The last time Jordan Spieth was on top of the golf world was nine years ago when he strolled down the 18th fairway at Royal Birkdale with the Claret Jug in hand. That Sunday, Spieth joined Jack Nicklaus as the only player to win three different majors at age 23 or younger. Everything was in front of him.
Things have been different for Spieth since that day at the 2017 Open when he painted his masterpiece. He has won only twice on the PGA Tour since and no majors. No longer golf’s wunderkind, Spieth arrives back at Birkdale changed by time and life.
“Both [on course and off] I’m very different; I’ve changed a lot,” Spieth told GOLF at the PGA Championship at Aronimink when asked about morphing from golf’s young hero to a star trying to find an ember to re-spark the flame.
That day outside Philadelphia, Spieth was adamant his game was in the best place it has been since his prime. Everything hadn’t clicked at the same time, but the game is all there, back at a level close to where he was that day in Southport. Something was just missing. Find it, and perhaps the dominoes would start to fall.
So, of course, when Spieth arrived back at Royal Birkdale, he went back to the place where he last was that Jordan Spieth.
“Walking up the 18th and remembering what it was like to walk up that 18th hole nine years ago, [I putted] to the pins that I putted to [that Sunday],” Spieth told the media on Monday.
There’s something to be said for returning to a place where you achieved your dreams and letting those memories fill your soul, pointing you to the path back. But you can also never be what you once were. Perhaps in that sense it’s perfect that a different Jordan Spieth arrives at a different Royal Birkdale.
When Spieth triumphed in Southport, he famously made an improbable bogey 5 on the 13th hole after he blew his tee shot right, hit a fan in the head and had to take an unplayable, eventually playing his third shot from the driving range. That won’t be an option this week. In the years since his victory, Royal Birkdale has made some changes. The area right of the 13th will be considered out of bounds this week; it’s now a fan village and the OB will start at the cart path right of the dunes.
That’s not the only change at the host of this year’s Open. The par-3 14th, where Spieth hit a brilliant 6-iron to 5 feet to kick off his winning birdie run, is no longer. The hole was removed during the renovation and the par-5 15th, where Spieth made a 50-foot eagle putt and shouted “Go get that!” to caddie Michael Greller, is now the 14th hole and that green has been moved to a more elevated position.
“Obviously, some of those holes coming in have changed,” Spieth said. “That [6-iron at 14] was maybe the best shot and [the eagle at 15 was the] best putt I’ve ever hit. They don’t exist anymore, which is a little unusual. Hope to create some more great memories here.
“In some regard, it’s kind of nice because I’ll never hit a shot that — this last time, it was like a walk-off. I go back and try to do it again and I don’t hit as good of a shot, then it’s not as cool.” Spieth said.
Time only moves forward. Living in the past can be a prison. Trying to get back to who you used to be is a maze with no exit, a poison that only dooms.
Nine years have passed for Jordan Spieth. Nine years that didn’t go how anyone thought they would, most of all him. But Spieth returns to Birkdale not in search of the past but filled with unfettered hope that the future holds something greater.
“I’ll never believe that until I’m at a point in my career where my health or whatever would be that because, I mean, if you give up on reaching your ceiling, then I don’t see a point in playing anymore,” Spieth said. “For me it’s always about I’ll do everything I can to be trying to be at the very best in the world because I know that I can be. I have been. It’s nice to have the blueprint.”
Spieth’s play has been consistently erratic this season. He has made 16 of 18 cuts and has eight top 25s but has zero tops 10s. When the ball striking has been there, the putter has abandoned him. When the flatstick is rolling, a few big numbers have derailed a promising week.
“I feel like I have a lot of great golf in front of me,” Spieth said. “I feel like I’m way more optimistic than I’ve been at a lot of different points in my career. I’m quite frustrated with the results considering I know where my game is at. It’s better than it was four or five years ago when I got back to top 10 in the world. It’s without a doubt better than it was then; it’s just not quite showing up in results.”
Spieth, now 32, knows that there is still much runway ahead of him. Time is of the essence, major championships only come around four times a year and opportunities to further etch your name into history can’t be wasted. But he’s not trying to outrun the fading sun just yet.
He can still be everything he wants to be — everything many thought he could be.
“How old was [Phil Mickelson] when he won his first major?” Spieth asked. The answer is 34.
“There’s plenty of examples where guys have played their best golf from there on,” Spieth said. “Now, I’m always comparing myself a bit to myself at my best, but not to try to be the exact player. Just more so that I know that I can do it. I know my ceiling is where that level was, and so I’m going to strive for it with the type of player that I am now.”
The canvas from Spieth’s Mona Lisa might be gone, but the belief and confidence that allowed him to paint it still remain. All that let’s left is to find what’s missing at the place he last had it.
