With Masters on his mind, Jordan Spieth seeks to end winless drought again in Valero Texas Open

Jordan Spieth has been down this Texas road before.

A year ago, the Dallas native drove to the Oaks Course at TPC San Antonio for the Valero Texas Open without having won since the 2017 Open Championship, the third of his three major triumphs.

The drive was far from depressing despite going 83 events without winning, for his form was on an encouraging uptick. After dropping to 92^nd in the official world rankings a month into 2021 – his worst rank since 2012 – the former world No. 1 registered five top-15 finishes in six starts ahead of the Valero Texas Open.

The grind – his term to describe the exhaustive hours of work he put into his craft trying to regain his best form – was paying dividends. And he cashed in at TPC San Antonio with rounds of 67-70-67-66 to finish 18 under and two shots clear of the field for his 12^th PGA Tour title.

Spieth was back.

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But he’s been stuck on 12 wins and he’s once again looking to end a victory drought heading into this week’s Valero Texas Open. He’s made 20 starts since winning, with only five top 10s (although he finished runner-up in the 2022 AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, the 2021 Open Championship, and the 2021 Charles Schwab Challenge).

Unlike a year ago, however, Spieth is struggling heading into his title defense. A tie for 26^th in the Genesis Invitational is his best finish in his last four starts.

“I feel like this year I’ve been actually striking the ball better than I was coming in last year throughout 2022, thus far,” Spieth said Tuesday at TPC San Antonio. “I’ve got a little bit to show for it, but not a ton and a lot of that just comes down to knocking putts in. So I’ve just got to get a little sharper on the greens.”

Maybe more than a little. Spieth, who has had to adjust his life away from the golf course since he and his wife, Annie, welcomed their first child, son, Sammy, into the world on November 11, ranks 141^st in Strokes Gained: Putting on the PGA Tour, 90^th in Total Putting, and 105^th in Putting Average.

But he remains patient – as he did while enduring his nearly four-year winless stretch.

“I arrived back here and I don’t think about the first however many times I’ve played this place; last year is really what comes to mind,” Spieth said. “It was just a really cool week because it was just a monkey off the back, less about what I put on myself and more about just having to answer the questions and I just kind of got annoyed with that, because I was playing really well and the difference in finishing third or fourth sometimes is simply a bad wind gust or a couple putts that you did nothing wrong on.

“I overreacted to that in the past and I didn’t last year and I think it led to being successful on Sunday.”

Also in Spieth’s favor is his affection for the windswept Oaks Course.

“The golf course itself is such a challenge,” he said. “You normally have to play it in wind, you normally have to play it in different winds, so you almost play two different golf courses. You’ve got to flight the ball, got to shot-make, got to be really precise with your distance control into these greens. I really enjoy that challenge here. Fairway surfaces, green surfaces are money. I’m sure they’ll be able to speed these greens up as this wind dies down as the week goes on, and it’s in as good of shape as I remember seeing it.”

Spieth loves next week’s course, too – Augusta National Golf Club, home to the Masters. He has often and willingly talked about his fondness for the emerald gem that rolls through the Georgia Pines, how imagination, shot-making, and creativity on the perilous greens bring out the best in him.

He will be making his ninth start next week at Augusta National. In his first start, he tied for second in 2014, then won in record-tying fashion in 2015, then tied for second in 2016. He tied for 11^th in 2017 and finished third in 2018.

Last year, after winning in San Antonio, he tied for third.

Jordan Spieth hits his tee shot on the 12th hole during the second round of The Masters golf tournament. Mandatory Credit: Rob Schumacher-USA TODAY Sports

His career scoring average of 70.32 in 32 rounds is the lowest in the Masters for anyone who has played at least 25 rounds; five-time Masters champion Tiger Woods has a 70.87 average.

His mind will wander to Georgia this week, he’ll hit shots needed for next week. But he certainly won’t neglect the task at hand in the Lone Star State.

“I want a 10‑day stretch of peaking from Thursday through the next Sunday, so I’m trying to save energy,” he said. “I did that a lot last year, too, and I felt like I was primed by Sunday. I’m just trying to do the exact same thing, which is not very different from any other week to week as well.

“I would say maybe a little bit more dialing on a couple shots, thinking about next week, and that could only help for this week.”