Jordan Spieth's Official Thread

[Gunther]

Jordan better get moving if he wants to hang on to OWGR #1.  After having a fairly comfortable lead the past few months, Day has closed to .30 points.

 

[Wally Fairway]

First tournament of the year this week with the possibility of changing the World #1 ranking.

It will be interesting to see how the draw goes for the pools, and I'm not sure if playing in Austin is an advantage or distraction for Spieth this week.

[boogielicious]

New Spieth ad.

 

[krupa]

Another Spieth ad...

 

[boogielicious]

 

Another Spieth ad...

 

That's a good one!

ESPN does have good ads. Too bad the network as a whole has gone downhill.

[krupa]

 

That's a good one!

ESPN does have good ads. Too bad the network as a whole has gone downhill.

Between interviews and commercials, you have to wonder where he's finding time for golf.

I haven't watched ESPN in years; I cancelled my cable because it was just too easy for me to find something interesting to watch and never turn the TV off.  

[Ric]

See this vid - Colin Montgomerie comments on Bernhard's slow play. Speith is slow too? Seems all are going to get frustrated?

[DeadMan]

Did Jordan get hair plugs? Compare this year:

to last year:

[jbishop15]

14 minutes ago, DeadMan said:

Did Jordan get hair plugs? Compare this year:

to last year:

I think he just grew it out. 

[Mr. Desmond]

Okay, so there is almost universal acclamation that Jordan is deliberate, too much of a team player (possibly), IOW, Jordan Sloth (slow). I like to excuse him because I like the player-caddie talk. And to tell the truth, I do not watch that much golf. I'm usually working while the television is on, or I go to the range on the weekend for the afternoon.

But I watched Friday and I thought it was Sergio from 10 years ago with all the clenching of the club, the backing off, etc. Did not want to admit it, but that Friday round had me exhausted and thinking he was slow but did not want to recognize it. Thursday, Jordan was masterful management of his misses.

But I have noticed that Jordan is out of tune this year -- he has managed his misses wonderfully except for yesterday. He was blocking shots during the week and it looks as if he lost his confidence.

About that chicken wing ... if anyone has an advice...

I wonder if his fidgety mind will eventually do him in, or whether yesterday was the result of 4 days of leading pressure, lack of confidence, IOW, mental fatigue. But that does not excuse his slow play. Maybe aimpoint will save him 45 seconds  Don't know ... just scattershooting here.

Edited April 11, 2016 by Mr. Desmond

[saevel25]

8 minutes ago, Mr. Desmond said:

I like to excuse him because I like the player-caddie talk.

He does plenty of it with out the need to back off every other shot.

9 minutes ago, Mr. Desmond said:

But I have noticed that Jordan is out of tune this year -- he has managed his misses wonderfully except for yesterday. He was blocking shots during the week and it looks as if he lost his confidence.

And Friday, Saturday and Sunday. He didn't shoot under par except for Thursday! That's what happens when you go from 67% GIR to 55% on Thursday and Friday, and 61% on Sunday. 

 

 

[DeadMan]

12 hours ago, jbishop15 said:

I think he just grew it out. 

If you believe that, I have a bridge in Brooklyn to sell you...

21 minutes ago, Mr. Desmond said:

I wonder if his fidgety mind will eventually do him in, or whether yesterday was the result of 4 days of leading pressure, lack of confidence, IOW, mental fatigue. But that does not excuse his slow play. Maybe aimpoint will save him 45 seconds  Don't know ... just scattershooting here.

I sort of wonder about his fidgety mind, too. He's already doing some weird stuff on short putts (looking at the hole instead of the ball), which might be the result of scar tissue. And he's actually not that great of a putter on short putts. He was somehow 114th on the PGA Tour on putts from 4-8 feet last year (173rd!!! this year). What's going to happen next time he's on 12 on a Sunday with a lead? What happens if his medium and long range putting start to fail him?

I think he'll bounce back, personally, but I also wouldn't be all that surprised if this loss haunts him for a while.

[Mr. Desmond]

32 minutes ago, saevel25 said:

He does plenty of it with out the need to back off every other shot.

And Friday, Saturday and Sunday. He didn't shoot under par except for Thursday! That's what happens when you go from 67% GIR to 55% on Thursday and Friday, and 61% on Sunday. 

 

 

Yes, agree. I also mentioned him backing off too much - did not leave it out.

Have many suggested a swing change for that chicken wing? Haven't poured through the thread. He is young, and I think he may need a little more muscle on the bone. When I left for the range when he was on #5, I did not think he'd win for the reasons you mentioned -- lack of GIR. I thought WIllet looked strong. When I heard he was -7 at the turn, I thought he'd meltdown a little but not that much, and conditions were ripe for someone to go low and overtake him.

I do agree that Jordan needs some type of change for driver, long irons -- everyone leaks a little with driver. But the irons tend to save the great ones like Tiger and others. Jordan just looked as if the confidence in his long game was gone.

[DeadMan]

It's hard to say that he needs to change his swing when he basically had bad timing on his misses. Short right hurt him on 10, 11, and 12, but if he does that with other holes, it probably doesn't cost him the same amount. Hell, if he just doesn't have his miss on 12, he wins the tournament. Everyone deals with misses, so I find it hard to say he needs to change his swing to deal with it.

[nevets88]

I wouldn't change his swing. He mentioned he was going to put on a little muscle last year I think. If there's anything I'd have done differently, maybe shorten that Asia trip he took last year. Things happen, no one is immune to the vagaries of life, time will heal his wounds and he'll be back to normal. Kid is only 22, he's got plenty of time to win lots more Majors.

[Rainmaker]

1 minute ago, nevets88 said:

I wouldn't change his swing. He mentioned he was going to put on a little muscle last year I think. If there's anything I'd have done differently, maybe shorten that Asia trip he took last year. Things happen, no one is immune to the vagaries of life, time will heal his wounds and he'll be back to normal.

Couldn't agree more - his swing is obviously good enough to get the job done.  If I were his coach, I'd tell him to focus on the mental game - I never really noticed it before but he looked fidgety and uncomfortable this week at Augusta.  For the rest of this year, I'd probably have him with a mental game coach and reduce full swing practice to what's needed for maintenance. 

[saevel25]

45 minutes ago, Mr. Desmond said:

Have many suggested a swing change for that chicken wing? 

I doubt the chicken wing is an issue. We think of it as a swing fault, but I think in context with his swing it works. Lee Westwood has that chicken wing and is a very good ball striker who struggles a ton with the putter. 

21 minutes ago, nevets88 said:

If there's anything I'd have done differently, maybe shorten that Asia trip he took last year. Things happen, no one is immune to the vagaries of life, time will heal his wounds and he'll be back to normal. Kid is only 22, he's got plenty of time to win lots more Majors.

It was Spieth, Day, or maybe Adam Scott who made the comment they understood why Tiger played a reduced schedule compared to other golfers. It was rare for Tiger to ever play more than 20 tournaments in a year. Spieth played 26 tournaments last year. He's already played 12 tournaments this year. I remember Tiger didn't play many tournaments going into the Masters. 

19 minutes ago, Rainmaker said:

 If I were his coach, I'd tell him to focus on the mental game - I never really noticed it before but he looked fidgety and uncomfortable this week at Augusta. 

That isn't his mental game. His mental game is sharp. He's routinely high on the bounce back birdie stat. He has a high level of concentration and drive on the course. 

I think that was more the wind bothering him than anything. Augusta is a very hard course to play when it's calm out. With all the slope changes. Getting yardages and figuring out landing spots is difficult. Throw in 20-30 mph winds and it's absurdly difficult. Especially with those greens. I just think his meticulous nature came out more today with how the wind was playing a factor. 

I don't remember him being that fidgety last year in the final round with Rose. Maybe that was because he was up by 4 over Rose.  Also, maybe because he was just that comfortable last year with his game versus struggling this year with his long game going into the Masters. 

[nevets88]

 

2 hours ago, saevel25 said:

I doubt the chicken wing is an issue. We think of it as a swing fault, but I think in context with his swing it works. Lee Westwood has that chicken wing and is a very good ball striker who struggles a ton with the putter. 

It was Spieth, Day, or maybe Adam Scott who made the comment they understood why Tiger played a reduced schedule compared to other golfers. It was rare for Tiger to ever play more than 20 tournaments in a year. Spieth played 26 tournaments last year. He's already played 12 tournaments this year. I remember Tiger didn't play many tournaments going into the Masters. 

That isn't his mental game. His mental game is sharp. He's routinely high on the bounce back birdie stat. He has a high level of concentration and drive on the course. 

I think that was more the wind bothering him than anything. Augusta is a very hard course to play when it's calm out. With all the slope changes. Getting yardages and figuring out landing spots is difficult. Throw in 20-30 mph winds and it's absurdly difficult. Especially with those greens. I just think his meticulous nature came out more today with how the wind was playing a factor. 

I don't remember him being that fidgety last year in the final round with Rose. Maybe that was because he was up by 4 over Rose.  Also, maybe because he was just that comfortable last year with his game versus struggling this year with his long game going into the Masters. 

Spieth played the Houston tournament before the Masters as well. And I remember he was interviewing with Charlie Rose and Colbert in NYC around the same time. I'd guess his media and endorsement commitments might take a little bit of a toll as well in terms of energy, traveling so much, you don't know what timezone you're in, internal clock all confused. Well, Texas to East Coast not much of a time adjustment, but Asia/East Coast, West Coast/East Coast is.