Opinion & Analysis
Jordan Spieth: Should the physically, mentally spent star continue his globetrotting golf?
Jordan Spieth finished tied for fifth at the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship, unable to summon enough on Sunday to chase down Rickie Fowler, who beat him by five strokes.
The result was not poor, by any means, but he was nowhere near as sharp as he was in his world-beating performance at the Hyundai Tournament of Champions two weeks ago, and he seemed to fade as the tournament progressed.
An off week, perhaps. But that’s not how Spieth saw it.
The world No. 1 copped to feeling ”beat up, mentally and physically.” He added: “I’m very tired. I am. I’m not 100 percent right now. It shows in certain places, you know. This week, the first day I was here I was striping it and since then I have been a little weak and my decision-making has been off. But we had a lot of fun times.”
In the past three months, Spieth has played in South Korea, China, Australia, Bahamas, Hawaii and in Abu Dhabi. He’s heading to Singapore next week.
He’ll likely take the following week off and play the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am, which starts Feb. 11, as he did last year.
Can you say “jet lag”?
And it could be argued that last week’s “week off” at home in Dallas probably wasn’t all that restorative, as he had to adjust to the four-hour time difference between Hawaii and Texas.
All of this gets at a question for elite tour talents — those who have no concerns about money or maintaining status and are virtually guaranteed major berths — in general and Jordan Spieth in particular: How do you structure your schedule?
The determining factor is priorities. What’s most important? Winning majors? Winning as many tournaments as possible? Stacking copious amounts of cash?
There are essentially three an elite player can take.
- Load it up! Play as much as you physically can and stack cash.
- Pack the schedule and play around the world in a suboptimal state at the beginning and end of the calendar year, dialing it back in the heart of the season and around majors.
- Minimize play overseas (and forfeit generous appearance fees) in favor of playing just enough to stay sharp and maintain position on the PGA Tour, peaking for the majors.
After his round, Spieth also said, ”It won’t be something I do in the future, to bounce back and forth from Asia as much as we did. Or Australia,” suggesting he means to evaluate his options.
I expect him to tailor things toward option three, a la Tiger Woods through the 2000s.
What do you think?
This past Monday, I played in the U.S. Amateur local qualifier at Rock Creek Country Club in Portland, Oregon. A full tee sheet from 7:30 a.m. to 1:55 p.m., the top 11 scores would make it to the U.S. Amateur final qualifying.
I teed off at 10:48 a.m.. With the 7:30 am tee time, you can get a feel for the leaders’ pace, and they were off and running on the challenging setup at Rock Creek.
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Getting to the highlight of the round on the par five 17th, a drive up the left side and 212 yards left to the front hole location. I took out a 5-iron with plans of middle of the green. The ball ended up 8 feet left of the hole, pin high. A slight downhill putt dropped in for an eagle 3 on the 17th. With the cut line looking to be anywhere from -2 to even par. This was the boost I had been waiting for all day.
With making par from the trees on 18, it was time to wait for a potential playoff with a posted score of one under par 71.
Three hours later, it was playoff time. 8 players for 6 spots. I made par on the playoff hole, which was good enough to advance to the U.S. Amateur final qualifying in July. USGA qualifiers sure deliver on all of the emotions in golf!
Club Junkie
Building my 2026 gamer WITB: Ranking the contenders and new putter projects – Club Junkie Podcast
The annual What’s In The Bag build is underway, and on this episode of Club Junkie, Brian breaks down the clubs currently leading the race for a spot in his 2026 gamer setup. From drivers and fairway woods to irons, wedges, and shafts, he ranks the equipment that’s performing best and explains what’s separating the front runners from the rest of the field.
Brian also heads into the workshop to discuss several putter projects currently on the bench. From head options and shaft choices to build ideas and testing plans, he shares what he’s working on and which putters could become serious contenders for the bag this season.
If you’re a gear junkie who loves equipment testing, club building, and the never-ending pursuit of the perfect setup, this episode is for you.
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Club Junkie
Tour Edge Exotics mini driver review + TaylorMade Spider ZT Max first look – Club Junkie
On this episode of Club Junkie, I put the new Tour Edge Exotics Mini Driver to the test and break down the performance, forgiveness, distance, and where it fits compared to a traditional driver or strong fairway wood. If you have been curious about adding a mini driver to the bag, this one is worth a look.
I also dive into the new TaylorMade Spider ZT Max putter that was recently spotted and discuss the growing zero torque putter trend. Plus, there is a closer look at the new Project X Titan Yellow shaft showing up on the PGA Tour and what makes it different from other profiles currently out there.
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Bob Prichard
Jun 10, 2026 at 10:39 pm
Spieth’s downward spiral started when he began deadlifting 380 lbs. to hit a 1 oz. golf ball.
Weights of this size tear thousands of individual muscle fibers which creates scar tissue making the player stiffer and more easily injured. Watching him walk the greens before weights and you saw micro-movements throughout his whole body. Now he is as stiff as a board. Golf requires more flexibility than any other sport, which is why Sam Snead won 135 tournaments. Snead did not lift weights and in his 70’s could kick his cleats into the top of a door frame as he walked through the door. Somax (www.somaxsports.com) can release this scar tissue, but Spieth is not interested. And, as a result, the PGA has a 75% injury rate–highest of all sports.
Rich
Jan 27, 2016 at 6:09 pm
Man up. You’re 22 for goodness sake! You mean you can’t get rested when you have 2 weeks off! Pathetic!
Flying Kangaroo
Jan 26, 2016 at 4:31 am
…His a global ambassador for golf, its in everyones best interests for him to showcase his talents around the world! Fine line between doing that and burning out tho; Good Luck!!!
john
Jan 26, 2016 at 11:03 pm
“He’s” ?
Ronald Montesano
Jan 25, 2016 at 10:31 am
I encourage him to travel the globe until he’s 25, deciding along the way which venues he prefers, and what his limits and limitations are. By 25, he should have made a decision on how to continue. Young is when to do it all.
Ronald Montesano
Jan 26, 2016 at 5:09 am
I’m also not seeing anything other than a candid admission that he’s tired. He went from Texas to Hawaii, on to the middle east, and now to Singapore. If it’s the first time his body has been subjected to such an extended bounce-around (unlike going to Oz for three weeks, getting acclimated, then returning home) to diverse time zones, climates, and foods, then he’s learning.
I need to see where his words reveal a “would-have, could-have” attitude, or a suggestion that the golfers who finished ahead of him were not worthy.
Fahgdat
Jan 25, 2016 at 4:01 am
He also could easily get used to it. It’s only his 2nd real year of playing this way. May be next year he takes one event out, and then feels OK, and shifts a couple things, but 2016 is a HUGE year with the Olympics and the Ryder Cup getting in the way, and everything has been moved around, so it’s understandable. But he had to do this to see how he could handle it, and it’s good that he got it out of the way this early in his career so he could learn from it. He’ll be just fine.
jakeanderson
Jan 25, 2016 at 3:21 am
spieth should play outside of the us as much as possible, because a young person needs to see the world. even more so, since he is anything but a global star. i doubt anyone outside of texas is interested in his boring golf.
Jack
Jan 25, 2016 at 11:55 pm
Right. Number one player in the world and nobody wants to see him play. Sure…. Let’s see the long drives and inconsistent scores because that’s fun.
Eric
Jan 24, 2016 at 8:03 pm
Don’t hate. I’m wiped out after one day of golf, 4 days in a row, week after week, with the pressure of being number 1 in the world. Even golf fanatics get sick of golf. Yes he’s paid big time, but he’s still human. Plus, he finished fifth. I give him credit for speaking his mind. He’s by no means making excuses.
Hey
Jan 25, 2016 at 12:37 pm
Did you make a million dollars for appearing and then another 400 or however he made playing? Hes a professional golfer, who pulls in 50 million a year. He needs to shut his mouth
Jack
Jan 25, 2016 at 11:56 pm
No matter how much or how little money you’re getting, you still get tired. Don’t be so harsh. All humans get tired.
Jim
Jan 24, 2016 at 6:48 pm
Never understood the world travelling so much, other than the obvious that the agent talked him into it for money and notoriety. Meanwhile his game suffers and it will take him weeks to recover for the US tour. Maybe it won’t matter as they end up taking several weeks off anyway at some point and meanwhile he’ll collect millions in this tour of the world. Still don’t get it though if you are actually seeking to be the best?
Raven
Jan 25, 2016 at 11:16 am
Travelling is fun, experiencing different courses, cultures, crowds etc. What better way to do it than get paid for it? Of course, a PGA pro will need to find a balance between travelling and maintaining quality play. So many others have shown it’s possible so I am sure JS could work it out as well.
Matto
Jan 24, 2016 at 6:22 pm
It’s gotta be exhausting. Definitely number 3. While we appreciated having him here in Oz the last couple of years, he’s payed his dues and then some.
john
Jan 24, 2016 at 5:54 pm
What ever happened to being gracious in defeat?
3 big guns tee’d it up, jordan finished last – so he makes excuses, jack would’ve said “they played better this week” because he was full of confidence, jordan makes excuses…
Philip
Jan 24, 2016 at 7:58 pm
Well at least he used “I” for the negative points and saved the “we” for the fun part – but yeah, he lost because Rickie played better … no one put a gun to his head and forced him to play in the tournament if he was too tired to give his 100%.
Desmond
Jan 24, 2016 at 9:30 pm
Please … lighten up. You don’t know the context of his comments. It’s not as if Jordan said “I would have won but I was tired and mentally beat…” That’s not his style. The article was not about the tournament. It was about Jordan and his schedule.
Desmond
Jan 24, 2016 at 9:31 pm
See the article in golfweek.com
Jack
Jan 26, 2016 at 1:56 am
Yeah it’s not put as an excuse. Just an explanation for how he is. The way he arranged his schedule is his responsibility and that’s how he portrayed it. A necessity to put yourself in the best position to win. He didn’t complain about the greens or whatever.