‘I’m There’: Jordan Spieth Is Piecing Together His Game at the Valspar Championship

Jordan Spieth led the Valspar Championship field in strokes gained putting after he posted a 4-under 67 on Thursday. On Friday, Spieth still managed to card a 1-under 70, but his putting statistics were on the total opposite end of the spectrum: the Texan ranked 122nd in strokes gained putting after Round 2. 

Spieth currently sits two strokes back of Adam Schenk, who leads at 7-under, but he’s still waiting for every aspect of his game to come together at once. Despite the cold flatstick, Spieth felt more than confident off the tee on Friday, even calling it his best driving round of the year thus far. 

It’s safe to say that Spieth’s first two rounds at Innisbrook have been a bit of a seesaw: While one spect of his game thrives, another part crumbles. But the three-time major champion recognizes the positive trends and knows what he needs to do to get back to peak form. 

“I have clarity on how to get there. That's really what's important in the game. I know what I need to do to get to the best, the, to get to my ceiling, the best that I can be,” Spieth said. 

Spieth has a game plan in mind for the progression of his play, but he admits that it’s a bit of a balancing act.

“On and around the greens I feel like I'm there. I have a round like today off the tee where I'm there. But then like the approach game and the wedge game, which has been pretty solid, wasn't quite there. So it's like to get it all really consistent I just feel like I'm, at this point, I'm not focusing on one thing it's like, hey, what's off, let's spend a little extra time doing that. So I think the clarity is what's important and trying to figure out how to get to where you're peaking. Then once you're there it's about picking a plan that maintains each facet of the game while also saving energy. It's tricky,” Spieth said. 

Two of Spieth’s University of Texas teammates are also floating near the top of the leaderboard at the PGA Tour event in Tampa Bay. Kramer Hickok is one back of Schenk at 6-under, while Cody Gribble joins Spieth at 5-under. Englishman Tommy Fleetwood and Davis Riley are also two strokes behind the solo leader as they head into Round 3 at the Copperhead Course.