Jordan Spieth’s win on Sunday at RBC Heritage is symbolic of his entire career. It contains numerous twists and turns – including a weird, lopsided golf cart ride to the first playoff hole – and ultimately ends with a “wait, how did he get the trophy?” like this?” final action. This is largely someone Spieth has been with for the past 9 years, which makes him both a joy to cover and a nightmare to root for but never – I mean neverwhatever the circumstances – not necessary to see.
Spieth’s win was the 13th in a career that was both longer and shorter than expected. It prepares him for a hopeful summer in which he will have two hometown events to take part in, a major effort in the Southern Hills and, grandparent of all, the Reenacted Open Championship at the 150th edition of that event this summer at the Old Course, where he nearly took home his third straight major in 2015.
On what went on Sunday at Harbor Town and what lies ahead for Spieth over the next three months, I jot down a few lingering thoughts about a win that probably shouldn’t have and we should feel like about what it foreshadows this summer .
1. We need to talk about Cameron: It wasn’t Spieth’s coach, Cameron McCormick, but a flat stick. Scotty. It sucked last week – Spieth said he won the tournament without his putter, which is mostly true – but that’s not unusual in 2022. It’s the sixth in eight tournaments. The last time he lost his stroke in that category, and Data Golf shows his 50-round rolling average is almost as bad as ever since he turned pro in 2013.
Data Golf
He ranks worse than an average PGA Tour clip, and none of the detailed data is particularly encouraging. He’s outside the top 100 on the PGA Tour with shots taken from within 10 feet, 10-15 feet, and 15-20 feet. Salvation Chance, if you want to call it that, was his performance from 20-25 feet, in 82nd. Outside of 25 feet, it’s back in 162. Encouragement in all these are his approach putt performance ranked 26th on this year’s Tour, which reminds me of this great quote from Justin Thomas. masters two weeks ago.
“He has the best pitching speed I have ever seen,” said Thomas. “You look at all of his putts, especially all of his mid-range putts, every ball goes in at exactly the same speed. 12 inches through the hole. I don’t think. people realize how hard it is and how good it is to keep doing it every time.”
So the problem for Spieth is not that he doesn’t lag well, but that he doesn’t scored well, when combined with good tackles is often the way to win a PGA Tour event.
2. The shot is going around: After a poor start to the year, Spieth has only had one negative serve in the last seven. Unfortunately for him, it’s the tournament he’s most hungry for and means he’ll fire up the Air Spieth on Friday night to get home early from Augusta for the first time in his career. What’s odd for Spieth right now is that he’s driving it as well as he’s ever had in his career – statistically at least – and making it much worse. Spieth is losing nearly two strokes per game with his putter, and although he may never have become the hitter he was during the halcyon days of the 2015-17 season, he never was. had a full season where he was below the PGA Tour average. That’s why, despite the pre-shot routine creating all kinds of angles, Spieth’s return to the baseline this summer on grass could lead to more controversy than we’ve seen since the start. year 2022.
“I hit the ball really, really well all spring, better than last year, and I didn’t score,” Spieth said on Sunday. “So I’m just, I’ve spent a lot of hours on the putting green this week, and to be honest, if it helps incrementally, that’s just enough. I’ve got a lot of work to do. I’ve been very busy. lots of work to do and that will definitely take away some of the time you spend in other parts of the game, including placing ”
3. He probably shouldn’t have won: This is the weirdest part about Sunday. When he finished in bottom 13 with a handful of groups behind him, it felt like someone had a nice finish and could take some momentum for his next start. that. Then the field started to shine, and suddenly Spieth shook hands with Ryder Cup teammate Patrick Cantlay on the 18th tee and caddy Michael Greller looking for his caddy’s bib. Here’s the benefit of finishing the PGA Tour week after week: you lose some you should have won and win some you should have lost. Spieth has experienced the former in the past but the latter came true on Sunday.
According to Data Golf, Spieth’s 2.91 actual shots won on the course would be won in a typical PGA Tour event about 5% of the time. It’s rare to win a tournament with less than three strokes per round in a week. This could also go the other way. In 2017, Spieth took almost 5 strokes a round at The Northern Trust, which ensures the PGA Tour wins almost 100% of the time (the field is probably closer to a larger championship level, though). . He lost to Dustin Johnson in the playoffs. The most recent good example of this was Phil Mickelson’s performance at the 2016 Open Championship. Lefty hit 6.6 (!!) strokes per round on the court – guaranteeing a prime win rate of 99.9 % of the time – but he lost to Henrik Stenson by three (!).
In a career like Spieth’s (or Mickelson’s), this tends to diminish over time, but it’s fair to say Spieth stole one on Sunday in Harbor Town.
Data Golf
4. Old course: There was a lot of talk on Sunday about how next year’s Masters would fall on Easter, the holiday in which Spieth won two tournaments in a row, and the PGA Championship, where Spieth will enter a tournament. Big career match next month. However, it was the 150th Open championship at the Old Course in St. Andrews that I would like to discuss. This is Spieth’s playground. He’s been decimated at the Opens, including five of the top 20 in his last six starts – with one of those being a near miss at the Old Course in 2015 when he knocked that year down to his 71st hole. third event and missed a play-off by one stroke. Calamity is possible – he missed a short hit on the final hole of his third round last year before falling to Collin Morikawa on Sunday – but Spieth contains more mysticism than most in a game and on a seemingly disproportionate (and inexplicably) reward for it. Without a draw due to bad weather, he will almost certainly be running for the biggest and most important event in the history of 2022.
5. Who is he? I spend a lot of time and energy thinking about this question, but it’s my job to get the answer. Yet after nine years of covering for him, I’m still not sure I know. He’s certainly not the winner at the Tiger Woodsian clip he won in 2015. But just as certainly he’s not the lost boy who couldn’t find the clubface in 2019 and 2020. He can’t give up but also can’t sometimes believe. He defies understanding. Historically great special skill players like Rory McIlroy and Collin Morikawa make all the more sense. When you watch Rory at the helm, you’ll understand his path. When you see Morikawa roll out the approach photos, his future is in the realm of understanding. One thing that Spieth is known for, though sometimes excessively, has become his greatest responsibility. He doesn’t seem to possess any elite skills at the moment, and on top of that, he’s painfully tracked in so many different ways. Nothing added.
Yet he won. There’s a humanity drawn to his game (and his personality) that tantalizes everyone who wants to enter the ring with him. Like a scrawny boxer with nothing but his nose to survive, he was just trying to get through the ring…and all week. And he usually has. Spieth has won nearly 6% of his 226 PGA Tour events on what has been the grandstand of his career. While the past four years have not been as prolific as the first half-decade, hope still glimmers somewhere into the future. Because like many who have struggled before him, he has a game as dangerous for him as it is for the rest of the field. But like the few who have ever done it, his desire to be great is almost unparalleled. One constant in his career is this: we can’t (and probably won’t) ever find him, it matters little because he always seem to be able to visualize it out, usually when people least expect it.
