Spieth's Putting Struggles Continue At Spyglass...

It's way too early for this to be a thing, but Jordan Spieth's early season struggle on the greens in Scottsdale and now at Spyglass is worth watching.

Of note, Spieth's (statistically) struggling on short putts, which, if nothing else should reassure you that even the best putter on the planet can struggle with the flatstick.

From Brentley Romine's Golfweek report on AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am play:

Then there was Jordan Spieth, a week removed from missing the cut at the Phoenix Open, who opened in even-par 72 on Spyglass as his putting struggles continued.

Spieth, who said Wednesday that he was in a “minor slump” on the greens, needed 32 putts to get through his first round. He did miss just three fairways and four greens while only carding one bogey, but he also holed just one birdie putt. He is tied for 98th going into Friday’s second round at Monterey Peninsula.

Comments

[KCW]

I thought it would never happen but finally it has....he’s started missing those mid range putts. If this continues he won’t make many cuts this year.

[Center Cut]

Does this mean he's even slower? Are the tantrums louder? Are 'we' even more at fault?

[Hardy Greaves]

I would start to worry when he goes to the claw grip. Which won’t happen.

One of these days everything will find the bottom of the cup, and all will be right with his world. Probably near Augusta.

[D. maculata]

WWWJS? Again? The answer is nothing. Scoring seems so easy when a high percentage of your chances fall. They'd be well served to listen to the different tact Damron took about fighting driver and the proximity of said chances off missed fairways and greens, even when leading in GIR. It's a percentage thing; the opportunity to claw back a bogie or having to settle for par that kills the scorecard.

[2.5Pac]

He just needs to take more time....

[Bud]

"They" just need to take more time....

[munihack]

9 straight rounds with more than 30 putts. Sergio seemed to go thru this in his 20's too. JS seems to have made a new year's resolution not to look at the cup anymore. So far not so good. Maybe his engagement is off putting...

[Hugo Boss]

Highly unlikely that Jordan Spieth is the best putter on the planet. The odds are staggeringly against that being the case.

[Forced Carry]

Haters gunna hate. Everyone loves to worship JS as the putting god but he's insanely good tee-to-green (2nd in SG in '17, 4th in '15, and 4th so far this year). He could putt at tour average levels this year and fall backwards into two wins.

[Sari]

Forced Carry: +1. You don’t win three majors by age 25 just by being a great putter (although that’s obviously a big part of it). Do people forget the bevy of great shots he hit down the stretch to win the Open last year? Brad Faxon and Steve Stricker are great putters; how many majors did they win?

[meefer]

@Sari, fair point indeed, but you don't win a major unless the putts are falling. I'm not saying his best days are behind him, but two of the best putters I've ever seen, Nicklaus and Woods, also combined the best tee to green games I've ever seen. Speith doesn't compare to them. In a way, he reminds me of Watson. Not the greatest off the tee, but an incredible ability to get the ball somewhere on the green and then rely on uncanny putting. We saw what happened to Watson when his stroke disappeared. While he hit the ball better than ever as he aged, his putting cost him a number of titles he otherwise would have won. Spieth has combined his ability to get it on the green with some wizardry with the short stick. Should that begin to fail him, I suspect he'll have a fewer successes. Regardless, early days.

[Hugo Boss]

meefer, putting is the least important of the four categories.

Winners hit the ball well and have a hot week putting. Hitting greens is still the most important thing on the PGA Tour.

[jimbo]

Maybe all he needed was the set of greens at Monterey Peninsula. -4 through 5.

[JS]

Hugo, putting is least important to whom?

Certainly not someone looking to shoot good scores...

[Mungo Park]

Lol! If Spieth is now all of a sudden a bad putter, what does that make Rory?

[meefer]

@Hugo,

If you take a look at Jordon's overall putting stats and compare them this year to last, feel free to look at his 2015 season as well, you'll see that putting has been the the area of his game which has currently seen the biggest drop off in quality. Again, early days, but he's not putted well this year. Hard to contend when you're not rolling the ball into the cup.

[jimbo]

Rory couldn't care less about the greens at MP. He will NEVER play that course again in his entire life. He's interested in the greens during his rounds at PB this weekend.

[Center Cut]

Poa does for McIlroy again. Wanna know why he never hits the West Coast that often?

[Bjorn Hoogan]

Oh come on west coast Poa in February makes all short putts dicey. Pebble's small greens get all stomped up in with the Pro-Am. I love watching the pros have to deal with the volcano around the cup at this tournament. Breaking putts don't break in. Gotta place your ball on Pebble slopes so you can ram it straight in or it's two-putts. Boo hooo

[Stripe Show]

Rory's game is one dimensional. Does not travel well.

[Hardy Greaves]

Rory should start lagging his 5 footers.

[JS]

there’s something about these strokes gained stats that just doesn’t add up for me.

Perhaps it’s Broadies conclusion that improving ones long (200+) approach play is the surest way to distinguish oneself on tour. This despite the observation that great putting has been the key to every hot streak produced over the last bunch of years.