GREENSBORO, N.C. – After another dose of weekend struggles, Jordan Spieth is still searching as he heads into what might be the final start of his season.
Spieth was a dew-sweeper last week at the PGA Championship, finishing T-71 and near the bottom of those who made the cut. It was almost an exact repeat this week at the Wyndham Championship, where he made six birdies in the second round to make the cut but then carded just two birdies and an eagle over his final 36 holes. Sunday’s round, a 1-over 71, included just one birdie and left Spieth in a tie for 72nd out of 77 players.
“I feel like I improved off of last week, it’s just not really showing itself right now,” Spieth said. “It’s one of those, like, I wouldn’t be surprised if I’m in the same place next week, and I wouldn’t be surprised having a chance to win. Like, I’m a little uncertain. It feels pretty good. Not great, but good enough to be able to compete.”
Spieth will head to The Northern Trust in need of a big result to extend his season beyond the playoff opener. After starting the week 94th in points, he’s projected to drop to 98th with only the top 70 after next week advancing to the BMW Championship. Spieth has a strong record at TPC Boston, including a runner-up in 2017 and T-4 finish in 2013, and might need a similar result to keep his playoff hopes alive.
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After ranking 74th this week in strokes gained: putting, losing nearly 4 shots to the field, he’s aware that he’ll need to turn things around quickly on the greens.
“The hole’s got to start looking bigger,” Spieth said. “If I make a couple putts early in Thursday’s round next week, that’s normally all it takes to kind of get that confidence back.”
Last year, Spieth suffered a shocking collapse at Sedgefield, going from in contention to the wrong side of the 54-hole cut with a third-round 77. He admitted that “there was so much fear” over shots at this event a year ago and that he was still battling through “a lot of scar tissue” amid a lean season.
There may have been fewer birdies on the card this time around, but Spieth expressed added stability with his long game this week and found reason to be optimistic heading into a crucial start.
“I’ll keep trucking, I’ll keep working hard, and, you know, if it doesn’t go well next week, then I’m actually probably going to be in a good enough place to feel like I can start out really, really strong in the 2021 season,” Spieth said. “I’ll plan on playing a lot of golf (in the fall). We’ll see. Obviously there’s a U.S. Open in there, you’ve got a Masters in November and potentially a lot of really good golf tournaments in the States, which is just easier to travel, easier to commit early to and build a plan for.”