Jordan Spieth Looks to Rebound From Masters Struggles at RBC Heritage

HILTON HEAD ISLAND, S.C. — What is wrong with Jordan Spieth? It’s not a very easy question to answer. After missed cuts at The Players and Valspar Championship, he was struggling, and through 15 holes at the Texas Open, Spieth found himself 4-over after a double bogey on the par-5 15th. His trip to Texas was his chance to right the ship, and instead it seemed like a sinking ship. With the future looking grim, the 30-year-old Spieth took a little off a brand new 7-iron on the 16th, and for the first time he had a glimmer of hope as the ball found the bottom of the cup—and with a birdie on the 17th, Spieth could breathe a little easier.

The score wasn’t much to write home about, 1-over 73, but the ace set up the rest of the tournament. The three-time major winner would fight his way to a top-10 finish with a closing round 3-under 69 and a better mental picture going into Augusta National. “I feel like I came into the week unsure if I would — if I was confident in being able to win next week and I think I come out of it saying I’ve got a couple things I’ve got to work on, but overall, I think I’m in a good place to be able to have a chance,” Spieth said of his T10 performance in Texas. “Mission accomplished in that sense, but I do wish that I didn’t kind of give away a few that I gave away this week.”

So, you must believe that Spieth had confidence coming out of Texas and that coming to his favorite tournament of the year, the pressure would be off. It was seemingly the best position to be in if you were Spieth, under the radar, but self-assured. In the pre-tournament press conference, Spieth talked about having a good gauge on his game and felt like it is better than the result. Calling his DQ at the Genesis Invitational and the two missed cuts outliers, Spieth felt that the Texas Open settled him down, and while he made a couple random mistakes in general, he felt Texas was a solid week.

The future looked bright Tuesday and became dark an ominous on Thursday as Spieth doubled the first hole and was never at even par again, turning at 2-over 38, and then a roller coaster back nine was highlighted by a 4-over 9 on the par-5 15th that put Spieth in a hole he would never escape—and a 79 on the scorecard, his worst round ever at the Masters.

Thirty-four players spoke that day. Spieth was not one of them.
After his 2-over 74 in Friday’s second round, Spieth literally ran out of the scoring area and disappeared. He had just spent two days at his favorite tournament with nothing to show for it except presumably doubt and a lack of confidence. Spieth came to Hilton Head as defending champion of the RBC Heritage last year, but he lost in a playoff to Matt Fitzpatrick. Still, if there is a place to lick his wounds, it’s Harbour Town, and after making birdies on four of the first five holes Thursday, it seemed Spieth was on his way.

With the old Spieth that may have been true, but the current iteration looks nothing like the old, and three bogeys later, Spieth finished at 1-under, seven shots behind J.T. Poston. Afterward, he quickly walked from the scoring trailer to a cart to whisk him away. Friday’s second round was a better finish, with five birdies after a lone bogey at the opening hole, and while the score of 67 was much better than on Thursday, Spieth finds himself T24 and six shots back from the quartet of Collin Morikawa, Sepp Straka, Tom Hoge and Poston. Spieth again left scoring without discussing the round, so we can only guess on what he is thinking, which must be a significant amount of frustration.

The game of golf at this level will do that to you, and Spieth seemingly is in the middle of such a bout. He has two days to correct what ails him and then regroup for the next run that will include the PGA Championship in mid-May. These two days are not make or break, but they can redirect a poor start to the season, and there is no doubt, Spieth has endured a relatively bumpy year on the golf course thus far.