SPIETH REBOOT
American’s form fell off a cliff but now he’s back in the groove...and his timing could not be better
THERE were days he practised for so long his hands bled and he wondered aloud whether he was working on the right things. Restless nights in which he’d spend the dark hours pacing his Dallas home.
‘This game can take you in lots of different directions,’ conceded Jordan Spieth on Sunday evening, at the end of one of golf’s most curious falls from grace.
With his favourite major now just 48 hours away, the direction he’s heading in is crystal clear once more. Even when he was ranked outside the world’s top 50, he was still fifth favourite to win the Masters. Now, following his Easter rising in San Antonio and a first victory since the 2017 Open at Royal Birkdale, no wonder many believe he will claim his second green jacket and render the comeback complete.
‘If Spieth doesn’t win at Augusta this week, I’ll play a tournament round next year topless,’ was Eddie Pepperell’s colourful Tweeted verdict.
Spieth was dressed in a typically understated polo shirt when he drove down Magnolia Lane at noon yesterday. ‘It’s a lot more fun coming here when you feel like you’re on form,’ said the 27-year-old.
He thought he would be full of emotion after returning to the winner’s circle but was pleasantly surprised when his 12th win felt more like business as usual, given the 1,351 day interruption.
‘I thought it would all hit me but, in the end, it came down to a 12-inch putt to win,’ he smiled. ‘I’m glad in a way, because there was clearly no time to celebrate properly. I need to refocus for the season’s first major, and my favourite tournament in the world.’
Only two players in the last 60 years — Sandy Lyle in 1988 and Phil Mickelson in 2006 — have won the event before the Masters and then claimed the green jacket as well, but Spieth is quietly confident he can become the third.
What delighted him most about his win was that it was achieved while feeling there was plenty more to come. ‘I’ve known for some time that I’ve been working on the right things but I still feel like there’s a long way to go. There’s a next level I’ve been at before in my career and I am still searching for it,’ he said.
There was little hint of what was to come when Spieth turned up at the Phoenix Open in February. He had taken a month off after the worst performance of his Masters career last November and had started back with a missed halfway cut.
The man who had won three majors by 23 — only Tiger Woods ever won that many at a younger age — was in danger of falling out of the world’s top 100 when he stopped the rot with a top-four finish in Arizona. He followed it by coming third at Pebble Beach for his first back-to-back top five finishes in three years.
Failing to make the field for the first WGC event of the season in Florida last month provided further motivation. ‘That really stung me,’ Spieth confessed. ‘It was the first WGC I hadn’t qualified for since I turned pro and it was a real driving factor.’
In San Antonio on Sunday, he found himself with the 54-hole lead for the third time in six starts. ‘I’ve shown in my career that I’m a good closer but it’s not like people think. You can’t just expect everything to work out if you haven’t been there for a while,’ he explained.
‘I’ve always been of the opinion that if you keep putting yourself in contention, the bounces will fall your way and you’ll collect your share of trophies. That’s always been the motto I’ve lived by and, on Sunday, I hit some good shots down the stretch, holed some good putts and the game was a lot of fun again.’
So to the Masters, where he followed a runner-up finish on his debut in 2014 with his first major win the following year, tying the record 72-hole score posted by Woods in 1997. In 2016, he looked sure to hold on to the jacket, until he ran up a quadruple bogey seven at the par-three 12th to let in Danny Willett.
Now he’s back, complete with the running commentary with his caddie Michael Greller. With his confidence high and self-belief restored, how many improbable, ridiculous putts will he hole this time
There’s a next level I’ve been at in my career and I am still searching for it