Jordan Spieth has vowed to learn from his past mistakes by taking a different approach at the Players Championship.
The three-time major champion is competing in the tournament, which began on Thursday, as he ramps up his golfing activity after several months out due to undergoing wrist surgery. Spieth, 31, went under the knife in August to repair ulnar nerve damage in his left wrist and returned to action in January at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am.
The Dallas native will be making his 10th appearance at TPC Sawgrass, with his best finish seeing him place tied-fourth back in 2014. After taking to the green on Thursday, Spieth talked to fellow PGA Tour star Johnson Wagner, who asked him about his preparations for the Players Championship.
The 2015 Masters winner admitted that he’ll be best served approaching the event like one of the four majors and stated that he’s made mistakes at the event in the past that he’s since learned from. “I think for the most part I should approach it like a major and what I mean by that is the approach to the green,” Spieth told NBC Sports.
“Where you stay real patient and take advantage of the par-5’s and when you get a good number on a couple of holes. I’ve gotten a little bit inpatient here over the years and I take a couple chances I shouldn’t take and it bites you. I think in general, being a little bit more patient.”
Spieth’s appearance comes off the back of his omission from the Arnold Palmer Invitational last week, where he was denied a sponsor exemption. While the competitors in the Signature Event are usually the top 50 players in the world rankings, a sponsor exemption is given to four players who fail to qualify automatically.
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As Spieth finished 67th in last year’s FedExCup standings, he was in contention for an exemption but was surprisingly passed over with the available spots being handed to Justin Rose, Rafael Campos, Mackenzie Hughes and Min Woo Lee instead.
Admitting his disdain for finishing outside the sport’s top 50 rankings, the former World No. 1 admitted that he’s playing at a different wavelength to his fellow pros given how long he spent on the sidelines on the back end of 2024.
“I think this year’s schedule is just a little bit up in arms for me as I try to get my feet under me. I also am playing a bit of catch-up. I don’t like finishing outside the top 50 with the new system,” he said prior to the Cognizant Classic.
- Source: NEWHD MEDIA
