It’s easy to think of Jordan Spieth’s 2015 season as his magnum opus because that’s the year he won the first two majors and came as close as anyone since Tiger Woods to holding all four major championship trophies at the same time.
He missed the Open Championship playoff by a stroke at the Old Course, his chances dinged by a questionable decision to keep players on the course in howling winds, and he finished second to Jason Day at the PGA Championship.
That’s a run of 1-1-T4-2 in the majors and Spieth was the game’s newest superstar, chattering his way into our hearts while playing his beautifully imperfect golf.
It was at the Open Championship at Royal Birkdale in 2017, however, that Spieth gave us what may be the defining achievement in his career, winning the Claret Jug with a performance worthy of a stage in London’s West End theatre district.
Two moments – Spieth’s nearly 30-minute process to get a ruling after hitting his tee shot on the 13th hole into a spot no one imagined anyone being and his “Go get that” eagle at the par-5 15th hole – have their place in the deep, rich history of the Open Championship and they still gleam nine years later as the Open arrives again at Royal Birkdale.
Spieth returns this week in a different place, now the 54th-ranked player in the world and without a top-10 finish since the 2025 Memorial Tournament more than a year ago. He hasn’t won a PGA Tour event in more than four years and while he insists his game is falling into place, Spieth is still chasing the week that proves it.
For all of his stream-of-consciousness conversations with caddie Michael Greller, his coach Cameron McCormick or in multiple media sessions, Spieth remains one of the game’s most compelling players.
We don’t have to wonder what Spieth is thinking. He allows us to listen in – and if it all seems like too much at times maybe it is – but stoicism has never been Spieth’s style.
“Michael Jordan and Michael Phelps are the greatest to ever do what they did, and I’m not. But if you believe that you are, then you’re almost as good as being that.”
Jordan Spieth
It’s worth remembering how Spieth did it nine years ago in Southport, England.
Spieth was 15 months removed from his 2016 Masters collapse, when he was trying to win consecutive green jackets. He acknowledged there were questions, including his own, about whether he could close out big events.
When he bogeyed three of his first four holes on Sunday at Royal Birkdale after sleeping on a three-stroke lead, Spieth had his own doubts.
On the seventh tee, Greller pulled his man aside and reminded Spieth that he had just spent time with Michael Jordan and Michael Phelps and he belonged in their rare air.
“Michael Jordan and Michael Phelps are the greatest to ever do what they did, and I’m not,” Spieth said that Sunday evening. “But if you believe that you are, then you’re almost as good as being that.”
When he took seemingly forever sorting through his options after hitting his tee shot on the 13th into an unplayable lie, considering multiple options for his drop, it was perfectly on brand as was the brilliant bogey he saved there while forcing tournament leader Matt Kuchar to wait and wonder.
This year, that same spot will be out of bounds and home to a fan village. It’s doubtful there will be a plaque commemorating Spieth’s saga at the scene.
It was the long eagle putt on the 15th, when Spieth pointed at Greller and told him to “Go get that,” that electrified the day. It was a reaction to something Spieth had seen watching old Open films and it was brilliant theater.
Spieth has said he played his best golf in 2017 despite having more success in 2015. His performance declined for a time but he felt he was nearly back to his old form before a wrist injury that ultimately required surgery set him back.
Jordan Spieth speaks with a rules official on No. 13 at Royal Birkdale in 2017.
CHRIS CONDON, R&A, PGA TOUR VIA GETTY IMAGES
Every swing, big or small, seems to elicit a response from Spieth. It annoys some people and entertains others. He remains a needle mover in a game that doesn’t have that many.
Spieth is two weeks shy of his 33rd birthday, still in what can be considered the prime years of his career. He seems old, however, in golf years because he’s been on the stage and in the conversation for so long.
He may never be the player he was when he was the best in the world but the pursuit continues. There are times when Spieth seems almost paralyzed by his own decision-making process, which runs seemingly counter to the inherent artistry that has defined his game.
For a while now, Spieth, who doesn’t have a top-10 finish in his last 14 major championship starts, has flashed like a summer thunderstorm that stays on the horizon but never arrives.
“I feel like right now I feel like I’m the best I’ve been in 10 years or seven, eight years, whatever it is. It’s not quite showing in results, and I’m certainly still making some mistakes and don’t quite have all the tools, but I know what I need to do, how to do it,” Spieth said recently at the John Deere Classic.
“I’m human. I’d really like the reward. I'd like the results …
“I like being on this trajectory, and I know that I’m on it. The only thing stopping me is myself at this point.”
Perhaps Royal Birkdale is the place where Spieth can go get that again.
Top: Jordan Spieth famously tells caddie Michael Greller, “Go get that,” in the 2017 Open.
STUART FRANKLIN, GETTY IMAgEs
