Spieth seeks rebound in form for Colonial title defence
(Reuters) - Defending champion and Dallas native Jordan Spieth will try to shake off a rare bout of poor form when he competes at this week’s Dean & DeLuca Invitational where he will be the hometown favourite for the last leg of the PGA Tour’s ‘Texas Swing.’
The American world number seven has missed the cut in three of his last five starts but will fancy his chances in Fort Worth, playing a tree-lined par-70 Colonial Country Club layout that he is comfortable on.
After a one-week experiment using a putter he struggled with while missing the cut last week in Irving, Spieth is returning to his old Scotty Cameron 009 this week.
“I was having a tough time lining the ball up where I wanted it or getting comfortable with my set up with the (old putter), and that’s why I made a switch to a putter that kind of lined itself up,” said Spieth.
“I just lost a little bit of the feel that I had with the putter I’ve been using for however many years. But what it did was - now I feel a lot more comfortable with my alignment and feel like I got my set up back to where I want it and I have that feel.”
Despite his poor form, Spieth, who will start today’s opening round alongside Americans Zach Johnson and Pat Perez, is among the top contenders in a field featuring U.S. Masters champion Sergio Garcia and Spaniard Jon Rahm.
Garcia has been inconsistent in his two starts since earning his major breakthrough at the Masters last month, while Rahm has been one of the better players on Tour this year with a win and four other top-five finishes.
Among the other contenders are 2013 PGA Championship winner Jason Dufner, who has two runner-up finishes at Colonial and finished equal sixth last year.
Also competing are five-times major champion Phil Mickelson, Billy Horschel, who won last week’s AT&T Byron Nelson in a playoff with Jason Day, and world number 18 Matt Kuchar.