Jordan Spieth vividly remembers the 2015 Valspar Championship at the difficult Innisbrook Copperhead golf course.
“I had one PGA Tour win and a lot of people were thinking ‘he’s a bit over-rated,'” Spieth said a few weeks back.
Spieth returns this week to the scene of his dramatic playoff victory when he holed a 20-footer for victory on the par three 17th hole. “I validated that I could make the 20-footer to close,” Spieth said. From that point on in 2015, Spieth became the ultimate closer on his way to two major championships, the FedEx Cup and PGA Tour Player of the Year honors.
“It gave me a huge amount of confidence that what happened late in 2014 could continue into 2015,” Spieth said, recalling his wins at the 2014 Aussie Open and Hero Challenge. “It led to an incredible run.”
It’s been quite a ride for Spieth but he comes in this week with a less than spectacular showing in his last three events where he went T-21, missed cut and T-17 last week at Doral.
The Copperhead course sets up perfectly for Spieth’s strengths. It is not a “bombers” layout. It is tree-lined and accuracy off the tee is a must. It’s a course that requires a plan and good thought processes. All of those are what Spieth does best.
Oh yes, and the putting. Spieth’s been less-than-spectacular with the short stick lately. The greens at Innisbrook demand good putting, another reason it remains one of the toughest courses on the PGA Tour.
Spieth will have plenty of competition this week. Patrick Reed is back after losing in the playoff last year to Spieth. Henrik Stenson finished fourth last year in his first trip to Innisbrook.
Ryan Moore held the 54-hole lead last year but ended up fifth. He obviously likes the layout.
Same for Kevin Na. The ability for shorter drivers to contend here brings Na into play.
But Spieth has had the lion’s share of the pre-tournament attention. The tournament’s local media campaign is focused 100 percent on Spieth and they expect record crowds this week.
Spieth will begin his defense when he goes off at 8:07 a.m. from the 10th tee with Stenson and Bill Haas.
