PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. — The walk from the 16th green to the 17th tee at TPC Sawgrass is a five-yard-wide tightrope between danger and love. On one side is the famous man-made lake where thousands of golf balls go to drown. On the other is a steep wall of fans standing on the stadium bowl hill hovering over the golfers passing between two iconic holes.
As Jordan Spieth began the 135-yard long walk, that wall lit up as they waited for him. Shouts of “Jordan!” rang throughout. “Nice chip,” said many more. “Electric factory!” said another.
Because moments earlier, the 31-year-old, three-time major winner found himself in an awkward lie in thick rough with the ball beneath his feet and a speedy green running downhill and away from him. Godspeed. Yet, Spieth perfectly played his chip slowly down the hill and to the edge of the cup, where it spun around in a circle and gently fell in for an eagle. The kicker? This was his second chip-in eagle through seven holes.
Those fans roared when it happened, then quieted down to let his playing partners finish the hole. But as Spieth walked down that tight path, it was as if they rose again to reacknowledge their favorite son. At the risk of being dramatic, it felt like they were welcoming him back.
In reality, the Jordan Spieth experience never went away. No matter the form, mental state or status of his injured wrist, Spieth has always been golf’s great shot of tequila, playing a different sport from his peers inside the finest of margins with psycho scorecards and constant volatility. Thrilling but relatable. It’s who he was at his absolute peak, winning three majors in three years, and it’s who he’s been the past eight years as he tried to get back to that success.
Make that TWO eagle hole-outs for @JordanSpieth! ✌️
📺 @PGATOURLIVE pic.twitter.com/MhtOLJdb9h
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) March 13, 2025
On Thursday in the first round of The Players Championship, we were reunited with the Jordan Spieth experience.
His first nine holes included two chip-in eagles, two birdies, two bogeys, two pars and a double bogey. One sportswriter quipped it was the “Noah’s Ark.” Two of everything. It involved a drive in the water. There were two separate wedge shots left for tap-in birdies. Twice, he put himself in an uncomfortable spot around the green and took three shots to bogey. Plus, the two eagles.
It was the quintessential Spieth nine before a surprisingly steady finish to shoot a 2-under par 70, good enough for T10 when he finished his round.
But this isn’t about what Spieth does. It’s about what happens as it begins to unfold. Every single time. The scorecards get posted online. The memes start churning. The way Spieth plays golf becomes the main character of the golf world, even with a gentle assumption that this might end poorly.
None of this is new.
But to watch Jordan Spieth in 2025 — still in prime golf age but far removed from his peak, figuring it out like the rest of us — is to stop and realize Spieth’s important place in the sport. There are better golfers. There are bigger personalities. There are even golfers with broader popularity and fame. But no golfer is more loved than Spieth.
As various leagues make efforts to sell their stars, as YouTube golf and upstart projects like TGL try to market the biggest talents and personalities, there is no algorithm or blueprint for creating connection. Spieth has a relationship with golf fans that can’t be created through a commercial.
Some of it is the way he plays. Some of it is the trick he pulls on all of us, playing golf at elite levels but with the demeanor and aesthetic of a casual. Some is the way he grew up in front of us, winning the Masters at 21 and going through so many hills and valleys since then.
But some of it is just who he is. He’s known for being kind. For doing the right thing. Nobody is perfect, and putting celebrities and athletes on pedestals is a dangerous, unhealthy game. But he’s also been around long enough with no scandals, no horrible rumors, and only a positive reputation among other pros, so we can reasonably say he is who he presents.
As he wrapped up media obligations following Thursday’s round, he took photos with a family there to meet him and took some time to speak with them.
When he hit his tee shot into the water before double-bogeying No. 14, playing partner Wyndham Clark and his caddie John Ellis thought it might have crossed land much further up, leaving Spieth well within his rights to take his drop closer to the hole. Spieth didn’t see it land and wasn’t sure, so he didn’t feel comfortable. He took his drop just 70 yards from the tee to be safe.
“I can’t feel good about dropping one up there if it’s that close, and I’m leaning toward it’s most likely not,” Spieth said. “If it covered the corner, it was moving, so I could justify that it would have hit the corner and may have saved me a shot. But yeah, it was 60/40th wrong way, so I played it the right way.”
Back in the height of LIV departures and the pandemonium on the PGA Tour in 2022, Max Homa spoke on the “No Laying Up” podcast about the effect of certain golfers staying. Homa, three years older than Spieth, said: “If Jordan Spieth leaves, we all stand on our desks and say, ‘Oh, Captain, My Captain, I’m following you.’ He’s just like the guy. He’s kind of like the North Star.”
Even as Spieth’s form has dipped, he’s remained one of the most popular players on the PGA Tour. (Richard Heathcote / Getty Images)
There is no player whom the greater golf world wants to see succeed more. It’s why the chaotic rounds go viral. It’s why each good round is met with nudges and smiles as if to collectively say, “Maybe he’s back.” We don’t know if Spieth will ever be “back” again.
He’s only 31, so it’s more likely than not that he’ll win plenty more tournaments and stay around for decades. The challenge is getting back to what he was, a world No. 1 who closed in majors and nobody wanted to face on Sundays. It’s been eight years since his last major victory at Royal Birkdale, and outside of a great spring four years ago, he’s been closer to a top 30 golfer than a top 10.
We don’t even know if he’ll contend to return to his sixth U.S. Ryder Cup team. To even be in the conversation, he’ll need many more rounds like Thursday and many more months of proving he can keep it together through 72 holes.
“The problem is I’ve been so far off for so many years that if that’s 10,000 reps, it might take 20,000 to be where I want to be,” Spieth said two weeks ago in Palm Beach. “But I’m already 15,000 in. So hopefully it just continues to get better.”
Whether he’ll put himself in contention this weekend at TPC Sawgrass or whether he’ll ever be that guy again, we don’t know. The one thing we do know is that people will still keep hoping it can happen. They’ll keep watching the Jordan Spieth experience. They’re here for every step of the ride.
(Top photo: Jared C. Tilton / Getty Images)
