Kaufman, believes Spieth is a very confident man heading into 2026. And Kaufman said that after the three-time major winner finished in a tie for 19th at the Hero World Challenge, otherwise known as dead last in the 20-man field.

“I think he was first or second in strokes-gained/approach [that week],” Kaufman said. “That’s the model he keeps trying to get back to.”

The model is the 2017 version of himself, a year Spieth won three times including the Open Championship. In the eight years since, Spieth has won only twice, a product of both poor play and a handful of injury issues he hopes to leave behind in the new year. Spieth’s last victory on the PGA Tour came in April of 2022 at the RBC Heritage. When he begins the 2026 season, he will have already eclipsed his previous longest winless drought (2017 Open Championship to 2021 Valero Texas Open).

The near decade-long malaise that has had Spieth’s legion of fans in a mental stranglehold may finally be coming to an end, though.

“I think he’s down to that one feel and that one thought,” said Kaufman. “He just doesn’t have the competitive reps yet, like with retraining your mind of like, ‘dude, you don’t need to go do that.’ Like this one swing thought is fine.”

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Last month at the Travelers Championship, Jordan Spieth withdrew just 12 holes into opening round, citing a neck/upper back injury. Considering the fact it was a Signature Event, which comes with a guaranteed paycheck, and the fact Spieth had never withdrawn from a PGA Tour event in 297 career starts, it potentially signalled something serious.

Turns out, it was anything but. “Just a weird neck spasm thing,” Spieth told Kay Adams on the Up and Adams Show on Monday. “It just came up, and I just couldn’t get through the round.”

RELATED: Here’s every player in the field (so far) at Royal Portrush

Still, we haven’t seen Spieth since Thursday at TPC River Highlands, and he’s not in the field at this week’s Genesis Scottish Open, an event he’s played each of the last three seasons. With next week’s British Open looming at Portrush, Adams asked the three-time major champion if he’d be back in action.

“I knew it was going to be short-lived, I’ve been back to full strength getting ready for the Open,” Spieth said. “Then we have our playoffs after that, so a lot of big events left. I have no restrictions.”

Spieth, who won the Open in 2017 at Royal Birkdale, will play in his 12th consecutive Open next week. He’s never missed the cut in his prior 11 appearances and also has a solo second, a T-8 and a T-9 to his name. The last time it was at Portrush in 2019, Spieth tied for 20th.

READ MORE: Tommy Fleetwood’s unfinished business at Royal Portrush

Before pulling out of the Travelers, Spieth had been displaying some signs his game was improving. In 15 starts this season on tour, the 31-year-old has seven finishes of T-18 or better. He has not won on tour since the 2022 RBC Heritage, however.

Spieth added that while he is a full go, he’ll be a late arrival to Northern Ireland. He and his wife Annie are expecting their third child any day now.

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Such was the case during Sunday’s final round at the Memorial Tournament when Spieth nearly hit some fans with his opening tee shot. And then came even closer to hitting more fans with his second shot.

RELATED: Mics pick up (latest) all-time classic convo between Spieth at his caddie

It was classic Spieth—especially since he wound up saving par by draining a 20-footer:

https://twitter.com/Skratch/status/1929238663386292360

Why people would ever stand there when someone—even a three-time major champ—is hitting a golf ball is beyond me. Thankfully, no one got hurt. And Spieth went on to shoot 74 and finish T-7, nine shots behind fellow Texan Scottie Scheffler.

Anyway, on Monday a fan video emerged with an alternate angle. And the POV footage of just how close someone came to taking a Titleist off the dome is downright terrifying. Have a look:

https://twitter.com/Marc_Condon/status/1929550452422554009

Scary stuff right there. Wow. Love the caption as well.

Again, it’s all part of the Jordan Spieth Experience. Just keep your head on a swivel—or better yet, covered by a helmet—when you’re in his gallery.

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After a pair of opening bogeys and a missed fairway on the par-5 fifth, Spieth faced a decision for his second shot. And here’s where things get good, because in came Michael Greller to play the role of caddie and psychologist.

MORE: Golf geeks will love Rickie Fowler’s breakdown of his mud ball

As Spieth and Greller went through their options from the thick rough, Spieth let his disappointment be known with an all-time back and forth between the most entertaining player-caddie duo on tour.

“Let’s just hit it right there,” Greller said, promoting a safer pitch out to the fairway.

“I don’t wanna hit it right there,” Spieth said, resembling a toddler not wanting to eat their vegetables. “Because I’m hitting good shots, and they’re getting absolutely boned so far. So, I can’t accept it.”

We feel you, Jordan. We feel you. Anyway, here’s the clip, which results in Spieth hitting another good shot in just being able to muscle his golf ball back to the fairway.

https://twitter.com/PGATOUR/status/1928108297489379645

So good. And moments later, Spieth had to feel a bit better. After hitting his approach shot to 24 feet, he rolled in the putt for his first birdie of the day at Muirfield Village Golf Club.

Hang in there, Jordan. And Michael.

MORE: Here’s the prize money payout for each golfer at the 2025 Memorial Tournament

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But the now five-time major champ thinks it might be even more difficult for Jordan Spieth to join the Grand Slam club. And Rory’s reasoning makes perfect sense.

RELATED: The ‘so cool’ five-word text Rory got from Tiger after winning the Masters

With all due respect to everyone else, McIlroy and Spieth will be the top two storylines at next week’s PGA Championship. McIlroy will be trying to knock off the next leg of the calendar Grand Slam. And Spieth will be trying to complete the career Grand Slam for a ninth time.

McIlroy needed 11 attempts to become the sixth man to hoist all four pro major trophies in his career so he knows how hard it can be to finish it off. But when asked about Spieth’s chances on Wednesday ahead of this week’s Truist Championship, he explained why it will be particularly challenging for Spieth.

“It’s hard, I think, for Jordan having to do—you have to go back to the same tournament every year for Jordan, but not the same golf course,” McIlroy said. “I think it’s a little bit of a different — it’s a bit of a different proposition for him rather than me having to go back to the same venue every year and trying to, I guess, do that as well.”

Some would point out that it might have been returning to Augusta National—where McIlroy had some scar tissue, in particular from letting the 2011 Masters slip away—that put extra pressure on McIlroy all those years. But at least he knew the course well. And it’s a course that has proven to reward experience through the years.

But Spieth, who made the Masters his first major win back in 2015, doesn’t have that same luxury with the PGA Championship moving from year to year. That being said, this year’s site, Quail Hollow, hosts an annual PGA Tour event and was the site of the 2017 PGA (Spieth finished T-28 that year) so it’s a pretty familiar spot.

Still, McIlroy knows it won’t be like any other major championship start for Spieth.

“You know that you’re not just trying to win another tournament, you’re trying to become part of history, and that has a certain weight to it,” McIlroy continued. “I’ve certainly felt that at Augusta over the years. I’m sure Jordan has felt that a bit going into each PGA that he’s had a chance to do the same thing.”

Also making it difficult for Spieth—at least, this year—is McIlroy’s terrific track record at Quail Hollow. Something Spieth joked about with McIlroy on the range at Philly Cricket Club on Tuesday.

Jordan Spieth congratulated Rory McIlroy on completing the grand slam earlier today on the range and Rory said it would be his turn next week and Jordan then replied with

“yeah, at the Rory McIlroy Country Club” pic.twitter.com/9EJ6hR0RUW

— TRACKING RORY (@TrackingRory) May 6, 2025

What’s a lock is that fans would love to see either in contention next Sunday to do something special.

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That’s more shapes than a high-school geometry test, but Spieth’s artistic scorecard only tell part of the story. On Friday, the human rollercoaster found himself marooned in the pine straw, needing to hack it out lefty to escape. As the wind picked up on Saturday, things got even hairier for Spieth, who arrived at the par-5 16th with five birdies and four bogies to his name. His drive found the middle of the fairway, but it all came unglued moments later when Spieth pulled out his fairway metal and attempted to go for the green in two. His shot splashed well short and right, and Spieth gave in his intrusive thoughts, whipping his club halfway to Tallahassee. Taking it away, king.

Checking in on Jordan. pic.twitter.com/pPrjqq0wnB

— Kyle Porter (@KylePorterNS) March 15, 2025

Spieth would go on to double bogey the hole, and although he managed to find dry land on 17 and 18, par-ing his way home with the help of a round-the-world lip-in on 18, the damage was done. The water ball took Spieth from a respectable one-under to a disappointing one-over, nine shots of back of the pace. That’s likely too much to make up on Sunday, but tune in early anyway, because win, lose or implode, the Master of Disaster is always must-see TV.

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It was Spieth who made a legitimate push, while Fowler faded into a tie for 18th with a Sunday 72. Spieth shot a three-under 68 to tie for ninth, but that did not earn him enough FedEx Cup points to jump into the Aon Swing 5, which would have gotten him a spot at Bay Hill. Instead, he’ll be watching from the couch and resting up for the Players Championship, which will begin a week from Thursday.

“If you had told me 14 under at the beginning of the week, I would have shook your hand and gone home,” Spieth said afterward. “I feel like I’m trending in the right direction. I feel like I played better than I did in Phoenix. Phoenix is a better fit for me, I think, maybe. I just throw out Torrey Pines because I did what I always do there. It’s really not a great judge on where I’m at.

“I really do feel like I’m playing good golf at about 60 percent of the control tee to green that I’m capable of doing and still able to come to a very challenging golf course and hit nice shots and shoot under-par rounds.”

It sounds like the right mindset for Bay Hill, which always presents a unique challenge for the world’s best. The three-time major winner has tied for fourth at Arnie’s place twice since 2020. He will not get to build upon that this week, a product of his poor season last year, mainly due to a wrist injury he elected to have surgery on in the offseason.

As Sam Saunders, Arnold Palmer’s grandson and member of the API’s sponsor exemption committee, put it, the invitations were given to the players who are “getting the ball in the hole the fastest.” Saunders also added that Rafael Campos, who won last year’s Butterfield Bermuda Championship and was given one of the four invites to Bay Hill, helped his case by writing a thoughtful letter.

“There are different levels of effort from each player,” Saunders told Golfweek’s Adam Schupak. “And I will tell you from what I’ve seen, I don’t know that anybody’s written a more thoughtful letter and put more effort into requesting an exemption than Rafa Campos did. He’s genuine, he’s kind. He’s a steward of the game and that’s something that mattered a lot to my grandfather.”

Following his final round Sunday, Spieth appeared to take a veiled shot at the selection process that has left him out of the PGA Tour’s latest signature event.

“I feel really good. The Players, I’ve got to be more patient than I have in other years, and then Tampa will be good. I’m bummed not to be [at Bay Hill] next week,” Spieth said. “It’s been a great, great place for me, and I really wish I was getting that start, but I needed to play better injured golf last year, I guess.”

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The news is particularly shocking when you consider that both Spieth and Fowler already received sponsor exemptions into the last two signature events on the PGA Tour schedule in 2025 – the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am and the Genesis Invitational at Torrey Pines. In the 80-man Pebble Beach field, Fowler and Spieth finished T-53 and T-69, respectively. At the Genesis, which featured a 36-hole cut and a 72-man field, Fowler tied for 39th while Spieth MC’d.

There are, of course, numerous ways to gain entry into the signature events, all of them involving the classic “play better” phrase. Neither Fowler nor Spieth had a very strong 2024, both players finishing outside the top 50 of the FedEx Cup standings at season’s end (the top 50 get into all eight signature events in 2025).

The other three ways to gain entry would be to win this week’s Cognizant Classic, be inside of the top 30 of the Official World Golf Ranking (Spieth is currently 70th, Fowler 95th) or to be inside of the Aon Swing 5, which rewards players currently in good form. The top five FedExCup points earners in the Mexico Open at VidantaWorld and Cognizant Classic will get into the API next week.

As Schupak reports, tournament director Drew Donovan did not name the four sponsor invites or divulge the selection committee’s criteria during a phone interview. However, Sam Saunders, the grandson of Arnold Palmer, confirmed that he is a member of the sponsor exemption committee for the API and also confirmed that Spieth and Fowler, as well as Gary Woodland, would not be receiving invitations.

The more stunning admission, though, was why they would not be.

“What our team did was try to pick players that, you know, it’s about protecting and growing the game of golf as a whole,” Saunders told Golfweek. “And doing what’s the most balanced and fair process. Honestly, I think there was a lot of thought put into each and every player that was selected. At the end of the day, it’s who’s getting the ball in the hole the fastest that are the ones who get the opportunities. You can’t make everybody happy with exemptions. So you try to just do it as fair and balanced as possible.”

Rafael Campos, the 2024 Butterfield Bermuda Championship winner, confirmed that he received and accepted one of the four invitations during a press conference last week at the Mexico Open. Saunders shed some light as to why that was.

“There are different levels of effort from each player,” he said. “And I will tell you from what I’ve seen, I don’t know that anybody’s written a more thoughtful letter and put more effort into requesting an exemption than Rafa Campos did. He’s genuine, he’s kind. He’s a steward of the game and that’s something that mattered a lot to my grandfather.

“One of my granddad’s final quotes was he considered himself to be a steward of the game and a caretaker of the game and I think Rafa Campos falls beautifully into that category. And you know, it’s also providing an opportunity that maybe he wouldn’t get otherwise, and certainly a well deserving player, and someone who embodies the spirit of Arnold Palmer quite well.”

Prior to the API becoming a signature event, Spieth had appeared at Bay Hill only once. Fowler, meanwhile, was an API staple. Barring a victory or a very high finish for him this week at PGA National, Fowler will miss the API for just the third time since 2010.

“Rickie’s one of my friends but it has to be non-biased,” Saunders said. “You try to make sponsor exemptions to be objective and not subjective. And I think that’s what our team did quite well. I think every one of us wants Rickie Fowler to be playing in the tournament, we love him. He’s been one of the best spokespersons on behalf of my grandfather and carrying on that legacy, nobody does it better than Rickie Fowler. Rickie had gotten a couple of opportunities for exemptions in the elevated events already, and that was something that had to be taken into consideration. You want other players to get opportunities. There’s a lot of players on the PGA Tour. And, you know, not everyone may be household names, but it’s about trying to provide the best competition.”

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The term Spiethian has popped up quite often over Jordan Spieth’s career, meaning his propensity for finding a way to make a good score on a given hole even though his ball may have been in some awkward places.

It happened again Sunday during the final round of the WM Phoenix Open.

Coming off wrist surgery and only playing in his second event this year, Spieth was in contention at TPC Scottsdale, behind Thomas Detry.

Par after putting lefty from a bush?!

All @JordanSpieth could do was smile pic.twitter.com/9yiKaT1t4p

— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) February 9, 2025

On the par-4 11th hole, Spieth drove the ball well right, his ball coming to rest at the bottom off a small bush. An unplayable situation didn’t seem appropriate, so he took his putter, stood left-handed and took a swat at the ball, which rolled back into play 34 yards closer to the hole. From 124 yards, Spieth hit a pitching wedge to 13 feet and rolled in the putt for an eventful par. Spiethian.

At the time he was two under on the day and five shots behind Detry.

RELATED: Here’s the prize money payout for each golfer at 2025 WM Phoenix Open

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Jordan Spieth hopped on SiriusXM PGA Tour Radio with Colt Knost and Drew Stoltz and spilled at least a few beans regarding the long-awaited sequel. Spieth confirmed that he will be a part of the movie along with several other current tour pros as well as some of the game’s biggest legends.

Well, if his part doesn’t get cut, that is. Spieth was asked about his acting skills and if he has a speaking role, and here was his response.

“If they use it, yes,” Spieth said. “I was up there with Rickie. When I was up there it was like Lee Trevino, Nicklaus, Freddie, we had Corey Pavin. In our scene next to me was Rickie and Collin and Xander and Keegan. So, I mean, you know, yeah, it was really fun. It was super cool to see. There’s a lot of other guys that were there before and after that have bigger parts. But it was just, it was wildly entertaining. I’m interested to see what comes out of it.”

Those are some big names. And that’s not even counting the “lot of other guys” Spieth mentions. Or John Daly, who also confirmed he was part of filming. Not that we should be surprised considering the original ‘Happy Gilmore’ also serves as a time capsule for the 1990s PGA Tour.

https://twitter.com/SiriusXMPGATOUR/status/1864029226795511962

“I’m not actually sure how much I’m allowed to say to be honest, but it was something that, I mean, I was such a fan,” Spieth continued. “Weren’t we all growing up? Like, people who don’t know golf are like, ‘Oh, have you ever seen Happy Gilmore?’ And it’s like, well, we get the opportunity I’m gonna go try and be in it. And Adam Sandler was like just exactly what everyone says about him. I mean, the nicest guy, the funniest guy, just comes natural to him, and he’s so involved, he’s so appreciative. It was really a cool experience.”

Yeah, probably best to leave it at that, Jordan. As we learned from Christopher McDonald, AKA Shooter McGavin, movie studios take those NDAs pretty seriously.

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