Jordan Spieth’s rocky relationship with TPC Sawgrass is testing his patience

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. — Jordan Spieth has a complicated relationship with TPC Sawgrass. Many professional golfers do. But Spieth’s first appearance netted him a T-4, his best finish at the Players Championship. It’s a mark he has been chasing since, but his impatience has gotten the better of him.

Pete Dye’s masterpiece on Florida’s First Coast has aggravated numerous players throughout the years. It’s a fickle test of golf, with the line between excellence and disaster hardly noticeable. It’s a place that sometimes good shots aren’t rewarded and bad breaks are bound to happen. And those who get impatient will be punished.

Enter Spieth. The three-time major champion has gone nearly four years without a win, but in recent weeks he has found his best form since offseason wrist surgery ahead of the 2025 season and has shown flashes of the Spieth of old. That was never more apparent than Friday, when Spieth had perhaps his best stretch of golf in years, only for TPC Sawgrass steal all of his joy on the final hole for the second straight day.

“Things are really good, and I need to have even more patience here than I do other places,” Spieth said, “It’s just, 13 times in a row I continue to just — something gets me here, and I just don’t quite have the patience for it.”

Spieth, 32, sits at 3 under heading to the weekend at the 2026 Players, but even he knows that score should be much closer to the lead. After Friday’s morning wave, he trailed solo leader Xander Schauffele by seven strokes. If not for two doubles to end each of Spieth’s first two rounds, he would be only three back.

“It was just a bummer, both days finishing with doubles. I just played better than that,” Spieth said. “Some days you wonder if you shot one stroke worse but you finished with a birdie if you would actually be happier.

“It’s a weird deal. Weird game.”

Jordan Spieth of the United States prepares to play a shot on the ninth hole during the second round of THE PLAYERS Championship 2026 at THE PLAYERS Stadium course at TPC Sawgrass on March 13, 2026 in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida.

Spieth’s relationship with golf has been complicated for years. He hasn’t won since the 2022 RBC Heritage, a span that’s nearing four years. This May, he heads to the PGA Championship with his 10th chance to clinch the career Grand Slam, having won the other three majors between 2015-17. But the thrilling Spieth who captivated millions of fans and became a Tour darling has struggled with swing issues, a wrist injury and other battles eating at a player who still has flashes of excellence.

Look no further than Friday. Spieth’s round began with a bogey on the par-4 10th, but he quickly bounced back with a birdie on the ensuing par 5. He made four straight pars and then, on one of the most exciting three-hole stretches in golf, rattled off three straight birdies that came in a variety of ways.

Spieth nearly hit the green in two on the par-5 16th and comfortably two-putted for birdie. Then he hit it to 6 feet on the island green and poured in the putt, which marked the first birdie of the day at No. 17, and the crowd could sense something special brewing. Not even five minutes later, he pointed fore right on the 18th tee, avoiding the water that swallowed his golf ball less than 24 hours prior, but his ball smacked a tree and careened back into the fairway. Spieth capitalized, hitting another approach shot to 6 feet and walking it in.

“Rickie [Fowler] asked if I called bank and I didn’t,” Spieth said, “It wasn’t just coming back into play, it also went forward. It was a phenomenal bounce.”

By the time Spieth completed his march to the first tee to begin his second nine, a large crowd had started following he, Fowler and Sahith Theegala, one of the first round co-leaders. On the first, Spieth’s approach shot was perhaps his best, landing about 7 feet past the pin and spinning back to 3 feet.

Four straight birdies.

On the par-5 second hole, he pulled his tee shot into the left trees not far off the tee box, but another fortunate bounce saw his ball end up in the first cut between the tees and fairway. He hit two iron shots and ended up 49 feet from the hole, just off the green.

It never left the center of the cup. The putt dropped, and TPC Sawgrass was finally getting Spieth’s best shot. Spieth was “Spiething,” and the fans were bringing the energy.

“I hit a lot of really good shots in that stretch,” Spieth said. “Made a couple bad swings today, and all in all, you just hope you get away with the bad swings, which I did on that one but I didn’t on the other couple I made.”

If the fans were loud when his putt dropped on the second, they were certifiably insane when his approach shot landed inside 5 feet on the third. He seemed destined for six straight birdies, but looking at the hole as he made his stroke, he saw the ball stay left and just miss. The momentum wasn’t depleted, however, as he added a sixth birdie in seven holes on the fourth and was just three back of the lead.

Jordan Spieth of the United States plays his shot from the 15th tee during the second round of THE PLAYERS Championship 2026 at THE PLAYERS Stadium course at TPC Sawgrass on March 13, 2026 in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida.

He made an incredible par save on the sixth, pouring in a 26 footer after his tee shot embedded in a mogul left of the fairway and his second shot came up well short of the green after punching through the trees.

But then came his final hole of the day, the par-5 ninth. A day before, he made a routine par. But Friday had other plans. Spieth pulled his tee shot left into the pine straw and his ball came to rest near a tree that prevented him from taking a full swing. After an abbreviated punch shot back into the fairway, Spieth hit a 3-hybrid left of the green and also ended up behind a tree. He hit a provisional, thinking the ball went out of bounds because he hit it so far left.

It took two more shots to end up on the green, but he couldn’t make the putt, ending another round with a double bogey.

“I toed a drive on 18 yesterday and then on one of the easiest holes I made a 7 today, and it’s just a bit of a bummer to finish that way,” Spieth said. “They don’t tell the story of how I’m really playing; those were just two swings that I just needed to miss on the other side.”

Spieth’s performance at TPC Sawgrass on Friday was vintage Spieth: The young, fearless kid who dominated the PGA Tour and captured three majors and double-digit wins in the blink of an eye. Then there were moments of the grizzled, scar-laden veteran who has struggled to recreate the magic he so often experienced in the early days of his career. In recent weeks, there has been a lot more of the former, though there remain too many instances of the latter for Spieth to plot his way to victory again.

For those who got to experience the roller-coaster ride that is Jordan Spieth on Friday at the Players, they were taken back in time to the days when Spieth was world No. 1. This is only Spieth’s fifth made cut at TPC Sawgrass since his T-4 debut in 2014. His best finish in that span is T-19. His mantra this weekend? Attack mode.

“I’m doing everything well,” Spieth said. “The stats aren’t necessarily showing exactly how solid things are. The last two or three tournaments, just feels like things are getting better and better each week.”

And on Friday, Spieth was doing everything well. That is, until TPC Sawgrass got the best of him yet again.

This article originally appeared on Golfweek: Players 2026: TPC Sawgrass continues to test Jordan Spieth’s patience

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