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Mark Schlabach, ESPN Senior Writer
PGA Tour star Jordan Spieth isn’t happy that he’s not playing as well as his longtime friend Scottie Scheffler, but he’s hoping to use the world No. 1 golfer’s success as inspiration.
Spieth, a three-time major championship winner, said he used last week as a reset after a so-so start to the 2024 season. He has three top-10 finishes in 10 starts, but had a disqualification and three missed cuts, including at The Players and Masters, in his past seven.
He is hoping to turn things around, starting at The CJ Cup Bryon Nelson, which tees off Thursday at TPC Craig Ranch in McKinney, Texas.
“I think I kind of wanted to hit the reset button this last week and I took more days off than I usually do,” Spieth told reporters Wednesday. “Got a little burned out trying to find stuff. I wanted to take some time off, clear my mind, and then get back to it.
“… Kind of looking at this as kind of a restart. I haven’t had the year I wanted to have after getting off to a pretty optimistic start in Hawaii. I feel really good about the work I put in since the weekend into the few days this week, so I believe that I’m really close to some great things.”
It would be a good time for Spieth to turn his form around with the Wells Fargo Championship — a signature event — and the PGA Championship — at Valhalla Golf Club in Louisville, Kentucky — coming up next on the schedule.
Spieth needs to win a PGA Championship to complete the career Grand Slam. His last victory in a major came at the 2017 Open Championship at Royal Birkdale Golf Club in Southport, England.
“Sometimes that can be disguised right before it happens,” Spieth said of turning things around. “I’m believing that has been the case and need a couple confidence-building rounds or whatever it may be, and feel like I go on a really nice run. That’s the plan.”
At least Spieth won’t have to deal with Scheffler this week. Scheffler, who has won in four of his past five starts, including The Players and Masters, is taking his second straight week off as he and his wife, Meredith, are waiting for the birth of their first child.
“Like, I am inspired by what he is doing,” Spieth said of Scheffler. “It makes me want to go out and get better … and that’s always been someone that’s older than me. Kind of the first time I felt that way about somebody that’s younger.”
Spieth, 30, is about three years older than Scheffler. They both played golf at the University of Texas and live in Dallas.
“I play a decent amount of rounds with him here in town,” Spieth said. “I’m constantly seeing it and trying to beat him at home, and when he’s playing better than I am, it sucks. I don’t enjoy it when I’m side by side because there were however many years of our life [when] it wasn’t that way.
“It’s flipped and I feel like I’ve got plenty of runway to be able to get it back. It’s inspiring at the same time to try to make that happen. I have nothing in my way of being able to make that happen but my own self. I’ve got enough. I believe in my ceiling, and I believe my ceiling is as high as anybody’s. I have to get each part of my game up toward its ceiling.”