10 Years of Yordan: Where We’ve Been, Where We’re At, Where We’re Going – Henry Shimp

Let’s start things off with a quick trip down memory lane, shall we? Jordan Spieth bursts onto the professional scene by winning the 2013 John Deere Classic just weeks before his 20th birthday, which earns him his PGA Tour card. The boy has arrived. As the year goes on, Spieth would finish T2 at the Tour Championship and continue to rise in the world golf rankings. As 2013 turns to 2014, Spieth’s ascent continues. A T2 at Augusta serves as a formal announcement of his prowess at all levels and his season ends with a win down under at the Aussie Open and a 10-shot routing of many of the world’s best at the Hero World Challenge. From highly precocious to formally legitimate to a certified PROBLEM. By April of 2015, Spieth was ready to become the guy.

Where We’ve Been:

Spieth’s year end world ranks starting at the end of 2013 through the end of 2022 have been as follows:

2013- 22nd

2014- 9th

2015- 1st

2016- 5th

2017- 2nd

2018- 17th

2019- 44th

2020- 82nd

2021- 14th

2022- 14th

 To date, the man has 13 wins on tour (11 of which coming by the 2017 Open Championship…), 3 majors (all by 2017…), and 10 top 3’s in majors (6 by 2017…). Starting to see where this is going?

Before we get fully into the weeds on where we’re at and where we’re headed, let’s pick up where we left off in April of 2015. My heart needs it.

Spieth comes into Masters week as the favorite and wins in wire-to-wire fashion. 3 shot lead after day 1. 5 shot lead after 36. 4 shot lead after LIV holes. 4 shots by the time he’s wearing a “coat”- TW. He is the youngest to win the Masters other than the feline himself. He ties the 72 hole scoring record. He is the first to reach -19 at any point in the event. And he bests the tournament birdie record by 3. Not too shabby.

Fast forward to the US Open at Chambers Bay and it’s Spieth again. This time in dramatic fashion with the ole 3 wiggle out of DJ on the last from 12 feet, but hey, a win is a win. The man is now officially collecting souls. The rest of 2015 would include 3 other wins, 5 runner ups, the Tour Championship, top 4’s in all 4 majors, and an ascension to the top spot in the official world golf ranking. The summit has been found, and the sky is truly the limit. Plot front, center, and rich as the Saudis.

While 2016 wasn’t Spieth’s best year on tour, it wasn’t too shabby either. 3 more wins, what should have been (RIP) a Masters defense, and plenty of good golf in between, there were no real signs of chinks in the armor just yet. As 2017 commences, Spieth would rattle off 3 more trips to the winner’s circle, 9 top 3’s on the year, another major at the 2017 Open Championship, and would make it all the way back to 2nd in the world. Life *was good.

Now, this is where if you are a fellow member of #teamspiethtilwedie I will toss out a trigger warning. 2018 is where the existence of the plot starts to face questions. A steady grind all year with no wins and few signs of good play. After being 2nd in all around strokes gained in 2017, 2018 would see him slip to 32nd in that category on tour, notably falling all the way to 123rd in strokes gained putting. It started to look dicey, and it was. 2019 would see his strokes gained rank drop to 59th for the year, and in 2020 he would slip 40 additional spots in the ranking. A missed cut at the 2021 Farmers Insurance Open would put Spieth at his lowest world ranking since July of 2013, falling all the way to 92nd in the world. Plot gone. Done. Dusted. Exited stage left. What? Are? We? Doing?

Now, 2021 will go down as an important year for our man as his very next start at the WMPO would see some seriously good form and a T4 finish, followed up by a T3 at Pebble, T4 at Bay Hill, and culminating in a win at the Valero Texas Open, his first since the 2017 Open Championship. More good stuff in 2021 and a rocky 2022 that included a win at the Heritage would see Spieth end the year 14th in the world at the culmination of each of them. Which takes us to where we are today.

Where We’re At:

The age old question that can and should apply to any situation good, bad, or otherwise in life: WHERE WE AT!?!?

Well, let’s start here. Spieth is still currently ranked 14th in the OWGR. The same spot he has ended the last 2 years. So for some reason that seems to be his spot. To be honest, considering the 2023 he has had, I’m surprised he hasn’t dropped. 35th on tour this season in total strokes gained, no wins, and a good handful of solid performances, but nothing crazy. It just feels so different than it once did. Spiethy was a guy that had so many weapons and tools that there was very little worry on the big weeks as to whether he would be there or not. If he didn’t hit it well, he’d figure it out. Now, if he doesn’t stripe it, god knows what we’re going to get. The good golf is in there and we get to see it every so often, but the guy who was once good week in and week out isn’t with us at the moment and I personally struggle to see him coming back. As previously stated, the plot is gone. Long gone.

With all that said, I do have some sobering thoughts on the future of Jordan Spieth and what we can all hope to see from one of the gods of the game. Let’s roll on to the future to explore what at least I am looking forward to.

Where We’re Going:

Spieth is without doubt a “generational player” in my mind. There’s a reason that Tiger is the only other player to have won 2 US Junior Amateurs, win The Masters at age 21, and have reached world number 1 prior to his 22nd birthday. Those are amazing accomplishments that we likely won’t see again for some time (I’ll eat those words) and shouldn’t be muddled by some of his more recent and less inspiring form.

As we have covered before on this platform, Golf has its inevitable peaks and valleys that no one is immune to unfortunately. Spieth has been experiencing a much longer and deeper valley point/period than we would have hoped, but I think it would be unfair for us to assume that his career will for all intents and purposes include just one peak. The guy played incredible golf for 3.5-4 years and now he has been playing less incredible golf for nearly 5.5-6. I just don’t see a world where we don’t get another run from Jordan. Now, is it possible that he played his best golf around the time he became a legal drinker? Yes, in fact it’s highly likely. And that happens. People play their best golf at random times and we should simply appreciate what we got to see when it happened rather than get caught up in the fact that it’s not the form we currently get to enjoy.

A guy who has done some of the things Spieth has and shown that level of dominance contains some things that most all the rest of the competition doesn’t. Simply put, his ceiling is just higher than a large majority of the other guys out there. When he shows up at any event with some of his best stuff or close to it, he’ll get over the line that week. I struggle to see a world in which we aren’t treated to at least one more such week at a major where Spieth has what he needs to be at the top come Sunday and then has the ability to reach into that deep tool bag to figure out how to separate when it matters. Will he ever be a guy who finishes in the top 2 10 times in a season again? God bless America I hope so. But I’m not holding my breath. But to think he won’t show up a few times a year for more than a few more years is equally as unlikely of a thought to me. There’s too much greatness inside that man, and if the concept of delayed gratification means anything, we know that we’re all due a week where we once again get to see it.

Cheers,

HS