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Jordan Spieth says one part of his game is ‘significantly better’ this year compared to last year and he knows why

Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images
Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images
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Jordan Spieth has made a return to the Travelers Championship this week, a tournament he won in 2017.

TPC River Highlands plays host to the 2025 Travelers Championship, with the PGA Tour event now underway in Connecticut.

Spieth won via a playoff eight years ago, with the American now back at TPC River Highlands as he seeks a 14th PGA Tour win.

Former world number one Spieth thinks ‘good things are coming’ on the course, having just finished T23 at the US Open.

J.J. Spaun triumphed at Oakmont last week on one-under, with Spieth finishing his tournament on eight-over.

Jordan Spieth hits an iron shot on day one at the US Open
Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images

Jordan Spieth says one part of his game is ‘significantly better’ this year compared to last year

The latter has since shared insight into various areas of his game, having spoken to Golf on CBS ahead of the Travelers Championship.

Asked if picking up more driving speed and becoming a better driver is encouraging or not, with other parts of his game subsequently declining, he said: “No I think it’s encouraging, because if your driver is a weapon the rest of the stuff I know I can be… I’ve had data that suggests that I could be the best in the world at most every other category, so I know I can.

READ MORE: He is the golfer who set a course record at the Travelers Championship and shot the PGA Tour’s first 60 by an amateur

“And once you drive it well consistently then you start yeah putting your attention elsewhere. A lot of it has to do with improved has to do with improved technology. These Titleist drivers are insane now.

“And I would say half of my increase in speed is just off technology, and then the other half is just off obviously building a little bit of strength over the years. But I didn’t try to chase speed, so a lot of it just has to do with confidence.

“When your window goes from here to here [broader to narrower] you start feeling more comfortable about swinging harder. I would call it half and half. I’m not going to take credit for gaining a ton of speed when the technology has been that much better.

Jordan Spieth looks on from the 15th tee during the third round of the Memorial Tournament
Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images

“But yeah it’s one of those… I feel like my wedge game is significantly better this year than it was last year, and I know why, and it’s all structural.

“So once these mechanics get down it brings back some of my off-speed wedges, a lot of these short iron shots that I like to feel that I can specialize in, and kind of the long clubs now have an opportunity to be better than they’ve been before.

“So I think it’s more of an opportunity than an issue, especially given I know why other parts of the game suffered, and I know how to fix them, and it’s just taking a little bit of time.”

Jordan Spieth shares what he’s doing with his putter which is ‘still a work in progress’

Spieth has yet to win on the PGA Tour this season, with his last success in fact coming back at the 2022 RBC Heritage.

But there are undoubtedly positive signs for the three-time major champion, who needs just the PGA Championship trophy to complete the career grand slam.

Phil Mickelson is the only other player who is just one win away from the accomplishment, with Rory McIlroy recently becoming the latest to join the exclusive club at The Masters.

READ MORE: The score Scottie Scheffler shot during nine-hole practice round ahead of the Travelers Championship

All three of Spieth’s titles arrived between 2015 and 2017, when he truly was one of the best players in world golf.

His putting was a particular strength, with the American alluding to that when sharing what he is currently working on on the greens.

“Well this last off-season I started to make a transition into getting my eye line correct, which it never had even when I was statistically the best putter in the world, I always had kind of my head a little little cockeyed,” he said.

YearTournamentScoreMarginRunner(s)-up
2015The Masters−18 (64-66-70-70=270)4 strokesPhil Mickelson,
Justin Rose
2015US Open−5 (68-67-71-69=275)1 strokeDustin Johnson,
Louis Oosthuizen
2017The Open Championship−12 (65-69-65-69=268)3 strokesMatt Kuchar
Jordan Spieth major championship wins

“And I was trying to make a transition to a straight eye line, which to me made everything open up a ton. So there was just big setup adjustments.

“But I had the time in the off-season, and I had four weeks between when I could start putting and when I could start hitting balls post-surgery that I figured, ‘Hey I can nail it in’. And it was pretty good.

“I really just was trying to match posturally and where my grip is located, needed to get my left thumb more on top of the grip.

“There’s just a lot of stuff in set up I had messed around with the last few years, and it was alright, let’s just do one, and let’s get it at least standing and the same distance away, the same kind of postural alignment that I’ve historically done when I’ve putted at my best.

Charles Schwab Challenge 2025 - Final Round
Photo by Sam Hodde/Getty Images

“And then from there at least get to see where the stroke’s at and what needs to be worked on. So it’s still a work in progress.

“I kind of the last few weeks have gone away from the eye line shift that I’ve been doing all year, and just kind of gone to what looks correct to me. And that’s helped some mid-range putting, and then I’m just trying to get better rise on the putter going back.

“I just have some habits of… it’s hand path habits that I’m trying to kind of offset a little bit. But I like having a significant stroke feel, I always have.

SG: PuttingPutting averagePutts per roundOne-putt %
2014-20159th1st1st1st
2015-20162nd1st1st2nd
Jordan Spieth 2014-2016 PGA Tour putting stats rank (PGA Tour website)

“At my best I’ve teetered between heavy cut feel, heavy draw feel. These are things that are… I’m moving the table a degree in path, but to me they feel like 10, but I like it. It’s something to commit to.

“And under pressure I feel like I can almost feel an end range of something and it doesn’t move it much, which is nice. So I’m trying to get back to that stage by fixing a lot of the little things.

“There’s one thing to do it in the off-season, it’s another to do it under pressure at a US Open, and you start to see where things are at and then lean on what needs more work.”