Jordan Spieth appears to have left himself with too much work to do if he is going to win the RBC Heritage for the second time in his career, with the Texan eight shots back of the lead going into the final round at Harbour Town.
It has been another week where Jordan Spieth has struggled to put it all together. In two of the rounds he has played, his putting has been well short of its best. Meanwhile, in the round where the putter was behaving, his iron play left a lot to be desired.
Of course, Spieth would have been hoping that this spell of the year would help him rediscover his previous magic. Everyone knows what he has achieved at The Masters over the years, but it must also be noted that his most recent PGA Tour victory did come at the RBC Heritage back in 2022.
Spieth won after a playoff with Patrick Cantlay three years ago. Spieth shot a 66 in the final round to make the playoff with his countryman.
When Jordan Spieth was more upset after one round at the RBC Heritage than he had ever been in his career
But clearly, the 31-year-old felt that the tournament should have been over inside 72 holes.
The three-time major champion made a real error on the 18th hole on Saturday. Spieth was seemingly set to tap in for par from 18 inches away. However, he was too casual and could only watch as the ball horseshoed around the cup and left him tapping in for bogey.
Spieth has dealt with a number of setbacks during his career. But speaking after his victory the following day, he suggested that he has rarely been angrier than he had been 24 hours earlier.
“Yeah, I mentioned it to Michael and to Annie afterwards. I said I knew — riding into the clubhouse to sign my card, I said I knew that that on 18 was going to cost me, and I hoped it did in a way because, if it didn’t, it meant I just played a very average round today. So I hoped I worked my way into contention in spite,” he said.
“I was about as upset after the round yesterday as I’ve ever been in a golf tournament. There’s just no excuse for those kind of brain farts as a professional to myself, but also to Michael, who’s working his butt off, to go out there and do that that could potentially affect the outcome of a tournament. And I’ve done that a number of times on this stretch in the last four weeks.
“So Annie told me last night, you need to take five seconds now — and she never comments on my golf. You need to take five seconds, if you miss a putt, before you hit your tap-in. So I thought about it today. There was a couple times I was just going to rake it, and I was like, no, I’ve got to take five seconds. I’m just glad it didn’t end up affecting it all, to be honest. Just made it a little more exciting at the end.”
The dilemma Jordan Spieth now faces as another top 20 finish looks to be within his grasp
Spieth is one of the most entertaining players on the PGA Tour. There have already been glimpses of that since his return from injury, with Spieth stunning the fans with one recovery shot at the WM Phoenix Open.
And the PGA Tour could really do with him getting back towards the top. Spieth moves the needle with television ratings like few others.
However, he will take a lot of positives from his scoring over the last few weeks. He has a good chance to make it three top 20s in a row, while he has not shot worse than 73 in that time.
There may be concerns amongst some of his fans that Spieth is becoming less spectacular in his performances. But perhaps these are the foundations he needs to put in place if he is ever going to return to something like the level he was at a decade ago.
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