Jordan Spieth Is Trying to Play His Way Back Into Old Form: ‘It’s a Patience Test’

Jordan Spieth made an impressive run on Saturday, briefly tying for the lead after birdieing six of his first nine holes and settling for an 8-under-par 63 at the John Deere Classic, his lowest score in more than a year.

It was fitting that Spieth stirred up a supportive gallery at TPC Deere Run as only a few days earlier, the three-time major champion went down memory lane, recounting some of his earlier days at the Illinois tournament and offering a reminder of his fast ascent into the world of professional golf.

In 2013, as a 19-year-old without full status on the PGA Tour, Spieth holed a bunker shot to force a sudden-death playoff that he won for his first victory, earning a spot in the following week’s British Open.

Two years later, he won again, setting the stage for a dramatic week at St. Andrews, where Spieth arrived overnight at the Home of Golf and made a spirited run at winning a third straight major championship in 2015 before finishing a shot back of a playoff.

“It was kind of a dream-come-true ride, and I just kind of went where I needed to go and didn’t ask questions and just played golf,” Spieth said. “Now things are quite a bit different in what you can schedule and how you set your season and whatnot. A lot of times it’s hard. You want to play every week and you just can’t do it.

Getting close to it this year, but back then it was like, well, I’ll just go where I need to go. I’m in next week? O.K., great. I’ll go there.

“I feel in some ways the same, but in a lot of ways decently far removed given most of my life is off the golf course and it’s quite a bit different.”