Jordan Spieth lost a bet on No. 12 to Gary Woodland as his tee shot bounced into the front bunker during a Tuesday practice session.
AUGUSTA, Ga. — Jordan Spieth walked from the 11th green to the 12th tee box Tuesday, as Gary Woodland followed closely behind.
“How much if you make it?” Woodland asked Spieth. “$500 or $1,000?”
“$1,000,” the 2015 Masters champion said.
Spieth then set up for his tee shot and struck the wedge, which beelined to the right pin location on the famous par 3.
“Is that in?” Woodland asked as the ball was mid-flight.
“Gonna be close,” Spieth said.
Spieth’s ball struck the flag stick before ricocheting into the front bunker. Spieth, Woodland and Henrik Stenson, the third member of their pairing, shared oohs and ahhs as their applause echoed through an empty Amen Corner.
Jordan Spieth played Monday at Augusta National Golf Club and said the fall layout left similar yardages to how the course plays in April.
Jordan Spieth played nine holes Monday at Augusta National Golf Club and said the fall layout left similar yardages to how the course plays in April. One difference, the 2015 Masters Champion found, was the length of the grass.
“The grass has been a little thicker and longer than we see in April,” Spieth said. “We just came off No. 9, and if the ball lands short of that green, sometimes it rolls back 20, 25 yards. Right now it’s only going to go five or 10.”
“Around the greens it has played a little bit different,” Fleetwood said. “With a little bit more grass, it feels like at times to strike a chip is a bit easier.”
Spieth arrived at Augusta National on Sunday and played a practice round with Justin Thomas and Rickie Fowler. On Monday, he joined Zach Johnson and J.T. Poston, and acknowledged the course had already changed between his rounds.
“From yesterday to today was a change,” Spieth said. “I’m used to seeing a significant change Wednesday to Thursday and then a significant change Friday to Saturday.”
In 2019, Spieth finished 21st, his worst showing in six events here. As for how he plans to attack the 2020 tournament, the Texan believes ball placement off the tee box is key.
“You need to dial it in to one side of the fairway or the other,” Spieth said. “And you play the hole backwards from where the hole location is. So you get on holes like No. 6, a par 3 where you might see hole‑in‑ones to the front-left pin, but on the right pins, where am I playing to? What shot am I hitting to make sure I’m walking off with a 3? You play the hole backwards and figure out where you can take advantage and where you can’t.”
Spieth, despite winning the tournament in his second appearance, believes experience is crucial, unless the threatening rain softens the course.
“When you can throw some darts, it could be anybody that wins,” Spieth said. “It doesn’t require as much experience with softer conditions.”
Jordan Spieth has struggled mightily with his game lately. There would be no better place for a breakthrough than Augusta National.
AUGUSTA, Ga. – Sitting in a golf cart with his feet up and his mood on the right side of par, Jordan Spieth looked far from a man battling adversity.
The sun was shining on a spectacular October day in Las Vegas and Spieth had just finished his pro-am round ahead of the CJ Cup at Sherwood. Speaking to two reporters just outside of the clubhouse at the fabulous Sherwood Country Club some 20 miles north of the Las Vegas Strip, Spieth was quick with a smile and an answer and had the look of a man who just cashed for huge dollars in a casino.
Instead, one has to look elsewhere for signs of the struggles Spieth has endured since falling from the elite level of golf. The Official World Golf Rankings, for instance, where the former No. 1 has tumbled to No. 80.
Or the interview list ahead of this week’s Masters. He’s not on it.
Or the multiple gaming sites that list Spieth’s chances of winning at Augusta National this year anywhere from 60-1 to 80-1. That’s astounding for a player who has been in contention to win five times in his six Masters starts.
But it’s equally alarming to have witnessed the steady descent of a man who once ruled the game, the man who won 14 worldwide titles, including 11 on the PGA Tour, before turning 24. The man who has won three legs of the career grand slam, the most recent coming amidst the massive dunes of Royal Birkdale, where his stunning comeback on the final six holes won him the Claret Jug in 2017.
But that was his most recent win.
“At this point, I’m trying not to look back to bad or good. Just trying to forget everything that’s happened,” Spieth said of his three-year struggle. “Everything that’s good has been awesome. I’m not the person or player I was five years ago, not the person or player I was two years ago. If anything, (the struggle) has provided me with advantages going forward. I’m just trying to look at it as a clean slate. It’s a patience game that is hard for me to deal with because I’m not a patient person. But I’m getting better.”
Spieth has come to call it the grind, that he’ll keep his nose to the grindstone and shoulder on. It hasn’t been easy, as his antics on the golf course – the constant chatter, the sunken shoulders, the shaking head of disappointment – have indicated. Like in his last prep for the Masters, where he three-putted his final hole – missing a 4-footer – and was shaking his head back and forth as he walked off the green and knew he had missed the cut by one in the Vivant Houston Open.
Takes on his status from analysts have mounted as Spieth has struggled with every aspect of his game at times, including his trusted putting stroke. Mostly, however, his work with the longer clubs has given him fits. Colt Knost said the “wheels are just kind of falling off for Jordan Spieth right now,” and he’s gone “full technical” with his game. David Duval said, “I believe he needs to let go of (swing coach) Cameron McCormick’s hand and start digging it out of the dirt himself. That’s nothing against Cameron. (Spieth) just needs to figure it out himself.”
Spieth said he’ll figure it out on his terms.
“One thing I had anxiety over was not being able to fail in the dark, not being able to grow and be able to make mistakes without it being very open and public,” he said. “That’s just the way it is. There was no hard feelings, no blame. That’s what I get for the start of my career, which was awesome.
“I know what I’ve done, I know what I’m capable of doing, and when I don’t do it, it’s more frustrating for me than it is for anyone else. I forced stuff for a while. I had to take a step back, start making progress in the right direction and trust it.
“I’ve got a lot of trust in the team. Moving forward, I’m going to forget everything and draw on what I need to do.”
Shawn Spieth, left, caddies for his son Jordan Spieth during the first round of the Zozo Championship golf tournament Thursday, Oct. 22, 2020, in Thousand Oaks, Calif. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)
Part of that team is his father, Shawn. He was called in for caddie duties at the Zozo Championship at Sherwood last month after Spieth’s longtime caddie, Michael Greller, lost his mother. Greller is back on the bag.
“As a parent, it’s always tough. As my wife always says, you’re only as happy as your unhappiest kid. And he was the unhappiest kid for a couple years,” Shawn Spieth said. “This last year has been a lot better. At first, not having the results he wanted, then other multiple little reasons, and then little things he was working on, and getting off and then trying to make some adjustments, that was tough. Because it was the first time he lived through it.
“But after that period, it’s been kind of cool to watch him develop more patience. He’s hitting it so much better than he was not that long ago, so I think a little, couple of the adjustments he’s made are going to work.
“It’s hard to look up there (scoreboards) and see he was on the first page for five years and you expect it, but you also know it’s golf. He’ll compete his way out of this and he’ll never quit until he does figure this out. He’ll continue to work as hard as he does. And we know as he worked so hard to get his swing to where he wants it, his short game suffered a little. But that’s starting to come back.
“He’s too naturally driven and talented not to get back to being very, very competitive. He’s going to be always pushing.”
Especially at Augusta National. If there’s any place Spieth will blossom once again, it is at this former Fruitland Nursery.
Check the track record. He has a record eight rounds of par or better to start his career at Augusta. He led at the end of seven consecutive rounds from the first round of 2015 through the third round of 2016, another record.
Spieth tied for second in his first start in 2014 playing alongside eventual winner, Bubba Watson, in the final group.
He was at his zenith when he unleashed a tour de force in 2015, winning by four, tying the scoring record set by Tiger Woods (18 under), setting a tournament record for most birdies (28) and establishing scoring records through 36 (-14) and 54 holes (-16). He also became the only player to ever reach 19 under.
He led by five shots with nine to play in 2016, before a disastrous quadruple-bogey 7 on the 12th wiped out his lead and led to a tie for second.
It wasn’t meant to be for Jordan Spieth as he found the water again on No. 12 Sunday. (Photo: Harry How/Getty Images)
He was two shots out of the lead after 54 holes in 2017 before a 75 dropped him into a tie for 11th. In 2018, Spieth ripped off nine birdies in the final round – his last coming on the 16th which tied him for the lead – but a bogey on the 72nd led to a finish of third. He tied for 21st in 2019.
Spieth said he doesn’t flip a switch when he drives down Magnolia Lane. Instead, he’s loved the course from the get-go and his mind is free of any technical concerns involving his swing. With all the uneven lies amid the Georgia Pines, Spieth instead calls on his imagination to get around.
“I have quite a bit of course knowledge. And I always talk about the feel aspect,” Spieth said. “At Augusta, it’s less mechanical, more feel. You’ve got to deal with hitting the ball off a sidehill lie with the ball well below your feet, or a sidehill lie with the ball well above your feet. You have to work different shots. It makes you be an athlete versus a driving range pro. You have to have a lot of course knowledge on where to leave shots. And when you’re off a bit, you can’t always commit to every single shot. You’ve got to play a little defense.
“That part of knowing the course well, being prepared for anything, not being afraid to contend there, I feel more comfortable. Even when I’m feeling uncomfortable over the ball.”
He’s felt uncomfortable over the ball for a long time. But he remains confident that time is coming to an end. Perhaps as soon as this week.
Jordan Spieth, the three-time major champ, went off early with what has become a familiar pattern: alternating amazing and horrific shots.
HOUSTON — He’s back in his home state and Jordan Spieth certainly looks comfortable.
The three-time major champ went off early at Memorial Park Golf Course on Thursday and the final event before the Masters started with what has become a familiar pattern for Spieth: alternating amazing and horrific shots.
For example, at the 522-yard par-4 first hole, Spieth pushed his opening drive of the day wildly right. No problem, however, as the 11-time PGA Tour winner rebounded with a solid approach and then stuck a chip to three feet to save par.
Jordan Spieth’s first hole at the Vivint Houston Open.
Spieth hasn’t cracked the top 35 in the first four events of the new season, missing cuts at both the Safeway Open and U.S. Open. He finished T-38 at the CJ Cup and then T-41 at the Zozo Championship and has slipped to 75th in the Official World Golf Ranking and 99th in the Golfweek/Sagarin rankings.
But Spieth looked like the former World No. 1 as he crafted a beautiful iron into a trick green, then dropped the putt.
Spieth followed with another birdie on No. 3 to take the early lead out of the gate. Of course, with Spieth’s recent track record, it’s difficult to know what will come next. Spieth entered the week as a 50-1 longshot to win the Vivint Houston Open, which is being played at Memorial Park for the first time since 1963.
Jordan Spieth’s father, Shawn, is on the bag at the Zozo Championship at Sherwood Country Club.
THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. – Jordan Spieth had a familiar face carrying his bag in Thursday’s first round of the Zozo Championship at Sherwood.
Shawn Spieth, his father.
The elder Spieth was the third caddie Spieth has had on his bag in less than a week. Last week, Spieth’s longtime caddie, Michael Greller, left the CJ Cup at Shadow Creek in North Las Vegas before the third round after getting word his mother, Jane, passed away earlier that morning.
Spieth turned to Preston Valder, an associate of Patrick Cantlay’s, to carry the bag the rest of the tournament. This week, he turned to his father, who previously caddied for his son in the 2019 World Golf Championships-Mexico Championship after Greller’s father, John, passed away that week.
“To lose both your parents in a year and a half, like I told (Greller), I have no way of relating to it, but I can only imagine,” Spieth said. “I was with him Saturday morning after he found out the news and I never have really seen him like that.
“We’ve been through a lot of stuff together.
“I think it’s a really tough situation for him right now, and as much time as he needs (he gets). It’s like he was wanting to kind of come back. I’m like, ‘Dude, it’s your bag whenever you want it, just do what you need to do for the more important things in life right now.’”
Greller, a former grade-school math teacher, has teamed with Spieth for three major championships and 14 professional wins around the world.
Shawn Spieth, left, caddies for his son Jordan Spieth, center, during the first round of the Zozo Championship golf tournament Thursday, Oct. 22, 2020, in Thousand Oaks, Calif. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)
Shawn Spieth was on the bag when his son tied for 54th in Mexico. And Spieth shot 2-under-par 70 Thursday to stand six shots back of leader Sebastian Munoz.
“So we get a special time with me and my dad this week,” Spieth said. “Then we’ll gear up for Augusta and get ready to have Mikey back.”
Spieth was all smiles after the round talking about having his father on the bag. And he even laughed at one moment when his father was out of bounds, so to speak, in the player-caddie relationship.
“He did the old ‘No, no,’ on our fourth hole, on 13,” Spieth said. “I’m stepping into the ball and he goes, ‘Just don’t overdo it.’ I step back, step back in. I’m like, ‘Dad, there’s only really like one or two things you just can’t do and that’s just don’t say not to hit it somewhere while I’m stepping into the shot.
“He goes, ‘Well, you know, you did it on No. 11, so I didn’t want you to do it on 13.’ But yeah, it was funny. I know he’s enjoying it and it’s a tough walk. The other time he caddied for me was Mexico City, which was at 8,000 feet, so I’m not exactly picking the easiest ones for him.”
The longtime caddie for Jordan Spieth left Las Vegas after his mother passed away Saturday morning.
NORTH LAS VEGAS – Michael Greller, longtime caddie for Jordan Spieth, left Las Vegas after his mother, Jane, passed away Saturday morning.
Greller, a former math teacher, has teamed with Spieth for three major championships, 14 professional wins and a Player of the Year campaign in 2015.
Greller was replaced on Spieth’s bag for the third round of the CJ Cup at Shadow Creek by Preston Valder, an associate of Patrick Cantlay.
Greller set up the John and Jane Greller Scholarship fund in 2019 after his father, a two-time organ-transplant survivor, passed on Feb. 19, 2019. That year, Greller’s fellow caddies presented him a $25,000 check for the fund.
Shrouded in secrecy just north of the Las Vegas Strip, Shadow Creek is a magical host for the PGA Tour’s CJ Cup.
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NORTH LAS VEGAS – Justin Thomas won’t soon forget his maiden voyage to the magical land of Shadow Creek Golf Course.
After walking through the unassuming clubhouse, he stepped into the locker room and was stunned to see the names gracing the storage units.
“I know that pretty much everybody who’s anybody has been here,” Thomas said. “Just going through and looking at the nameplates, it’s pretty impressive and unbelievable just the names that are on some of those lockers.”
Such as George H. W. Bush, Bill Clinton, George Bush and Barack Obama. Michael Jordan, Wayne Gretzky, John Elway and Derek Jeter. As well as Sylvester Stallone and Matt Damon. The fishing pole the late Bush 41 used to wield as he tried his luck in the course’s streams, ponds and lakes still rests above his locker. Jordan’s Carolina blue golf cart is parked here year-round.
Tiger Woods also will never forget his first trip to Shadow Creek.
“The first time I played it, I met Elizabeth Taylor on the 17th tee. And that kind of stuck out because, well, you don’t meet people like that when you are a kid,” said Woods, who later learned he had just missed seeing the late King of Pop, Michael Jackson, who often sat near the 17th hole’s waterfall down by the green.
From the day Shadow Creek opened in 1990, it has been cloaked in mystique and aura and shrouded in secrecy. From its eye-opening price tag — anywhere from $45 million to $60 million — to its location in the Mojave Desert 15 miles north of the Las Vegas Strip, to its esteemed clientele of high-rollers, captains of industry, sports icons and stars of the silver screen, Shadow Creek has been a bucket list dream. One you can play out in reality for $750 a pop, plus the gratuity for the caddie.
The first time the course hit TV screens was in 2018 when Phil Mickelson took down Woods in a $9 million winner-take-all event called The Match. Now the PGA Tour makes its debut this week in the CJ Cup at Shadow Creek. The tournament was relocated from the enchanted Jeju Island in South Korea because of the global COVID-19 pandemic.
“Obviously Shadow Creek is a pretty unbelievable alternative,” said Thomas, the defending champion who headlines a loaded field of 78 that also includes Jon Rahm, Rory McIlroy, Collin Morikawa, Rickie Fowler, Tommy Fleetwood and Jordan Spieth. “It’s definitely not overly difficult, but if it’s set up hard and it gets a little bit firm, then it’s obviously going to play a little bit more challenging. It’s a fun course, it’s scenic and I’m sure the history and the stories are something that even the people who know it all might not even know it all. There’s a lot of things that have gone down here and I’ve had a couple good times here and been able to make a couple of my own memories.”
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This transformed plot of hardened desert sprung from the fertile imagination of casino mogul Steve Wynn, who tapped the handiwork of renowned architect Tom Fazio to build a golf masterpiece.
“Steve told me he wanted to build a golf course as good as anything in the world. When I saw the land, I thought he was crazy,” Fazio said. “But whatever I wanted to do, I did.”
What he did was dig 50 feet into the chunk of the earth – about 3 million cubic yards of dirt was excavated. This allowed Fazio to carve out rolling hills and canyons. The massive mining also provided enough dirt to create a berm around the property to help keep the sun out of the players’ eyes.
Some 20,000 of more than 200 varieties of trees were imported and form a lush forest throughout the property that casts shadows over emerald fairways and greens, waterfalls, creeks, ponds, brooks, lagoons and lakes. The woods are so thick, no hole can be seen from another.
The unique environment also is home to lively vegetation; vibrant, multihued floral decorations; and exotic birds including swans and blue herons, pheasants with 6-foot tails, as well as rabbits and other critters.
There’s even a red London telephone booth on the ninth tee.
After an expensive renovation in 2006 that sand-capped the course, lengthened it and expanded some greens for more pin placements, the par-72 layout can tip out at 7,560 yards.
“I was very wowed by Shadow Creek the first time I played it, and I’ve played it a few times since and you’re still stunned,” three-time major winner Spieth said. “Just an unbelievable experience, one of the top ones I’ve ever had in the country.
“I like the mixture of holes. You have drivable par-4s and then you have long doglegs. The green complexes are complicated and very challenging. You can score on the course, but it also presents a legitimate challenge.”
After Jordan Spieth’s first round at Winged Foot, he gave the impression of a young man trying awfully hard to find a bright spot.
MAMARONECK, N.Y. — The style of golf that typically prevails in a U.S. Open is of the methodical variety that efficiently navigates the numerous perils that present themselves. The type of golfer who typically prevails in a U.S. Open is a stoic, a man who commands his tiller with the gritty calm of a seasoned mariner.
That ain’t Jordan Spieth’s style of golf. And it ain’t Jordan Spieth.
In Thursday’s opening round at Winged Foot, Spieth spent the day pitching and rolling, at one point cruising with three straight birdies, at others narrowly avoiding being sunk with two ugly double-bogeys. It was the kind of roller-coaster round that has become all-too-familiar to the 2015 winner, who has slipped to 67th in the world after going winless for more than three years. In the end, it all added up to 73.
“Shooting 3-over at a U.S. Open, feeling like I had no control, it’s not bad,” he said. “Really struggling ball striking. Found a way to kind of grind it out on and around the greens.”
His round one statistics illuminate his shortcomings. On one of the most demanding venues for a U.S. Open, Spieth found just three fairways, continuing the dismal theme of the PGA Tour season that just ended, when he ranked 181st in driving accuracy and 190th in greens in regulation percentage. Afterward, he gave the impression of a young man trying awfully hard to find a bright spot.
“I feel that, even with not having much tee to green, I can somehow still shoot an even or under par round on this course, and that’s incredible self-belief in the grind,” he said.
It’s been three years since Spieth won the Open Championship at Royal Birkdale, and five since his magical year when he claimed the Masters and this title at Chambers Bay. Even then, Spieth’s golf was an 18-hole thrill ride rather than an orderly procession from tee to trophy. He could win ugly, as he did from Birkdale’s driving range on his way to that Claret Jug. Now it’s just ugly.
“There’s a lot that’s off. I’m not really sure. If I knew, I’d fix it,” he admitted Thursday. “Standing on a tee at the U.S. Open and not exactly knowing where the ball is going to go is not a great feeling. But I’ll grind it out. I don’t ever give up.”
Jordan Spieth plays his shot from the second tee during the first round of the U.S. Open golf tournament at Winged Foot Golf Club. Photo by Danielle Parhizkaran-USA TODAY Sports
After his round, Spieth was back on the range with his swing coach Cameron McCormick and caddie Michael Greller in tow.
Though he’s still only 27, there exists a Spieth of then and a Spieth of now. Young Spieth played golf with exuberant abandon, brimming with confidence. Old Spieth is uncertain, paralyzed with technical thoughts before swinging the club and vocal in his agonized self-analysis after seeing the results.
So why not simply forgo the obsession with mechanics and swing with the freedom he once had? “I’d love to, but the second I try and just pick a tree and swing at it, the ball goes pretty far offline,” he said. “There still needs to be focus on the mechanics.”
Starting his ninth U.S. Open—having finished no better than tied 35th since his win—Spieth told himself to hit only draws off the tee. “The only shot you have to hit a fade out here is No. 8 tee, and I played four fade shots today. I played those holes 6-over,” he said with an air of resignation. “Two doubles and two bogeys with the four swings I played fades on. So I was right. The problem was I didn’t stick with that or I’d probably be at even-par worst case right now.”
As it is, Spieth finds himself eight strokes back of early leader Justin Thomas, a distant placing that has become too familiar after opening rounds. “If there’s any tournament where that’s okay, it’s a U.S. Open,” he said. “But it’s just too many first rounds where I’m at least seven back after one. It’s really frustrating.”
Spieth knows from experience that the distance between himself and the lead is far from insurmountable on a golf course that will only get tougher as the week wears on. He began Thursday with the goal of taking the lead and ended it with a more tactical mindset, one focused on holding his ground and hoping for incremental gains. In short, trying to give himself a shot at winning ugly.
“You look at trying to make the cut and finding a softer golf course on a Saturday and just trying to progress the next three days,” he said. “If I can hold myself anywhere around where I’m at right now, I mean, I would say 3-over would likely be in the top ten going into Sunday easily. That’s where I look at it.”
The Jordan Spieth Experience was in full effect on Thursday at Winged Foot.
It’s been up-and-down for Jordan Spieth this year, to say the least, and that continued with his first round at the 2020 U.S. Open.
On No. 2 at Winged Foot, he hit a drive that actually got wedged between a pair of trees. That sent him back in a cart back to the tee box to try again. He’d end up with a double-bogey on the hole.
But he also hit an incredible putt in which he aimed way right and watched it go downhill left into the hole on No. 5.
The Jordan Spieth Experience was in full effect on Thursday.
It’s been up-and-down for Jordan Spieth this year, to say the least, and that continued with his first round at the 2020 U.S. Open.
On No. 2 at Winged Foot, he hit a drive that actually got wedged between a pair of trees. That sent him back in a cart back to the tee box to try again. He’d end up with a double-bogey on the hole.
But he also hit an incredible putt in which he aimed way right and watched it go downhill left into the hole on No. 5.
The Jordan Spieth Experience was in full effect on Thursday.
