Jordan Spieth’s strong start at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am was a sight for sore eyes.
It has been a rough few years for him, and he has not added to his win tally since April 2022. But Thursday’s AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am opening round was a reminder of what he is capable of when things click.
Spieth has talked up his expectations for the 2026 PGA Tour season, but plenty of people have wondered if his best days are behind him.
Even so, he remains one of the most popular figures on tour, and Thursday’s round would have given his supporters something to smile about.
The next step is backing it up with another low score on Friday. If he can do that, the buzz around him will only grow.
In that context, one question remains: is his new swing good enough to compete, and potentially win, on the PGA Tour?
Jordan Spieth speaks out on his golf swing following a difficult mental period
Spieth has spent the last half-year reworking his swing, and there are early signs that the changes are starting to come together.
The 13-time PGA Tour winner looked far more comfortable on Thursday at Pebble Beach than he did in Phoenix the week before.
Spieth was probably eager to put his display at TPC Scottsdale behind him quickly, and his first round at Spyglass Hill was a good step in the right direction.
After a solid six-under round, the 32-year-old spoke about how he is feeling with his swing after months of effort.
Spieth said: “Yeah, I thought I was really good on and around the greens.
“I actually didn’t hit many greens for how kind of well I thought I was swinging the club.
“I feel like it’s solid. It’s in a great spot. It’s just the consistency and the tightness of the face control now so that just comes with playing more tournaments. You know, it’s one thing to – I’ll go do performance practice on the range and just be as good as ever, but bringing it to the course, sidehill lie, wind changes, pins tucked, that kind of stuff.
“I just haven’t played many rounds since August and it really got really good since August with a lot of work.
“So hopefully as I continue to play in more and more rounds here, it just gets better every day. I’m not worried about it getting too far off or anything like that, I’m just trying to tighten it up just a little bit one day at a time.”
The real measure will be when Spieth finds himself in contention again. The pressure moments are where new swings often get exposed.
‘This week might be too soon for that test, but at least there were some positive signs for him to build on as he moves forward.
Jordan Spieth admits to mental struggles
After missing the cut at the WM Phoenix Open last week, Spieth was questioned about any specific areas of his game he had focused on.
“I got in a bad kind of mental place Friday,” he conceded.
“I was swinging it well and I decided to tell myself I wasn’t. I just had a bad day.
“But things are better than what they seem there. That was just kind of a strange deal. I came up here, I played a fun round with my brother on Sunday morning at Pebble. I hit a few balls Saturday when we got in. But I played Pebble and Cypress in the same day, Sunday.
“Just had a fun day. Played a loop, we didn’t play them all. Then just once Monday hit, it was just get prepared for a normal week and just throw it out the window. I mean, it was just an off day and a week that is typically a really good one for me.
“The last five, six years it’s a big springboard for me, Phoenix is, and I thought let’s just forget about it and use this as our pseudo-Phoenix and try to get dialled in with – really on Monday I thought was kind of an important day just given the weather Tuesday and Wednesday.
“So I didn’t – I haven’t played nine through 18 at Pebble since Sunday morning, but the conditions we had Sunday morning were similar to what we have tomorrow. And I’ve played the course obviously plenty of times.
“So get out there and try to go off this momentum. This is more of how I feel I’ve been, I just thought I had a fluke kind of crappy day, woke up on the wrong side of the bed kind of day last Friday.”
Spieth is much happier with his game at Pebble Beach this week than he was in Phoenix last week. His mental strength seems to allow him to view his poor Arizona showing as a one-off.
He will be closely watched over the coming days as he attempts to secure his first victory in almost four years.
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