MEMPHIS, Tenn. – “Pretty stress free,” Tommy Fleetwood collectively summed up his day alongside Jordan Spieth on what felt like the closest spot to the sun on Thursday.
Normally, “stress-free” Jordan is not optimal Jordan. For the content carnivores, reckless Jordan charging around TPC Southwind muttering to himself and his poor bagman, Micheal Greller, is the most entertaining. The heroic version misses fairways and greens with equal abandon and yet always has the magic touch to keep things afloat.
But that wasn’t what the sweaty masses got on Day 1 at the PGA Tour’s playoff opener, the FedEx St. Jude Championship. Paired alongside Fleetwood, who tied for third last year in Memphis, Spieth drove the ball decently, hitting just 9 of 14 fairways and was 10th in strokes gained: off the tee, and was even better with his approach play.
“If you look at the stats, you'll see four or five missed greens, but I had a putter in my hand on every single one of them, they were on the fringe. If you want to count that as 18 greens, it becomes about as stress free as it can be,” said Spieth, who was tied for the early lead following a 5-under 65.
Spieth arrives at the post-season lid-lifter in a similar spot statistically to last year, when he rolled into town 48th on the FedExCup points list. This time he’s 54th on the list and in need of a top-25 finish, roughly, to crack the top 50 and advance to next week’s BMW Championship.
But the FedExCup math is where the similarities stop between the ’25 and ’26 versions.
Despite the lack of results, with no top-10 finishes in 21 starts this year, Spieth is confident his game is in a much better spot than it was last year in Memphis.
“I think the tougher part was the last couple of years I was very clearly going in this direction [down]. I was not as good as I was earlier in the season,” Spieth said. “I had a lull this season from essentially Memorial through the British where I was kind of trying to press something that I probably didn't need to, and it got me in trouble. But I stayed on it for five or six weeks and didn't get many results there.
“The rest of the season statistically has been very good. But outside [the top-50 bubble] looking in versus inside trying to hold onto it is a little different mentality, maybe helpful, but after a good start that all changes, right?”
With all stress being relative, it’s a psychologically healthy approach to a situation that, at least statistically, is worse than where he found himself at the 2025 FedEx St. Jude Championship, where he tied for 38th to finish 54th on the points list.
Although most of the Tour’s current “bubbles” are not exactly Draconian, missing out on the top 50 has real-world consequences with players like Spieth left to languish outside of the signature events. Even average finishes in signature events, which reward more points, can be a massive lift compared to similar results in full-field events.
It’s why the weight, and the humid air, is so much heavier this week for players like Spieth who find themselves on the wrong side of the season-long math.
It’s also why Spieth’s bogey-free round felt more significant than most opening efforts, even without the wonderous fireworks that normally make his rounds so entertaining.
“Just knowing that I'm a lot better golfer than I've been in a very long time and continue to believe in that. If low scores come, they come. If they don't, it doesn't change the fact that I know that I'm better than I've been in a long time,” he said.
That’s not to say he didn’t have a few wizardly moments on Thursday.
At the par-5 third hole, Spieth hooked his drive into the trees left of the fairway and after taking a drop and chipping his second shot back into play he hit his third shot 225 yards to 20 feet for what was an anything-but-routine par.
“I had a little mud on the left side of the ball, which with a 4-iron in, with water short and right, that shot could have gotten me in some trouble today, and it was definitely my best swing of the day,” Spieth explained. “I put a really nice, solid 4-iron to whatever that was, [20] feet, to 225, and that shot was like, OK, like I didn't have that shot [last year]. I haven't had that shot in a long time. I've had it lately, but I haven't had it other years.”
It was just enough animated magic to remind us why Spieth is so entertaining. Even on his “stress free” days, he’s still a must-watch event.
Golf Channel Staff