SOUTHPORT, England (AP) 鈥� Jordan Spieth was four days shy of turning 24 when he delivered pure magic in the final hour at Royal Birkdale to win the British Open for the third leg of the Grand Slam. It was among the most astonishing finishes in a major championship.
Perhaps even more astonishing? He has only two PGA Tour victories since. He has played in the final group at a major only once.
What hasn’t changed is his optimism that he can get back to his best golf, now matter how far away that looks for a player who is No. 51 in the world, who has not been to the Tour Championship the past two years, who has not been in the conversation at a major in five years.
鈥淚f you give up on reaching your ceiling, then I don’t see a point in playing anymore,鈥� Spieth said Monday. 鈥淪o for me it’s always about I’ll do everything I can to be trying to be at the very best in the world, because I know that I can be. I have been. It’s nice to have the blueprint.鈥�
The blueprint was nearly a decade ago 鈥� the pursuit of the calendar Grand Slam that ended with a bogey on the 17th hole at St. Andrews in 2015, his British Open title two years later, and playing in the final group at Carnoustie in 2018 as he tried to keep possession of the claret jug.
He feels he is on the right track and keeps getting a bad hand. The analogy he used earlier this year was having a bad shoe at the blackjack table, staying put because as soon as he walks away, fortunes surely will turn.
He’s still at the table.
鈥淚’m quite frustrated with the results considering I know where my game is at,鈥� Spieth said. “It鈥檚 better than it was four or five years ago when I got back to top 10 in the world. It鈥檚 without a doubt better than it was then. It鈥檚 just not quite showing up in results.
鈥淎t the same time, it鈥檚 a stay-the-course mentality,鈥� he said. 鈥淪ometimes you get rewarded right away, like I did back then maybe in a bit of a lucky fashion, and I understand that sometimes it鈥檚 delayed. And that鈥檚 how it feels like it is right now. … So I’m just waiting for that opportunity.鈥�
The return to Royal Birkdale at least allows him to remember how it felt to walk up to the 18th green with victory secure, sitting on the edge of a pot bunker with the claret jug as dozens of photographers captured the image of a 23-year-old often referred to then as 鈥淕olden Child.鈥�
What he can’t relive is the finish. He lost the lead on the 13th hole even though his bogey felt like stealing a shot 鈥� he took a penalty drop from a dune covered in high grass, hit a blind shot from the driving range and limited the damage with a chip-and-putt for bogey, just like always.
Then came the 6-iron he nearly holed on the par-3 14th and the 50-foot eagle putt on the par-5 15th hole 鈥� 鈥淕o get that,鈥� he famously said to caddie Michael Greller 鈥� and two more birdies.
鈥淢aybe the best shot and best putt I’ve ever hit don’t exist anymore,鈥� Spieth said with a smile.
The par-3 14th is gone now. The R&A instead wanted the 15th hole to play as No. 14, and it built a new par-3 15th that measures 241 yards and has yet to get many positive reviews.
鈥淯ndecided,鈥� Rory McIlroy said last week.
鈥淎s is always the case in par 3s, you have to wait until a tournament plays to see how the par 3 plays,鈥� Tommy Fleetwood said on Monday.
Perhaps the biggest change for Spieth are the conditions. It was wet and green and lush in 2017, the wind coming out of the opposite direction. Now it is mostly yellow, brittle and firm, and much of England is coping with a heat wave.
Players were in shorts for the Monday practice round, which followed a 鈥淟ast Chance Qualifier鈥� that Joe Dean of England won with a 68 to secure his spot in the field.
鈥淚t鈥檚 going to play quite different than the last time we were here,鈥� Spieth said. 鈥淲e鈥檝e had an opposite wind, too, the last couple days. … Holes that are close to being drivable become mid- to long irons, and just with the wind switch, the difference into and down are so dramatic over here that picking a strategy is going to be key.鈥�
A change of scenery might not be the worse thing for Spieth. He arrived over the weekend and relived some of those shots in the closing stretch, at least on the holes still there. But at this stage in his career, it’s more about looking forward.
鈥淚’m always comparing myself a bit to myself at my best, but not to try to be the exact player, just more so that I know that I can do it,” Spieth said. 鈥淚 know my ceiling is where that level was, and so I鈥檓 going to strive for it with the type of player that I am now.鈥�
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