The Masters: Jordan Spieth vindicated for standing by team

Fresh from his Valero Texas Open victory, Jordan Spieth has said that he never considered replacing either his caddie or his coach at the lowest points of his well-documented slump.

Spieth, 27, ended a long winless drought on the PGA Tour with a hard-fought triumph in his home state at the weekend. 

It was the former world No.1’s first victory since the 2017 Open Championship at Royal Birkdale and capped his impressive start to 2021. 

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He will be looking to continue his upward trajectory at this week’s Masters, a tournament he won in 2015. 

Speaking at Augusta National on Monday, the American took some time to reflect on the difficulties he has endured over the past few years and revealed that firing caddie Michael Greller or Cameron McCormick, his long-time coach, was never a consideration.

“For me, it was taking ownership and this is what happened,” said Spieth. “I believe in my team. They have proven themselves to be the best in the world, and how can we all get a little bit better through this and what steps are we going to take forward to be able to feel this momentum together as we start to make progress in the right direction, and then believing that that’s happening.

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“I think I needed to look back and take responsibility. It’s part of the game. Some people on certain levels and some people on others. I mean, it’s not like I lost my tour card. I just wasn’t winning three times a year. 

“It’s all about whatever the expectations of the individual are and what they can manage from the outside.”

Spieth added that his struggles left him “humbled”, particularly when he missed out on the WGC-Workday Championship in February – the first time in his career that he had failed to qualify for the first World Golf Championship of the year.

“It really stung,” he admitted. “When there was a tournament being played that week that I was healthy and could play in and just didn’t have a spot in the tournament, that kind of hit me and it was a driving factor.

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“I think I’ve learned a lot of patience. I probably spent a year of struggling where I was forcing a lot of things and it just made it worse. But it was just kind of hard not to force it because I just wanted to be back to playing good golf. Sometimes less is more.”

This week will be Spieth’s eighth career start in The Masters. On his most recent visit to Augusta National, in November’s COVID-delayed tournament, he finished in a tie for 46th – his worst finish there to date.