Rested Spieth excited to open new PGA season
Three-time major winner Jordan Spieth, hoping to bounce back from a winless season and failure to reach the Tour Championship, confidently launches his 2018-19 US PGA Tour season Thursday.
The 25-year-old American tees off in a fall tour event for the first time at the Shriners for Children Open at TPC Summerlin in Las Vegas, seeking his first title since winning the 2017 British Open crown.
It's not like Spieth hasn't had success at this time of year, winning the 2014 and 2016 Australian Opens and the 2014 Hero World Challenge invitational event hosted by Tiger Woods.
But after failing to reach the minimum number of events last season by missing out on the Tour Championship, finishing 31st in playoff points when only the top 30 advanced, Spieth struck a deal that saw him enter one of the smaller tournaments that open the US PGA Tour's schedule in the autumn.
"I like to try and create an off-season every year given there is no off-season on the PGA Tour other than a bit of December," Spieth said.
"In the past, I've played in November, December, and therefore this was a time of rest and off-season. Now that I'm not going to be playing down there in Australia and whatnot, I still wanted to play this fall.
"So it's actually really nice to get this opportunity. I feel great being here. I feel rested. I feel healthy. The game feels like it's in good shape."
Spieth played seven of nine weeks at the end of the season, culminating with a losing effort on the US squad at the Ryder Cup, although he won three of his five matches.
"I feel like I've got a fresh start to kind of put kind of everything from the last few months behind me and use kind of momentum from the Ryder Cup," Spieth said. "Felt like I really started to play well there under some extreme pressure."