Jordan Spieth failed to match the incredibly high standards he set in 2015 last year in the four Major Championships. His best finish was a tie for second at the Masters at Augusta but after that, he was unable to record another top 10 in the US Open, Open Championship or US PGA Championship.
Spieth has already shown signs this season that his game is in great order for 2017 as he was successful at the very start of the campaign in the Australian Open where he won the tournament for the second time in three years following a three-man play-off with Cameron Smith and Ashley Hall.
“Jordan Spieth & Jake Owen” (CC BY 2.0) by Erik Charlton
The American started the New Year with a tie for third in the SBS Tournament of Champions where he was tipped up as an excellent each-way bet in the Oddschecker preview of the event. The 23-year-old was beaten in Hawaii by Justin Thomas and Hideki Matsuyama who finished first and second respectively. The Texas-born golfer shot the joint-lowest score of the week with a 65 coming in the final round to help him move up the leaderboard on day four.
Spieth also recently recorded another top 10 finish in the Sony Open at the Waialae Golf Course which was won by Thomas for his back-to-back tournament success. Although Spieth didn’t lift the trophy, he will be encouraged by the golf he played at the event. Once again, the former Masters winner finished strongly with a 63 on the final day in Hawaii.
The former world number one will be confident of further success at Augusta in the opening Major of the year in April. He has not finished outside the first two at the event in the last three years. In 2014 he led the field after 54 holes but had to settle for second behind Bubba Watson. Twelve months later he did not let his four-shot lead slip in the final round when he sealed the first Green Jacket of his career as he ended the weekend ahead of Justin Rose and Phil Mickelson.
“Jason Day” (CC BY 2.0) by Hone Morihana
Spieth will have one eye on the world rankings this year as he will be keen to rise back up the standings. The American is currently fifth behind Jason Day, Rory McIlroy, Dustin Johnson and Henrik Stenson respectively. Success in the four Majors will certainly help him rise up the table again and close the gap on world number one Jason Day.