In 2015 Jordan Spieth set the golfing world alight winning the Masters, U.S Open and securing the FedEx Cup to help him become World No.1. He was just 22 years old at that time and was the second youngest golfer to win at Augusta.
He secured his third Major two years later at the 2017 Open Championship but three years have now passed without any triumph and he’s plummeted down to 56th in the Official World Golf Ranking. This is a worrying sign for any golfer, especially for one that looked destined to break records and become one of the best there’s ever been.
“There are ups and downs in everybody’s career and I think Jordan Spieth has had maybe two or three years now where he has kind of plateaued,” says Paul McGinley. “He won so many Majors in a short period of time but has dipped away from that now. However, he will come back again once that ambition is in place.”
Everybody remembers Spieth’s breakdown at the 2016 Masters when he had a five-shot lead in the final round but suffered one of the biggest collapses in golfing history, allowing Danny Willett to step in and emerge victorious. Rory McIlroy suffered a similar meltdown at Augusta in 2011 but he managed to bounce back by winning the next Major on the calendar at that year’s US Open and is currently the World No.1.
“It’s going to be more difficult for Spieth to come back than Rory because he doesn’t have that star quality that McIlroy has but he makes up for it in other ways,” adds the 2014 winning Ryder Cup captain. “Once that ambition comes back, he will find a way and find a resolution.
“It’s not like all of a sudden you’ve forgotten how to play, but you move away from things that worked in the past and your confidence goes down. He relies more on his confidence to play well because his game is not as dynamic as Dustin Johnson’s, Brooks Koepka’s or Rory’s so it’s going to be tougher for him.”
Still only 26 years old, it will be fascinating to see how Spieth fares over the next few years because he can’t be happy with the level of his game over the last few years.
