This Aussie icon blew the world away 35 years ago. His sudden doomspiral still boggles the mind<\/a><\/p>\nSurely it would never happen again? But after Spieth started the final round of the 2017 British Open leading by three shots, what unfolded is among the more compelling rounds this historic tournament has seen.<\/p>\n
But it also provided a snapshot into the flaws and erratic impulses that have betrayed Spieth in the decade since, even if the American still believes himself capable of recapturing his mojo and becoming a major champion again in his 30s.<\/p>\n
Spieth suffers HORROR meltdown in 2016 | 02:02<\/p>\n
The collapse<\/p>\n
Spieth got off to a flyer at Royal Birkdale when following a 5-under in his opening round with a one-under in testing conditions to lead veteran American Matt Kuchar into the weekend, before extending the lead with another 65 on Saturday.<\/p>\n
But after starting with a three-shot lead, within four holes he had conceded the lead to his compatriot Kuchar with some shaky shots off the tee and even shakier stuff over short putts as the memories of the 2016 Masters came flooding back.<\/p>\n
On the 9th hole Spieth three putted from just over three metres to drop another two shots to his chief rival for the Claret Jug and stumbled badly on the 13th with a wild tee shot that struck a spectator standing atop a hill about 100 metres off course.<\/p>\n
After a spirited debate with R&A rules officials, and enough cross country trekking to sap even the most ardent hiker, Spieth eventually took a penalty drop and played what became his third shot, more than 20 minutes after he struck his drive.<\/p>\n
It fell short of the green and a bogey ensued as he again handed the lead back to Kuchar, but this time on a stand-alone basis.<\/p>\n
\u201cI wasn\u2019t questioning myself as a closer, but I was questioning why I couldn\u2019t just perform the shots that I was before,\u201d Spieth said at the time.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd sometimes you just can\u2019t really figure it out, put your finger on it. Am I pulling it? Pushing it? Am I doing both? What\u2019s going on with the stroke? It\u2019s just searching.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd that was really tough to swallow. And that kind of stuff goes into your head. I mean, we walked for two minutes, three minutes in between shots. And you can\u2019t just go blank. You wish you could, but thoughts creep in.\u201d<\/p>\n
Jordan Spieth goes cross-country after a wayward tee shot on the 13th hole in the final round of his 2017 triumph at Royal Birkdale struck a spectator and sparked a lengthy debate with a rules official. (Photo by Stuart Franklin\/Getty Images)Source: Getty Images<\/p>\n
The resurrection<\/p>\n
Under duress and in times of desperation, an athlete will grasp at anything to find hope, to cling to, to provide a life raft.<\/p>\n
It sounds strange given the lengthy debacle that unfolded on the 13th, but the manner Spieth finished the hole by dropping a 2.5 metre putt proved critical, with his long-term caddie Michael Greller telling him; \u201cThat\u2019s a momentum shift right there.\u201d<\/p>\n
And so it proved. Spieth nearly aced the next hole with a 6-iron off the tee which bolstered his belief he could get it done.<\/p>\n
\u201cAll of a sudden I felt and believed that I could win that golf tournament, when 30 minutes prior, and really the entire day after the 4th hole, I didn\u2019t feel that way,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
What followed was described by Golf Digest writer Jamie Diaz as \u201cTiger-esque\u201d.<\/p>\n
On the 15th he drained a 15-metre putt for eagle. Famously, he pointed to the cup and told Greller \u201cgo get that\u201d.<\/p>\n
He followed that with a nine-metre putt for birdie on the 16th before a crucial eight-footer on the 17th gave him a two-stroke lead into the 18th in a master class of a finish to clinch a famous win.<\/p>\n
Later he recalled the moment where Greller, his long-time mate, told him that he belonged in the same calibre of athlete as the greats he had been pictured with earlier in the year.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m not sure. I think (it is) just a little bit of belief that you are, you know,\u201d he reflected. <\/p>\n
\u201cMichael Jordan and Michael Phelps are the greatest to ever do what they did, and I\u2019m not. But if you believe that you are, then you\u2019re almost as good as being that. <\/p>\n
\u201cAnd it\u2019s so hard in that situation to believe that, but just having just the slightest bit of belief in it makes you so confident. And I thought that that was so well said. It was just such the right time.\u201d<\/p>\n
The tournament still boggles the mind and captures the hearts of golf fans today.<\/p>\n
Just this week, the PGA Tour described Spieth\u2019s win as a \u201cdumbfounding opus\u201d, while Golf Digest called what happened at the 13th hole that year as \u201cthe craziest 29 minutes in Open Championship history\u201d. <\/p>\n
Matt Kuchar congratulates Jordan Spieth after a rollicking final round in the 2017 British Open at Royal Birkdale. (Photo by Christian Petersen\/Getty Images)Source: Getty Images<\/p>\n
The years since … <\/p>\n
When Spieth jumped on a flight back across the Atlantic Ocean, he seemed destined to join the greats as a member of the career Grand Slam club, for the only major missing from the trophy cabinet was the US PGA Championship.<\/p>\n
Nine years on and not only has the American been unable to clinch the PGA Championship, nor has he been able to grow his major tally, having clinched only two more titles in the Texas Open in 2021 and a win in the RBC Heritage a year later.<\/p>\n
In the 35 majors since Spieth has finished close a couple of times, which included a third at the Masters in 2018, as runner-up in the British Open in 2021 and a podium-placing at the PGA Championship at Bethpage Black, though he was six shots behind Brooks Koepka.<\/p>\n
Part of Spieth\u2019s magic was that he was a problem solver. It was not necessarily a surprise to see him in trouble on the 13th back in 2017, for example, because he glitched on occasion. But he had magic in his hands and usually found a way to save himself.<\/p>\n
So what happened? The American was married in 2018 and is now the father of three kids, but those responsibilities did not dull the competitive drive that remains within his belly. Instead he was stalled by a wrist issue that sapped him of confidence.<\/p>\n
The Texan revealed a couple of years ago that the trouble flared in 2017 at the driving range. It is rumoured he was chasing extra distance at the time, trying to add a little more muscle to his game. But he never took time to right the problem.<\/p>\n
His swing started to fray as a result and the results slid, but it was not until an accident with his son while he was in a swimming pool three years ago that he felt the joint pop and was forced to undergo surgery.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s kind of been something this year where that kind of dislocation has happened, you know, 20-some odd times since February and it started to happen more and more,\u201d Spieth said at the time. <\/p>\n
\u201cIt was something that couldn\u2019t fix itself with rest, unfortunately. So that\u2019s why I ended up having to do this.\u201d<\/p>\n
Jordan Spieth has seen enough promising signs in his game to believe he can again scale the major mountain. (Photo by Warren Little\/Getty Images)Source: Getty Images<\/p>\n
Never write a champion off <\/p>\n
Spieth is back at Royal Birkdale for the 2026 British Open and \u201choping to create some more great memories\u201d on what he described as a \u201cfantastic track\u201d.<\/p>\n
A dual-winner of the Australian Open last decade, the American is adamant that his form is better than the results are showing and that his best is not too far away. And he believes the challenge provided by Royal Birkdale could be a blessing in disguise.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m quite frustrated with the results considering I know where my game is at,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s better than it was four or five years ago when I got back to top 10 in the world. It\u2019s without a doubt better than it was then; it\u2019s just not quite showing up in results.<\/p>\n
\u201cAt the same time, it\u2019s a stay-the-course mentality, and sometimes stuff like that is delayed. Sometimes you get rewarded right away, like I did back then maybe in a bit of a lucky fashion, and I understand that sometimes it\u2019s delayed, and that\u2019s how it feels like it is right now.<\/p>\n
\u201cKnowing me, when the lid pops off the hole, I feel like I can go on a run about as hot as anybody can run. So I\u2019m just waiting for that opportunity.\u201d<\/p>\n
Given the sustained run of outs and his most recent playing of 56th in the US Open, some might question that, but Spieth is adamant his major dreams are not over and that he has a \u201clot of great golf ahead of me\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cI feel like I\u2019m way more optimistic than I\u2019ve been at a lot of different points in my career,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ll never believe that (it is over) until I\u2019m at a point in my career where my health or whatever would be that … because, I mean, if you give up on reaching your ceiling, then I don\u2019t see a point in playing anymore.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo, for me, it\u2019s always about I\u2019ll do everything I can to … try to be the very best in the world, because I know that I can be (that). I have been. It\u2019s nice to have the blueprint.\u201d <\/p>\n
A treasured win; Jordan Spieth holds the Claret Jug in the locker room after winning the 146th Open Championship at Royal Birkdale in 2017. (Photo by Warren Little\/R&A\/R&A via Getty Images)Source: Getty Images<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Royal Birkdale is famous for its sloping greens and undulating fairways but rarely has the famous links course…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":803342,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[566],"tags":[64,63,755,85],"class_list":["post-803341","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-golf","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-golf","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/803341","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=803341"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/803341\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/803342"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=803341"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=803341"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=803341"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/poster-fallback.png\"\/)
<\/p>\n