Jordan Spieth’s debut brought one “significant improvement,” an important revelation

For Jordan Spieth, the 2025 season was about laying the groundwork for what he hopes will be a long and successful second act of his professional career.

After undergoing wrist surgery following the 2024 season, Spieth was looking long term entering the 2025 season. He wanted to try to make the 2025 Ryder Cup team – a goal he was unable to achieve – but really he wanted to use the 2025 season as a springboard for the rest of his professional career. He needed to stay healthy, fix some bad swing habits that had crept in and lay the foundation for the next version of Jordan Spieth.

That process was slow and non-linear. Spieth finished T4 in his second start at the WM Phoenix Open and then missed the cut at the Genesis Invitational. He earned a T9 at the Cognizant Classic and then finished 59th at the Players. Overall, Spieth had four top 10s in 19 events. He missed only two cuts, but saw his season end after the first leg of the FedEx Cup Playoffs in Memphis. That sent Spieth into the offseason knowing he wouldn’t be exempt from all the year’s Signature Events and would have to play his way into them or rely on sponsor invites he was sure to get.

While Spieth spent 2025 rebuilding his game, two areas in particular let him down: approach to playing and putting. Spieth lost 0.204 strokes on approach per round last season, which ranked him 138th on Tour. He lost 0.006 strokes on the green per round, putting him at 101 on the flatstick. He ranked 157th near the hole on approaches from 175 to 200 yards. He finished 142nd at 150-175, 78th at 125-150 and 154th at 50-125.

In short, Spieth didn’t hit close, and his putter didn’t save his wedge play.

Spieth took five months off after his season ended and headed into the Sony Open at Waialae Country Club this week, looking to get his season off to a good start on a course that suits his game.

After two rounds at the Sony, Spieth’s game feels like it’s in a better place than when he last held it, as he’s collected two shots on approach over the first 36 holes.

“Just my approach game, controlling shots both ways with irons and wedges,” Spieth said Friday after shooting a two-under 68. “My wedge play feels significantly better than even that one – like today on the eighth hole. Landed a foot from the hole and tried to land it a yard past the hole. So I missed my spot by a yard from 121 yards. … Like that shot was much better than the result, and almost all of my shots from 150 inches were to my liking.

“That’s a significant improvement and that’s where a big part of the score comes from.”

Spieth has been trying to work out the kinks in his swing in 2025 to get back to the feeling he had when he was at the top of the golf world. That work continued into the offseason as he focused on getting his hands to do what they were used to doing so he can feel more confident when trying to hit shots he hasn’t been able to make in recent years.

“I’m kind of working on my hand path,” Spieth said. “My hands haven’t been doing what they did for a while when I was at my best, and now they can. It’s a combination of how they carry the club and where they end up in space. It’s one thing to do it on the driving range. It’s another thing to do it when you’re playing. It’s another thing to do it in tournaments.”

“Today was significantly better in that regard than a month ago, and I was able to focus more outward. I think it will only get better from here.”

Admittedly it’s only two rounds. Spieth knows how fickle golf can be, but the early returns from a gravelly offseason have been positive. Now it’s about stacking rounds and tournaments.

Spieth enters the weekend in Waialae at four under and five shots behind a pack of co-leaders that includes Davis Riley and defending champion Nick Taylor. But on a course where you can go low, there’s nothing wrong with going into the weekend five shots back.

But regardless of the outcome of the weekend in Waialae, the 2026 Sony Open is just another building block in Spieth’s process — not of rediscovering what once was, but of creating something new with the tools he now has.

Spieth is now 32 and hasn’t won since the 2022 RBC Heritage. His last major victory came at the 2017 Open at Royal Birkdale. Spieth is a far cry from the player he used to be. It can be frustrating when the magic your hands conjured no longer appears – or at least appears much less often.

Spieth knows he still has a lot of golf ahead of him. And even though he’s changed from the golfer who took over the sport a decade ago, and the game and the competition have evolved, that doesn’t mean what comes next for Jordan Spieth can’t be great too. But clinging to what was is not the way to ensure that the next decade gets its own dose of magic. Spieth knows that what was can never be again. But what comes next can be just as rewarding.

“So I’m trying to enjoy myself more, too,” Spieth said. “It’s been a bit of a grind the last few years, and if I’m not having a good time here, I mean, I know 10 years from now I’m going to wish I had this 10 years back. I definitely wish I could go back 10 years.”

“All in all, if you’re not having fun, what are you doing here? All of that together should really help.”