For Jordan Spieth, the 2025 season was about putting in the foundation for what he hopes is a long and successful second act of his professional career.

After having wrist surgery following the 2024 season, Spieth took the long view entering the 2025 season. He wanted to try and make the 2025 Ryder Cup team — a goal he fell short of — but really he wanted to use the 2025 season as a launching pad for the rest of his professional career. He needed to stay healthy, fix some bad swing habits that had crept in, and lay the groundwork for the next version of Jordan Spieth.

That process was slow and non-linear. Spieth finished T4 in his second start back at the WM Phoenix Open and then missed the cut at the Genesis Invitational. He carded a T9 at the Cognizant Classic and then finished 59th at the Players. All in all, Spieth had four top 10s in 19 events. He only missed two cuts but saw his season end after the first leg of the FedEx Cup Playoffs in Memphis. That sent Spieth into the offseason knowing he would not be exempt into all of the year’s Signature Events and would have to play his way in or rely on sponsor invitations that he’d surely get.

As Spieth was grinding to rebuild his game in 2025, two areas in particular let him down — approach play and putting. Spieth lost 0.204 strokes on approach per round last season, which ranked 138th on Tour. He lost 0.006 strokes on the green per round, which put him at 101 with the flatstick. He ranked 157th in proximity to the hole on approaches from 175 to 200 yards. He ranked 142nd from 150-175, 78th from 125-150 and 154th from 50-125.

In short, Spieth wasn’t hitting it close, and his putter wasn’t bailing out his wedge game.

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Spieth took five months off after his season ended and rocked up to this week’s Sony Open at Waialae Country Club looking to get his season off on the right foot at a course that suits his game.

Through two rounds at the Sony, Spieth’s game feels like it’s in a better place than when he last pegged it because he has picked up two shots on approach over the first 36 holes.

“Just my approach game, controlling shots both ways with irons and wedges,” Spieth said Friday after shooting a two-under 68. “My wedge play feels significantly better than even ones that — like today on the eighth hole. Landed a foot from the hole and was trying to land it three feet past the hole. So I missed my spot by three feet from 121 yards. … Like that shot was way better than the result, and almost all my shots from 150 in have been to my liking.

“That’s a significant improvement and that’s where a lot of the scoring comes from.”

Spieth spent 2025 trying to iron out kinks in his swing to get back to the feel he used to have when he was on top of the golf world. That work continued in the offseason as he focused on getting his hands to do what they used to so he can be more confident when he tries to pull off shots he has been unable to over the past few years.

“Working on kind of my hand path,” Spieth said. “My hands had been not doing what they did when I was at my best for quite a while now, and now they kind of can. It’s a combination of how it carries the club and where it gets to in space. It’s one thing to be doing it on the driving range. It’s another to do it when you’re playing. It’s another to do it in tournament play.

“Today was significantly better than a month ago as far as that goes, and I was able to be more outwardly focused. I think it’s only going to get better from here.”

It’s admittedly only two rounds. Spieth knows how fickle golf can be, but the early returns from a grindy offseason have been positive. Now, it’s about stacking rounds and tournaments.

Spieth enters the weekend at Waialae at four under, five shots back of a pack of co-leaders that includes Davis Riley and defending champion Nick Taylor. But on a course where you can go low, being five shots back entering the weekend is far from out of it.

But regardless of the weekend’s outcome at Waialae, the 2026 Sony Open is just another building block in Spieth’s process — not to rediscover what once was, but to make something new with the tools he now has.

Now 32, Spieth hasn’t won since the 2022 RBC Heritage. His last major triumph came at the 2017 Open at Royal Birkdale. Spieth is a long way away from the player he used to be. It can be frustrating when the magic your hands used to conjure up no longer appears — or at least appears much less often.

Spieth knows he has a lot of golf still in front of him. And while he has changed from the golfer that took over the sport 10 years ago, and the game and competition have evolved, that doesn’t mean what comes next for Jordan Spieth can’t also be great. But holding on to what was isn’t the way to ensure the next 10 years have their own dose of magic. Spieth knows that what was can never be again. But what comes next can be just as rewarding.

“So trying to enjoy myself more, too,” Spieth said. “It was a bit of a grind of the last couple of years, and if I’m not having fun out here — I mean, I know ten years from now I’m going to wish I had these ten years back. I certainly wish I could go back ten years.

“All in all, if you’re not having fun, what are you doing out here? All that together should really help.”

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