Welcome to Monday’s Leaderboard, where we bring you the top stories from a great golfing weekend. Grab your Arnold Palmer, pull up a chair and help us solve the mystery of golf…
1. What happened to Jordan Spieth?
On Saturday at the John Deere Classic in Illinois, golfers saw something very rare for a split second: Jordan Spieth atop the leaderboard. He had eight birdies through 12 holes at TPC Deere Run and looked destined to finish with a 59. But then he faltered with a bogey and finished 13 strokes behind eventual winner Davis Thompson.
Spieth’s slump has gone largely unnoticed as the golf world has long focused on Rory McIlroy’s inability to win another major, but it’s been a full seven years since his stunning third major victory at Royal Birkdale. Since then, he’s finished in the top 10 seven times in 27 majors, a decent run but far from what you’d expect from a former world number one.
The numbers aren’t pretty. Spieth’s tie for 26th was his best result in a three-month span that included missing the cut at the Masters and finishing inside the 40th at the PGA Championship and the U.S. Open. He was ineffective in last year’s Ryder Cup, going 0-2-2 in four matches. His putting, once the hallmark of his game, is now average, and his iron play is actively losing strokes. He’s fallen out of the top 30 in the Official World Golf Ranking and the top 50 in the FedEx Cup rankings, putting his chances of playing next year’s signature events in jeopardy. Sure, he’s shaping the future of golf as a member of the PGA Tour’s Player Advisory Committee, but no one plays golf to be on the committee.
What went wrong? The answer is up to you. Maybe it was the pressure of trying to match his record when he won three majors in the mid-2010s. Maybe it was the challenge of trying to keep up with the incredible talent and younger challengers now playing in golf. Maybe it was just the fact that golf is an incredibly tough sport, and Tiger Woods was the exception to the rule, meaning very few players can stay at the top for more than a few seasons.
If there’s any consolation for Spieth and his fans, it’s that Spieth’s career has tended to be up and down. The “What happened to Jordan Spieth” headlines have been around for years, but he’s bounced back from adversity and obscurity time and time again. It may be too late to salvage 2024, but the offseason could be a chance to figure out what went wrong and chart a path forward. He’s done it before.
2. Another first win on the PGA Tour
Kick a door enough times and it’s going to break eventually. Thompson has two runner-up finishes in his last six starts, and it all worked out for him at John Deere this week. No PGA Tour victory is “easy,” but winning by four strokes makes the last few holes a little less stressful. Fun fact: Thompson is a three-time John Deere champion who stays in a rental house near the tournament called the Trophy House. JT Poston and Sepp Straka both stayed in the house the last two years and won titles there. Next year, the rental fee for the house is expected to quadruple. Thompson is the ninth first-time TOUR winner this season and the 24th player to win his debut event at the John Deere Classic, more than any tournament on the PGA TOUR. And he’s not the only young player to have success this weekend…
3. Amateur Luke Clanton’s historic run
Luke Clanton is a junior at Florida State University who has accomplished something not seen since the 1950s on the PGA Tour. With a tie for second at the John Deere and a tie for 10th at the Rocket Mortgage Classic last week, Clanton became the first amateur in more than half a century to record consecutive top-10 finishes on tour. (The last person to do this was Billy Joe Patton, who did it in the 1957 U.S. Open and the 1958 Masters, a pretty remarkable little feat in itself.) He is currently ranked third in the world amateur rankings, the highest among NCAA players. One of the players who finished runner-up alongside him is Michael Thorbjornsen, who turned pro last month. The youth movement is accelerating.
4. Number of players competing in the British Open
Unlike American courses that must contend with the reality of inclement weather known as “sundowns,” Open courses are playable until at least 10pm in the summer, meaning there’s no problem with the field for this year’s fourth major expanding beyond the usual 156 players. Thompson and co-runner-up CT Pang have secured two spots on the field, but that could grow to 159 depending on the decisions of past winners such as Todd Hamilton. All that remains are three spots for this year’s Scottish Open, which starts this week. Start the coffee brewing; it’s going to be a long day in Troon next week.
5. Tiger Woods and Justin Timberlake take on St. Andrews
A gentleman with a name you may recognize is planning to open a sports bar in historic St. Andrews, Scotland, just steps from the Old Course. Tiger Woods and Justin Timberlake will bring their T-Squared Social concept, including golf simulators and not-too-pricey handcrafted cocktails, to St. Andrews’ old theater. The duo won approval after convincing locals they’d preserve the atmosphere of the original theater. Patrons will be able to play on simulated versions of over 100 courses around the world, presumably including the nearby Old Course itself. No need to sleep outside all night to secure a tee time.
Mulligan: Golf is a Cruel Game, Part MCCXXXIV
Although 59 in professional golf isn’t what it once was, it’s still a record to cherish, so the last thing you want to do is sabotage your chances when you’re approaching 59. Unfortunately, that’s exactly what Ben Griffin did on Sunday. He stood on the 17th tee with 10 birdies in hand, two more that would have put him at 59. But unfortunately, his tee shot went the other way.
Ouch. Still, Griffin finished with a 62, not a bad afternoon of practice, and a chance to shoot 59 at next week’s British Open.
Swing hard this week and roll hard, friends, and we’ll see you back here next Monday!
