Jordan Spieth’s favorite football player is Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen, who was known for a free-wheeling playing style earlier in his career before unlocking his full potential by embracing structure – while maintaining a knack for improvisation when needed.
Spieth, 31, might be following suit in his next act – as he eyes a mid-career renaissance in his return from wrist surgery.
Spieth shares second place into Sunday’s final round at the WM Phoenix Open, riding a streak of 45 consecutive bogey-free holes including a 16-foot par on the final hole Saturday, punctuated with an inspired fist pump to the raucous crowd’s delight.
Spieth has carded rounds of 68-65-67 for a 13-under 200 total at TPC Scottsdale, joining Rasmus Højgaard, Daniel Berger and Michael Kimas the closest pursuers to 54-hole leader Thomas Detry, who carries a five-shot lead into Sunday in the Arizona desert.
Spieth is a 13-time TOUR winner, but he hasn’t tasted victory since the 2022 RBC Heritage. He took five months away from competition to address an ailing left wrist (he had surgery last August), and he finished T69 in a 78-player field at last week’s AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am. He admits that he needs “1,000 to 2,000 more reps” before he returns to full strength. Thus a controlled version of Spieth, long known for his ability to improvise from trouble, didn’t seem likely to appear at the WM Phoenix Open, the second event of his comeback.
But one of Spieth’s enduring traits is his ability to do what is not expected. Cue this week. For the first time since 2017, he introduced a new putter in competition, swapping his trusty Scotty Cameron for a T.P. Mills blade putter.
“Just trying to mess a little with how it sits on the ground, the draft on the bottom of the putter, see if I can get it to where it sets aligning a little better and off the ball is a little bit smoother,” Spieth said Thursday.
After re-aggravating his wrist in a fairway bunker at Spyglass Hill during the first round of the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, he’s feeling healthier by the day and ranks No. 2 this week in Strokes Gained: Approach the Green. TPC Scottsdale places a premium on distance control into the greens – there’s ample room off the tee, but its firm putting surfaces require precision – and Spieth has ably handled the challenge with just one bogey in 54 holes. He’s one of just two players in the field with one or fewer bogeys (Michael Kim is bogey-free).
Does Spieth feel ahead of schedule with his comeback?
“Oh, way ahead,” he said Saturday afternoon. “Bad days are going to happen in this process. Today I felt a little off. I wasn't loading right. I wasn't getting positionally where I was getting yesterday other than maybe three or four swings the whole day. To be able to shoot a score like this where the pins were, and they were a lot harder today, so to be able to do that with not my best stuff makes me feel even better because it takes a little bit of pressure off maybe trying to be perfect and coming back.
“It's a long road ahead. This is certainly ahead of schedule for this week. I've had a good history here, so we'll see how I continue to progress on other courses, but tomorrow I'm … going to have to hit more fairways because I'm going to have to hit it closer to try to catch Thomas.”
Spieth has developed an affinity for the WM Phoenix Open and has thrived amidst the chaos, with three top-six finishes in his previous four starts. He placed T6 a year ago at TPC Scottsdale – then finished no better than T10 for the rest of the season, as his wrist ailments made it challenging to find a rhythm. After finishing T68 at the FedEx St. Jude Championship and failing to advance to the BMW Championship, the FedExCup Playoffs’ second leg, he didn’t make another start until last week’s AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am.
Spieth might not have expected to contend at this stage of his comeback, but he’s channeling the ethos of his favorite football player. Allen has followed Spieth’s journey and spoke highly of the former world No. 1’s resilience in overcoming a nearly four-year winless drought (from the 2017 Open Championship to 2021 Valero Texas Open) by seeking small improvements each day. The feeling is mutual.
“How can you not like watching him play?” Spieth said earlier this week. “How about that lateral this year (against San Francisco, where he was credited with a passing and receiving touchdown on the same play)? It just looks like he's out there playing backyard football with his buddies, and that's how we should try to feel if we can, and he makes it look pretty easy.
“I love the way he talks about his team. I love how he fights. I think he’s obviously an incredible quarterback. But he’s a good dude, too.”
Allen and the Buffalo Bills narrowly fell short of a Super Bowl appearance, falling to the vaunted Kansas City Chiefs in a three-point thriller last month. Spieth has a lofty task Sunday to chase down Detry and climb back into the winner’s circle for the first time since 2022 – but he’s playing with nothing to lose. On Super Bowl Sunday, that’s a good mental place to be.
“I think trying to make up shots through nine holes is big, and then when you turn, everything changes Sunday on the back nine,” Spieth said Saturday. “He's going to have to be in that mindset of chasing a number, and everybody else is going to have to be in a mindset of trying to shoot as low as they can.”