge expanse of lawn you don’t feel with crowds not being there and that can make a difference.”

But the biggest difference, the players will tell you, will be the lack of roars and the polite sounds of applause. Since the PGA Tour restarted in June, players have talked at length about the flatness of each tournament sans fans. They’ve had to dig deep to create intensity and adrenaline, had to figure out how best to absorb the stillness and maintain momentum after delivering heroic shots at times.

“(The patrons) helped me win,” Woods said of his Masters win in 2019. “The support that I had, the energy that was around the property, it was electric that day. This year is going to be very different. It’s going to be stark in what we see, our sights into the greens, the energy that you hear from different roars, from different parts of the golf course. I mean, you’re on the putting green up on 1 and you can hear eagles down on 13. That’s what this tournament is all about, and we’re not going to have that this year. So we’re all going to go through it together at the same time and it’s going to be a very different experience.

“There’s no other place like it. It echoes here, it travels. The atmosphere in general is going to be so different. You make putts and you don’t have the big roars. You hit a shot in there, get momentum, you’re not going to have any of that this year.”

Webb Simpson, the 2012 U.S. Open champion who tied for fifth last year in the Masters, said the roars change him every year.

“Augusta National is the only week of the year where I separate the athlete in me and just be like an old man and soak it in because I’m not going to play the Masters forever,” he said.

Paul Casey said at least he won’t have to back off any shots this year because there won’t be any roars interrupting play.

“The roars at Augusta are different than any others. The crowd behaves a little differently. They are packed in. And there are no cells phones so everybody is paying attention,” Casey said. “So when roars happen they are on point and they are explosive. You have to step back and take a few deep breathes when some of those roars explode. But that won’t be the case this year.”

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