OK, let me start by answering the above question that — at least not yet anyway — Jordan Spieth is not, in fact, back. But boy was he making it look like 2017 Saturday at the Truist Championship
Spieth, the former World No. 1, three-time major winner and his own walking commentator on the golf course, was stuck in neutral for the first 42 holes of this week’s tournament at even par when he came to the seventh hole.
The current World No. 50 reached the 553-yard par-5 in two and was left with a steeply uphill, 66-foot eagle try to break into red figures again after a bogey on the previous hole.
Spieth gave the ball a rap and sent it on its way to the cup. It climbed up the ridge in the middle of the green, took a subtle break to the left and rattled the flag stick before falling in the cup for an eagle.
The crowd roared for one of the PGA Tour’s favorite stars despite only recording two PGA Tour wins since his last major in 2017. But don’t tell Spieth it’s not 2017 anymore.
In a call back to that most recent Open Championship victory at Royal Birkdale, Spieth calmly looked at caddie Michael Greller, pointed at him and then motioned to the hole. He walked to the 8th tee as Greller retrieved his ball from the hole.
If that sounds familiar, it’s because it is. Spieth famously yelled, “Go get that,” to Greller after draining a 48-foot eagle putt on the par-5 15th to regain the solo lead. That came after a hectic stretch where Spieth made bogey on the 13th after putting his tee shot on the driving range and then stuffed his approach on the 14th to get that shot right back with a birdie.
Why does this all matter now?
Next week will be Spieth’s 10th opportunity to complete the career Grand Slam with a win at the PGA Championship, this year at Aronimink, outside of Philadelphia.
While Spieth hasn’t won since the 2022 RBC Heritage, he has shown signs this season of getting his game back to the form he showed in the mid-2010s when he won three majors in three years. He’s currently 37th in this season’s FedEx Cup rankings and made numerous equipment changes last week, including the first golf ball model switch of his career.
Those changes had him tied for second heading into the weekend before Cam Young ran away with the event.
This week, the driver and ball changes have borne fruit as he ranks third in the field in SG: Off-The-Tee, a category that plagued him earlier in his career.
And the eagle jump-started a round that ended up as a three-under 68, putting him into the top-30 as of this writing.
He still likely won’t factor much on Sunday at Quail Hollow, where the lead was 10 under as he finished his third round, but could all the momentum lead to him putting everything together next week? His elusive Wannamaker trophy feels closer than it should.
As golf fans, we can only hope.
And if anyone had any other thoughts, this year’s Open Championship returns to Birkdale as well.
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