PEBBLE BEACH, Calif. – When it comes to Jordan Spieth at Pebble Beach, it can be easy to forget that some things ARE matter of life and death.
Like, for example, the oddest thought of his high-octane professional career, which arrived at the rock above the 8th hole at Pebble Beach in 2022.
“Let’s not shift our weight forward or we could die,” Spieth said with a laugh. recalling the rock scene of ’22 on Thursday. “That’s probably the weirdest (wobbling thought) I’ve ever had.”
Thankfully, the 2026 visit to the Monterey Peninsula has proven at least slightly less death-defying. The three-time major champion finished Thursday’s opening round at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am at 6 under, good for T11 in a loaded Signature Event field, the strongest showing of his 2026 season to date. As is tradition, Spieth’s opening round was littered with at least one LESS adrenaline – he dropped his approach shot on the 18th hole (his ninth of the day) for a 2 eagle.
But as it turns out, the hole was far from the biggest thrill Spieth faced in the early stages of action from Pebble Beach. In fact, it paled in comparison to the … unusual swing obstacle he was forced to tackle ahead of the tournament: Himself.
“I kind of went into a bad mental state on Friday,” Spieth said, referring to the second-round 75 that ended his week at the WM Phoenix Open prematurely with a missed cut. “I was swinging it good and decided to tell myself I wasn’t. I just had a bad day.”
Jordan Spieth (-7) is back at Pebble Beach, the site of the strangest thought of his career.
The thought, as he told me on Thursday?
“Let’s not shift our weight forward or
we may die.” pic.twitter.com/FiOnNSWerw— James Colgan (@jamescolgan26) February 12, 2026
If you’re shuddering as you read those words, you’re not alone. The golf world has looked hard for signs of a comeback from Spieth in recent years as golf’s one-time golden child has aged to a disappointing peak. Spieth, currently ranked 89th in the world, has dealt with injuries and mental setbacks in the nine years since his last major win at the 2017 Open Championship. He has tried reset after reset during that time — most recently undergoing surgery to correct a wrist tendon problem that had plagued him for years the last one off season – with little progress.
But there were signs of life. Spieth’s wrist took a while, but now he says it’s fully healed, giving him a range of motion and, critically, pain-free golf for the first time in a long time. His move is returning to the sentiment that helped usher in one of the most exciting three years of golf in recent memory.
Under these cautions, Friday’s hiccup at the WM Phoenix Open is concerning, but not disqualifying.
“Things are better than they look out there,” Spieth said. “It was just a weird deal. I came here, played a fun round with my brother on Sunday morning at Pebble. I hit a few balls on Saturday when we got in. But I played Pebble and Cypress on the same day, Sunday. I just had a fun day. I played a loop, we didn’t play it all. Then just once it hit on Monday, it was just prepare for a normal week and just throw it away.”
Spieth did a good job of clearing the slate Thursday at Spyglass Hill — recording four birdies, the aforementioned eagle and no bogeys. The dullness on his scorecard came thanks to a quality showing around the green, with Spieth finishing a perfect seven-for-seven.
Thursday’s performance wasn’t enough to completely erase the bad taste from last Friday — but it it Was enough to water it. There’s a bit of reverse psychology at play there: Spieth has historically played well in Phoenix before faltering — maybe now, post-MC, he can flip the script.
“I mean, it was just an off day and a week that’s usually a really good day for me,” Spieth said. “The last five (or) six years Phoenix has been a big springboard for me, and I thought, ‘let’s forget about that and use this as our pseudo-Phoenix and try to get a phone.'”
Again, it’s not like Spieth is a stranger to these kinds of prevarications. He is perhaps the most compelling golfer in the world, and his swings between brilliance and disaster are a big part of the reason. The dark moments seem… LOT dark. But they never seem to stick around.
“I just thought I had a weird day,” Spieth said. “I woke up on the wrong side of the bed last Friday.”
That’s, after all, the beautiful part of living and dying with Jordan Spieth: He can look over the edge of the cliff — but he won’t stay there.
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