A full 10 years have passed since then first we heard the opening songs on Jordan Spieth’s greatest hits album. You remember them fondly, of course. Maybe even willingly. But they are terribly distant now. It’s been so long, maybe you’ve forgotten some of the lyrics.
Spieth’s experience has meant different things in the years since, which has mostly been fun for Spieth’s biggest supporters. It was 2017, when he miraculously won the open championship. It was 2021 when he rebounded and nearly won the Open again, but played as a top-5 player throughout. It was 2023, where he didn’t win, but he fought many times. These moments feel like crests of waves and are very often followed by troughs.
It is the apparent comeback of 2021 that, even after five years, remains worth studying. Spieth rode his putter, his short game and his irons at the time, and in fantastic fashion, all in a defense against his driver, which ranked outside the top 130 on Tour. The driver had become his bugaboo – he hit it long enough, but rarely with enough precision. On TV, everything looked shaky, but that was part of the allure. Spieth made birdie from hell. He turned the problems back on. He would channel his best stuff in individual rounds, making opening 63s in two events in Texas and a 61 Saturday in Phoenix that felt like an announcement of what was to come.
Spieth swept the Valero Texas Open that year and then competed in the Masters a week later. For many, it felt like the good times were back. But they were so, so different. Here and there he battled a wrist injury that never fully went away. It grew into an ugly shape in 2022, felt calm in 2023, but then worsened in 2024, requiring surgery. He was frustrated fighting something that felt out of his control. Fans were disappointed to see him – because he suddenly seemed to have infected everyone others part of the bag other than driving.
It all brings us to 2026 and what is somehow a new version of the same man. And perhaps more frustrating for his fans. This version of Spieth is, believe it or not, the most determined version we’ve seen. Years of volatility have conditioned fans to think that anything could happen whenever Spieth has a short time. But in 2026, it has been surprisingly consistent – the results have narrowed. He has missed just one cut in the last 12 months and every bad weekend has been followed by a solid week just days later.
Get his T52 at the Truist Championship a week before one T18 at the PGA. Or his T63 at the Texas Open, which was followed by a T12 at the Masters.
If we look at these pros as if they were shareswhere good form rises on a chart and poor form falls, Spieth has become the most neutral stock. The one you just have to hold on to because it’s not really going up, it’s not really going down. His worst rounds aren’t as bad as in years past. But even his best rounds are just as great. He has finished exactly T11 or T12 four different times this season, but has scored zero top 10s. He has finished exactly T18 twice.
When you crunch his numbers, you see a lot of good, very little of great. And really nothing bad. Spieth ranks 63rd in driving, 69th in approach, 61st in short game and 42nd in putting. So you make a bunch of cuts, but never really threaten to win. It can become frustrating, then, when a player so constantly only above average is shown so consistently on golf broadcasts. A past version of Spieth would occasionally make all of his TV coverage and featured lineups totally worth it, picking up a win or really competing on the weekend.
We had a chance at that this week, after Spieth shot 62 in Friday’s second round. He started his third round in the third-to-last group, but remained in neutral throughout the day, finishing with a 73 and falling from T7 to T39. The stock’s chart will tell you that it will probably get something into the mid-60s on Sunday, and if it does, it will be just another reminder: this is a stock worth holding…for the long haul. You cannot expect a rapid growth and a sale. It’s both good and not so good right now, but the company promises that this one is different. You’ll just have to put up with the slow pace and trust the CEO.
“I went too far for a long time,” Spieth said after that 62, obviously aware of his ups and downs. “I’ve tried to rebuild it, and then I’d compensate and do what worked.
“This last offseason I didn’t say compensation because, to be consistent, I have to get him back to a certain spot, and since then it’s been work to get there. It’s all about mechanics and health.”
