Tranlate this title Jordan Spieth admits mistake that got him ‘in trouble’ during 2026 PGA Tour season in spanish

Jordan Spieth has admitted that he spent too much time trying to force something in his game during the middle of the 2026 season, but the American now feels much better about where his golf is heading.

Spieth opened the FedEx St. Jude Championship with a bogey-free five-under 65 at TPC Southwind. He made five birdies and no bogeys to take a share of the first-round lead in Memphis. The performance also put him in a much better position to reach the BMW Championship, with only the top 50 in the FedExCup standings moving on after this week.

It was one of Spieth’s best rounds of the year at an important time. The three-time major champion entered the playoffs without a top-10 finish on the PGA Tour in 2026, despite repeatedly saying that he feels his game has been better than his results suggest.

After his 65, Spieth explained that one period between the Memorial Tournament and The Open caused him problems.

“Yeah, it was tough. I think the tougher part was the last couple of years I was very clearly going in this direction,” Spieth said.

“I had a lull this season from essentially Memorial through the British where I was kind of trying to do, 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.”

Spieth has felt better than his results suggest

There have been signs throughout 2026 that Spieth is getting closer.

He started the year with a T24 finish at the Sony Open and later recorded a T11 at the Arnold Palmer Invitational, which remains his best finish of the season. By March, Spieth had made six cuts in seven starts and felt his driving, ball-striking, short game and putting were all in a good place.

The problem was putting everything together for four rounds.

After the second round of the Valspar Championship in March, Spieth admitted that small mistakes were costing him better finishes. He pointed out that some of the errors were mental decisions while others were simply bad contact at the wrong time. Still, he remained confident because he believed those problems were easier to correct than a serious technical issue.

His confidence continued before the Masters.

Spieth finished T12 at Augusta National, his best result in a big event this season, and followed that with a T18 at the Cadillac Championship. Before the PGA Championship, he said his game had been getting better and that he felt it was good enough to give him a chance to win.

The PGA Championship remains particularly important because it is the only major Spieth needs to complete the career Grand Slam.

“If I can win one more tournament in my life, it would obviously be this one for that reason,” he said before the event.

The American also stressed that trying too hard to achieve that goal could make things more difficult. His focus was instead on putting himself in contention again at major championships.

That same idea now connects with what he admitted in Memphis. When Jordan started pressing too much later in the season, the results became worse rather than better.

Spieth still believes his best golf can return

The Open Championship was another frustrating moment.

Spieth returned to Royal Birkdale, where he won the Claret Jug in 2017, believing he could again compete for a major. Instead, rounds of 73 and 77 left him at 10-over and outside the cut.

What made the result more difficult was how confident Spieth had sounded before the tournament.

“I feel better than my results have shown,” he said at Birkdale.

The 32-year-old pointed out that he believes his game is actually better than it was four or five years ago when he returned to the world’s top 10. He also made it clear that he does not see his best years as something that must stay in the past.

When asked whether he could ever return to the level he showed during his best seasons, Spieth said he would not continue playing if he stopped believing that was possible.

Jordan stressed that he is only 32 and believes there are areas of his game now that are better than when he was world No. 1. For Spieth, the challenge is putting all of those pieces together at the same time.

After more than four years without a PGA Tour victory, Spieth still has plenty of work to do. But his opening round in Memphis was another sign that the game he has been talking about throughout 2026 may finally be starting to show in his scores.