Jordan Spieth’s debut has come with 1 ‘significant improvement’, the main reveal

ABOUT Jordan Spieththe 2025 season was ready laying the groundwork for what he hopes will be a long and successful second act in his professional career.

After wrist surgery following the 2024 season, Spieth took the long view entering the 2025 season. He wanted to try and make the 2025 Ryder Cup team — a goal he fell short of — but really he wanted to use the 2025 season as a springboard for the rest of his professional career. He needed to stay healthy, fix some bad swing habits that had crept in and lay the groundwork for the next version of Jordan Spieth.

This process was slow and non-linear. Spieth finished T4 in his second start at the WM Phoenix Open and then missed the cut at the Genesis Invitational. He took a T9 at the Cognizant Classic and then finished 59th at the Players. Overall, Spieth had four top 10s in 19 events. He missed just two cuts, but saw his season end after the first game of the FedEx Cup Playoffs in Memphis. That sent Spieth into the offseason knowing he wouldn’t be cut from all of the year’s signature events and would have to play his way into or rely on sponsor invitations which he would surely take.

While Spieth was trying to rebuild his game in 2025, two areas in particular let him down – play and put approach. Spieth missed .204 approach shots per round last season, which ranked 138th on Tour. He missed 0.006 shots on the green per round, which put him at 101 with the flat club. He ranked 157th in proximity to the hole on approaches from 175 to 200 yards. He was ranked 142nd out of 150-175, 78th out of 125-150 and 154th out of 50-125.

In short, Spieth wasn’t getting close and his putter wasn’t saving his wedge game.

Spieth took five months off after his season ended and headed into this week’s Sony Open at Waialae Country Club looking to get his season off on the right foot at a course that suits his game.

Through two rounds at Sony, Spieth’s game feels like it’s in a better place than when he last tied it, as he’s taken two approach shots over the first 36 holes.

“Just my approach game, controlling shots on both sides with irons and wedges,” Spieth said Friday after shooting a two-under 68. “My wedge game feels significantly better than even those — like today on the eighth hole. I was landing a foot from the hole and I was trying to land it three feet before the hole. So I missed three feet from 1 to 2. much better than the score, and almost all of my shots from 150 inches have been to my liking.

“That’s a significant improvement and that’s where most of the goals come from.”

Spieth spent 2025 trying to iron out the kinks in his swing to get back to the feeling he had when he was on top of the golf world. That work continued into the offseason as he focused on getting his hands back to doing what they used to so he can be more confident when trying to make shots that he hasn’t been able to make in recent years.

“Working on my own kind of fairway,” Spieth said. “My hands haven’t done what they did when I was at my best for a long time, and now they kind of can. It’s a combination of how you drive the club and where you get in space. It’s one thing to do it in distance. It’s another thing to do it when you’re playing. It’s another thing to do it in tournament play.

“Today was significantly better than a month ago in terms of that, and I was able to be more focused on the outside. I think it’s only going to get better from here.”

It’s true only two rounds. Spieth knows how fickle golf can be, but the early returns from an incredible season have been positive. Now, it’s about racking up rounds and tournaments.

Spieth enters the weekend at Waialae at four minutes under, five shots behind a co-leading group that includes Davis Riley and defending champion Nick Taylor. But on a course where you can go down, being five times behind going into the weekend is just not possible.

But regardless of the weekend’s outcome at Waialae, the 2026 Sony Open is just another building block in Spieth’s process — not to rediscover what he once was, but to make something new with the tools he has now.

Now 32, Spieth has not won since the 2022 RBC Legacy. His last major triumph came at the 2017 Open at Royal Birkdale. Spieth is a long way from the player he used to be. It can be frustrating when the magic your hands used to conjure no longer appears—or at least appears much less often.

Spieth knows he still has a lot of golf ahead of him. And while he has changed from the golfer who took over the sport 10 years ago, and the game and the competition have evolved, that doesn’t mean what comes next for Jordan Spieth can’t also be great. But holding on to what was it is not the way to ensure that the next 10 years will have their dose of magic. Spieth knows that what was can never be again. But what comes next can be just as rewarding.

“So trying to enjoy myself more, too,” Spieth said. “It’s been a grind the last couple of years, and if I’m not having fun here — I mean, I know ten years from now I wish I had this ten years ago. I certainly wish I could go back ten years.

“Generally, if you’re not having fun, what are you doing here? All of this together should really help.”