Spieth eager to start season with ‘realistic’ expectations
Up and down 2016 taught world’s No. 5 ‘a lot on both ends.’
KAPALUA, HAWAII — Three victories around the world. A chance to win another major. A Ryder Cup victory. Jordan Spieth had every reason to celebrate his year.
P a r t o f h i m, h oweve r, couldn’t wait for it to end.
“I was happy when the ball touched down and 2017 started,” Spieth said Wednesday.
He wasn’t the least bit bothered by what he achieved last year, especially a pair of PGA Tour victories that ran his total to eight before he turned 23. He just knew he faced endless comparisons with the year before, and even matching that was going to be close to impossible.
Spieth was coming off the best season in golf over the last 40 years by anyone not named Tiger Woods. His five victories included the Masters and U.S. Open and as close as anyone has come to the modern Grand Slam. He capped it off with a FedEx Cup title and all the big awards.
And it didn’t help when he started the next year with an eight-shot victory in Kapalua.
“Off of this week last year, it didn’t necessarily help my own and anyone else’s expectations, given the performance that we had,” Spieth said. “But I also knew that wasn’t realistic to continue to do. It’s also a 30-something event ... which makes your chances of winning significantly higher, even though it is a world-class field.
“But I l e a r ned a l ot on both ends of things, highs and lows, which I didn’t really have many lows in 2015,” he said. “I think I can use that to my advantage.”
One bad swing on the 12th hole at Augusta National could have changed that. Spieth lost a five-shot lead on the back nine of the Masters and never caught up, and then he never had much of a chance.
But consider his outlook a year ago.
Asked what he would consider a good season, Spieth at first joked, “Last year.” He’s not one to be specific about goals, though he did mention giving himself a serious chance in a couple of majors and closing out individual events. He had a chance in one major. He closed out victories at Kapalua, Colonial and the Australian Open. The Masters was the only tournament he had a chance to close out and let get away.
Not a bad year. Just not like the previous year.
And now, 2015 is far enough in the past that it’s easier to look forward. Another reminder is the world ranking. Even with three victories and a runner-up in a major, Spieth went from No. 1 to No. 5.
“Just have to get it back,” he said.
It starts today on a Plantation Course where Spieth last year became only the second player in PGA Tour history to finish 72 holes in 30-under par or lower.
Tiger returning at Torrey Pines: Tiger Woods is starting the new year at a familiar place — Torrey Pines, where he has won eight times as a pro.
The Farmers Insurance Open announced Wednesday that Woods has committed to playing Jan. 26-29. It will be his first official PGA Tour event since he tied for 10th in the Wyndham Championship in August 2015.
Woods also committed to the Honda Classic, which is near his home in Florida.
Woods missed all of 2016 recovering from two back surgeries, returning last month at the Hero World Challenge. He finished 15th in a 17-man field in the Bahamas.
He won the PGA Tour event at Torrey Pines seven times, and his last major victory was at Torrey Pines in the 2008 U.S. Open. Woods previously announced he would play in the Genesis Open at Riviera, three weeks after Torrey Pines. Still to be determined is how many times he will play before the Masters.