In 2017 Spieth became only the second player to win three majors before turning 24, but he has won nothing sinceLast Thursday afternoon in San Francisco three men were out alone on the range at TPC Harding Park: Jordan Spieth, his caddie, Michael Greller, and his coach, Cameron McCormick. Spieth had finished his opening round of the US PGA Championship three-and-a-half hours earlier. He’d shot 73, three-over, and was eight-off the lead, tied 109th. Now he was sitting cross-legged, his arms draped over his knees, staring into the middle distance like the answers he was looking for were hiding somewhere down there at the far end of the range. Related: Collin Morikawa makes grand plans for further glory after US...
Four-times major winner has failed to win from the final pairing on the last nine occasions. What would Jordan Spieth give for this supposedly woeful situation?Rory McIlroy has encountered this statistical storm before. Only the day – and the year – have changed. In 2014 freaky Fridays were to disrupt the Northern Irishman’s quest for greatness. A series of curiously bad second rounds stood out – until McIlroy corrected the fault sufficiently to win both the Open and US PGA Championships.Sundays – sliding Sundays? – are now cited by McIlroy’s detractors. Of those he has many, to the point where he would be entitled to wonder if the peaceful life as a non-major winner and the world’s 255th ranked player...
Woods has performed brilliantly simply to be competitive again but his shortcomings are obviousThere is a recurring danger of sporting dreams blurring reality. The hype around Tiger Woods was once justified but the reality of recent months applies context often missing in the giddy analysis. Woods has performed brilliantly simply to be competitive again after physical trouble so acute he struggled to sit down for dinner. But there, for now, the story ends.Woods’ latest outing at the Players Championship had him finish seven –almost two shots per round – adrift of the winner Webb Simpson. The 42-year-old tied 55th the previous weekend in Charlotte, 32nd at the Masters and trailed the victorious Rory McIlroy by eight at the conclusion of...
The American battled hard but struggled with his putting, though is still in contention at four under after two roundsPretty as Augusta is, warm as the locals are, sometimes the best one can hope for is to get round it with one’s dignity intact. On Friday that famous southern hospitality did not extend so far as the pin placements, which were merciless. And with the wind swirling and gusting as it was, most of the players were too busy trying to survive 18 holes to worry too much about making many birdies and eagles. That applied even to Jordan Spieth, who is so comfortable around here that the course’s swales and tumps are as familiar to him as the grooves...
The Texan is only 24 and may feel like he has run out of worlds to conquer if he completes the career slam on Sunday by winning the US PGA ChampionshipOne of the most gloriously overblown lines in the history of sports broadcasting was delivered in 1984 by the peerless darts commentator Sid Waddell. Contemplating Eric Bristow’s effortless dominion over his peers, Waddell mused: “When Alexander of Macedon was 33, he cried salt tears because there were no more worlds to conquer. Bristow is only 27.”You have to wonder what ancient historical allusion the much-missed Waddell would have extemporised upon exposure to Jordan Spieth. Come Sunday, there is a fair chance that Jordan the Great will have become only the...