It's Been 1,599 Days Since Jordan Spieth's Last PGA Tour Victory. What On Earth Is Going On?
Spieth recently missed the cut by nine at The Open to extend his Major drought to nine full seasons. Will he ever make it back to the top of the game?
It's July 2017, and Jordan Spieth has just completed a remarkable back nine to win The Open Championship and the third leg of the Career Grand Slam.
The Texan now has a Masters Green Jacket, a US Open trophy and a Claret Jug in his cabinet to become the first man since Jack Nicklaus to win three of the four Majors before his 24th birthday.
It was the 23-year-old's 11th PGA Tour title and his sixth top-two finish in a Major, having become the second-youngest World No.1 after Tiger Woods a couple of years earlier.
He was destined to become one of the all-time greats... but nine full years later he has not added to his Major tally. If you had told any golf fan that back in July 2017, they would have laughed at you.
Spieth won his third Major title at the 2017 Open
So, what has happened?
It has been a difficult time for Jordan Spieth on the golf course when you look back at his statistics, with a few telling numbers painting a bleak picture compared with how it once was.
On the face of it, Spieth is now a non-factor in Majors and miles behind the likes of Scottie Scheffler, Rory McIlroy and the rest of the PGA Tour's elite at the top of the game.
From 2013 to 2017 in his peak years, Spieth won 14 times on the PGA Tour in five seasons, including those three Majors. From 2018 to today, in almost nine full seasons, he has won just twice, with his current trophy drought stretching back well over four years and 1,500 days.
When you look at his Major record, it's fairly bleak now, too, compared with the glory days a decade ago. Spieth managed seven top-four finishes in his first 20 Majors, and then four in his next 35.
He only beat four players in the 156-man Open field last week, which took place back at Royal Birkdale, where he last won on the big stage in 2017. His 10-over-par score was nine shy of the total needed to advance to the weekend.
He shot 73-77 to badly miss the cut at Royal Birkdale
But it's not all bad.
He started out 2026 with a promising T12 finish at The Masters, his best Major result in three years, and then posted a solid T18 at the PGA Championship - where he made his tenth unsuccessful attempt at completing the career grand slam.
He is inside the top-85 in all the key Strokes Gained metrics this year on the PGA Tour and has only missed three cuts in 19 tournaments. The problem isn't really his golf, as he is doing just fine and is a solid PGA Tour player, it's more the sky-high standards he set when he burst onto the scene.
Golf fans are desperate to see him back on top of the world, winning Majors. But the current reality is very different and it's a fair question to ask if he he'll ever get back, or even close to, where he once was.
His big MC at Birkdale leaves him 55th in the FedExCup, which is currently well shy of reaching the FedExCup Play-offs finale at East Lake for the third consecutive year. He does have plenty of time to make it to the top 50, though.
The top 50 is crucial on the PGA Tour, as that gets you into the PGA Tour's $20m Signature Events - although Spieth has been receiving plenty of sponsor's invitations into them in recent seasons due to his stature in the game.
He is still one of the biggest names in the sport and attracts huge fan interest and adoration. He is a fantastic ambassador for the game, one of the most entertaining players to watch and he always carries a big crowd.
Will he ever be the same player he once was, though? Prior to the 154th Open he sounded confident, but he was hardly going to answer the question with 'no.'
Spieth sounded confident in his future ahead of the 2026 Open
"I feel like I have a lot of great golf in front of me. I feel like I'm way more optimistic than I've been at a lot of different points in my career," he said.
"I'm quite frustrated with the results considering I know where my game is at. It's better than it was four or five years ago when I got back to top 10 in the world. It's without a doubt better than it was then; it's just not quite showing up in results.
"Knowing me, when the lid pops off the hole, I feel like I can go on a run about as hot as anybody can run. So I'm just waiting for that opportunity."
It's on the greens where he made his name, with his sensational form with the flat stick during his pomp widely considered to have put him among the greatest putters of all time.
But he hasn't managed to keep it up.
He ranked 2nd in Strokes Gained: Putting in 2016 and 2019 on the PGA Tour, but he has been outside of the top 100 three times since and cameras regularly cut to him missing short ones.
He recently three-putted from four-feet during the 2026 Open and, as agonizing it was to watch, there can't have been many fans overly surprised to witness it.
From a steely, world-beating putter a decade ago, he has looked surprisingly vulnerable when wielding his Scotty Cameron in recent times.
His putting is no longer his biggest weapon
And just as his putting falls off, another part of his game rises up. It's a real 'spinning plates' kind of scenario when you dig into his stats.
He has never had a consistent weakness, but he consistently has at least one weakness each year.
When he was 2nd in Putting in 2016, he was 88th in Approach. When he was again 2nd in Putting in 2019, he was 157th tee-to-green, 176th off the tee and 145th in approach.
When he was 6th around the greens in 2021, he was down in 135th off the tee, and when his driving finally came back in 2022, to rank 38th, he was back to 155th in putting.
3 potential reasons behind Spieth's struggles
There are a few keys to the story of Spieth's relative demise.
The first, and most important, has to be injuries. It's a common story you see with professional athletes, and Spieth has had his fair share. Most prominently, he has struggled with his left wrist dating back years, which really began to flare up in 2023.
He finally underwent surgery last August and he only really got back to full trust and strength this spring.
So all of these aforementioned stats and results need to be read while acknowledging Spieth may have actually never been fully healthy during those years.
The injury kept him out of the USA's 2024 Presidents Cup side, and he wasn't really considered for the 2025 Ryder Cup team. He looks set to miss out on the Presidents Cup again this year unless he can turn things around quickly.
He also became a father for the first time in 2021, and then again in 2023 and 2025. Having kids and playing at the top level is very doable, but it certainly isn't easy. From 2021, Spieth's golf career was no longer the most important thing in his life.
It certainly makes a difference, as we've seen with the likes of Justin Thomas and Rickie Fowler, who have both not quite lived up to their peaks since becoming fathers.
The competition on the PGA Tour is arguably tougher than ever
Spieth has also faced immense competition, with the standard of the PGA Tour arguably stronger than ever.
Since he was winning Majors, Scottie Scheffler, Jon Rahm, Collin Morikawa, Cameron Young, Viktor Hovland and many other elite players have emerged as serious contenders. Rory McIlroy has also continued his remarkable longevity at the top of the game.
The numbers certainly don't look good for Spieth and, in truth, we may never see him ruling at the top of the game like we once did. But things change very quickly in sport, and it's highly likely that we'll at least see him winning again on the PGA Tour in the not-too-distant future.
He is clearly an incredibly talented player and his peers note how hard he works, so it is surely only a matter of time before things match up for four tournament rounds again.
If or when he does get that next PGA Tour victory under his belt, which would be his 14th, we could then see him pick up confidence and go on another run. Either way, seeing Spieth back in the winners' circle will be a great day for the game.
He is still only 32 so he has another decade-plus at the top of the game. The Spieth story, as always, is going to be an entertaining one to follow.
What is your take on Jordan Spieth's current form and standing in the sport? I'd be interested to hear your view in the comments section below.
