Jordan Spieth has not hit a competitive golf shot in more than 50 days, dating back to the FedEx Cup St. Jude Championship. So, what did the three-time major champion, in Japan this week for the PGA Tour’s Baycurrent Classic, do during his hiatus?
Interesting, it didn’t involve much golf.
“I took close to four weeks off, spent some time in Montana,” Spieth said on Tuesday. “Came back home and started back up.”
Spieth’s results to this point in the 2026 PGA Tour season have been uncharacteristically consistent, without any scintillating finishes, wins or drama. Basically, everything the former Masters, U.S. Open and Open Championship winner is beloved for. Spieth made 19 of 22 cuts, with a best finish (twice) of T-11, including at Bay Hill, as well as multiple T-12s that included the Masters.
“I was playing some really good golf to finish the season, and I felt like I just ran out of weeks,” said Spieth, eliminated from the post-season after Memphis thanks to being outside the top 50 on the FedEx Cup points list. “I was pretty excited for this offseason.”
But it’s what Spieth didn’t do after his season ended that should set tongues wagging among his legion of fans. The father-of-three did not change or work on his swing and, after wrist surgery in 2024 and a shoulder injury in 2025, did not need any time off to heal physically.
“Two years ago I was rehabbing a surgery and then last year I needed to spend a lot of time working on kind of restructuring things,” Spieth said when asked why he was returning to the Baycurrent Classic (formerly Zozo Championship) for the first time since 2019.
“Fortunately, not much [technique] work. I haven’t had to try to do a whole lot changing in the swing.”
In the Dallas area, the World No. 60 has simply been playing countless rounds, trying to shoot lower scores and work on his once-sublime short game and putting.
“Spending a lot of time putting, getting my speed control better,” Spieth said. “A lot of chipping and putting and bunker work in the last few weeks. I’ve been trying to play a lot of golf and trying to work on my scoring by getting out there and playing a bunch and seeing how many rounds I can shoot really low scores at home. That typically transfers very well.”
It’s more than four years since Spieth’s last PGA Tour victory, the 2022 RBC Heritage, and even longer since his third major title at the 2017 Open at Royal Birkdale. He also didn’t sniff a genuine chance to contend and win on the PGA Tour this year, in part leaving him from qualifying for the PGA Tour’s signature series events in 2027. But the 33-year-old is buoyed by swinging the club well, and pain free, predicting a second career wind in the making.
“I think that I had a lot better season than the results showed,” Spieth said. “I’m really excited about what the next bunch of years can produce going forward. I feel as healthy and strong as ever. I don’t feel like I have restrictions like I did for a couple years. I feel that my mechanics are more sound than they’ve been for a while.
“It’s just about giving myself more opportunities to get comfortable at or near the lead again. I like the position I’m in. I feel that I can stay the course, and it’s close. I’ve been in a lot of different positions in my career, and this is a very exciting one.”
Spieth and local hero Hideki Matsuyama are among the high-profile names at Yokohama Country Club. A surprisingly sharp field for this late in the fall also includes World No. 5 Wyndham Clark, No. 10 and defending champion Xander Schauffele, Collin Morikawa, Justin Thomas, Adam Scott, Min Woo Lee and Keegan Bradley.
“I knew it was a great event and I came here to try to win the golf tournament,” Spieth said, “but also coming out of it I’ll know a lot on what I want to do over the next couple months to get ready for what I think is going to be a really good season next season.”
This article was originally published on golfdigest.com
