Jordan Spieth shot a final round 62 at the CJ Cup Byron Nelson on Sunday, but he only gained one shot on eventual winner Scottie Scheffler.
Spieth showed glimpses of his former self during the final round at the CJ Cup Byron Nelson, and his return to form is very timely indeed, with major season now upon us.
Meanwhile, Scheffler was sensational yet again, firing a closing 63 to win by a whopping eight shots.
After his final round finished, Spieth admitted that beating Scheffler will be a challenge at the upcoming PGA Championship.
And he’s certainly not wrong there.
Spieth knows Scheffler’s game inside out. The two both live in Dallas and often play alongside one another during practice rounds and games at their home courses.
Jordan Spieth explains what’s changed when he plays practice rounds with Scottie Scheffler
There was a time when Spieth was nearly as dominant in the game as Scheffler is right now.
He won 10 PGA Tour tournaments from 2015 through to 2017 and bagged three majors as well during that period.
Meanwhile, since 2022, Scheffler has won 14 PGA Tour tournaments as well as two Masters titles.
Spieth addressed the media after his final round in McKinney, Texas and opened up on his relationship with Scheffler away from tournaments, and how he wishes he would have been playing alongside him in the last group on Sunday.
He said, “I just always — and three years ago I was there, which is cool. That was probably the best chance I ever had in this event was ’22. I don’t really care who else is there, to be honest.
“Yeah, with Scottie there — I don’t think this counts. I went off two hours ahead of him. Yeah, it would have been really cool if I were the one in that last group, and at least we were going back and forth a little. That would have been pretty fun, just being hometown players.
“We had awesome crowds the first two days. I wish that I would have been able to keep up with him those two rounds. It was nice to maybe shoot a round that will hold — he might even shoot 10 today, so who knows.
“That’s great. It doesn’t matter to me who else is up there. I play a lot of golf with him in town here. I know, if I’m able to clip him when we’re playing at home, then I’m playing really well. That’s just the way it’s been the last few years. It didn’t used to be that way. I used to get him every time.
“It’s inspiring what he’s doing. It makes me want to work harder and be better, especially after watching him for two days and just getting my butt kicked. I didn’t play great golf, but even if I did, it would have been hard to be at 18-under in two rounds. I don’t think I’ve ever done that.
“So just getting your butt kicked right there face to face at this tournament really stinks. So it’s a little icing on the cake, I guess, to finish to backdoor into a top 10 or top 5 or whatever ends up happening.“
Scheffler confirms what his relationship with Spieth is actually like
The PGA Tour duo live very close to one another in Dallas, Texas.
And Scheffler recently opened up on how his friendship with Spieth has blossomed over the years.
He said, “Jordan was three years older than us, and he was obviously really good. I would say Jordan was always a guy we looked up to when we were young. Let’s say when I was 13, 14 playing in team PGA events here, Jordan was here playing in the Byron Nelson. He was a guy we both looked up to and wanted to emulate on the course.
“It’s pretty wild to have three guys from the same area to have the success I think that we’ve had. A lot of that is just the competition. We were always looking at Jordan because he was a little bit older, a little bit better than us. Will and I were always kind of looking at each other because we were both pretty good. He’s a highly competitive guy as well so we were always trying to beat each other.
“We’ve had a great friendship for a number of years now, and golf’s always been a huge part of that. It’s really kind of fun to look back on the journey we’ve been on, and being able to live out our dream and play the PGA Tour is pretty cool.“
Spieth will undoubtedly take inspiration from Scheffler’s dominance at the CJ Cup Byron Nelson this week, or he’ll be extra motivated at the very least.
All eyes are on the PGA Championship at Quail Hollow now in two week’s time.
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