Can Jordan Spieth shake off frustrations and win again at John Deere Classic?

Jordan Spieth competes in the John Deere Classic Betting on the FavoriteThe three-time major champion has hardly looked like a tournament favorite throughout the 2024 season, according to DraftKings.

He’s had a frustrating season, especially after missing the cut at Augusta National. Spieth has played eight times since then, missing the cut twice and never finishing better than T-29. He had just one round in the 60s, a 2-under 69 in the opening round at the Wells Fargo Championship.

But the past few months have been a microcosm of Spieth’s past seven years of career: a period of disappointment and anguish given his reputation and accomplishments. Since winning the British Open at Royal Birkdale in 2017, he has won just two tournaments: the 2021 Valero Texas Open and the 2022 RBC Heritage.

He’s had a few more chances since then, finishing runner-up to K.H. Lee at the AT&T Byron Nelson in 2022 and losing in a playoff to Matt Fitzpatrick at the RBC Heritage in 2023. He has 13 top-10 finishes since April 2022, but has missed the cut 11 times since then.

But despite the ups and downs, Spieth, now 30, has a very good understanding of where he is at this point in his career.

“Once you know where you are, obviously you want to stay there. Any dip is frustrating and any dip is big and you wonder what’s going on,” Spieth said ahead of this year’s Charles Schwab Challenge in mid-May.

“It can overwhelm you, and I did for a little while too. I think I have a better perspective now, but at the same time, I’m more motivated than ever to get to a place where I know my limits. So even on the days when I’m not at my limit, I walk away feeling like I’m making progress towards it. I walk away really satisfied with that day. But some days, I feel like I’m not at my limit, and instead of accepting that, I lose a little patience because I know what I’m capable of. And not being able to maintain that every year is just not something I can personally accept.”

“I think it’s one thing I wouldn’t change more than anything that’s happened to me. I’ve achieved pretty much every goal I had in golf, even in a short period of time. But the nature of keeping it going, you just want another chance and you’re going to keep working at it.”

Spieth finished tied for 37th that week at the Colonial Course just outside his hometown of Dallas, Texas, before missing the cut at the Memorial, finishing tied for 41st at the U.S. Open and most recently struggling at the Travelers Championship, finishing near last in a tie for 63rd.

But now, after a week of rest, Spieth arrives in the Quad Cities looking to build momentum before the season-ending major. He’s won the John Deere Classic twice, in 2013 and 2015, and a third victory this year isn’t out of the question, especially after the best player in the field, Patrick Cantlay, withdrew.

Photo: Michael Cohen/Getty Images

But the question is, how?

First, Spieth must regain confidence this season in his uncharacteristic short game: He ranks 78th on the tour in strokes gained around the green and 80th in putting, impressive numbers considering how good he was with the flat stick at the height of his career.

Spieth also needs to improve his ball-striking. He ranks 110th on the PGA Tour in strokes gained on approaches to the green, 70th in green in-regulation percentage and 86th in proximity to the hole. He has particularly struggled with wedges, ranking 130th on approaches from within 100 yards, another shocking, un-Spieth-like statistic.

So this week at TPC Deere Run, a course with plenty of birdies, Spieth should aim for the middle of the green and avoid the big numbers. He’s already making par a lot, more than four per round, but the problem is Spieth is missing too many shots. He’s bogeyed nearly 17 percent of the time this season, ranking 139th on Tour in bogey avoidance. That’s not going to win him many golf tournaments.

So Spieth has to play carefully and not put too much pressure on a golf course that has given players the green light in every sense of the word. And if he can do that, he’ll likely have a better chance of taking a victory lap in his famous green John Deere tractor on Sunday night.

That would definitely ease his frustration.

Jack Mirko is a golf staff writer for SB Nation Playing Through. Follow For more golf articles, follow us on Twitter Jack Mirko In the same way.