Jordan Spieth to bounce back from recent slump, says Nick Dougherty
Saturday 14 May 2016 07:24, UK
Nick Dougherty reflects on a slow start to the Players Championship for Jordan Spieth and looks back at Rory McIlroy's impressive start to the second round.
Inevitably there is frustration in Jordan Spieth, we can see that, but I do think it bothers him that he has come here this week and had to discuss again and again that final round at the Masters.
I think inevitably the American media will jump on Spieth's slow start and you can see what the headlines will be, that the impact of Augusta has carried on and it's inside Jordan's head, when I don't actually think there's any truth to that.
Sometimes things just don't go your way, which we've seen quite a bit so far with many of the good players. Rickie Fowler is another of those guys where it just hasn't quite happened for him, and he'd have been someone full of confidence as defending champion.
I think Spieth knows deep down that his performance so far this week isn't going to help it go away. To come and play this event after a month off isn't ideal and he's having a rough run of it at the moment, but inevitably he will bounce back. It's all part of his learning curve.
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He hasn't had the consistency this year which we've seen in the past, and that's the only reason why there's no wins on the scorecard for Rory so far this year.
He's used to being the guy that people have great things to say, as he's an extraordinary guy for his age and has been talked about as the next Tiger Woods, but all of a suddenly he is being talked about differently.
We're not going to have to wait the rest of the year for his next big performance to happen. Rory missed that first cut in America at the Wells Fargo Championship after his disaster at the Masters in 2011, so these things do happen.
Spieth's going to bounce back. He said there was always going to be the chance of a bit of rust going in to this week, just because he has been off for a month.
I think inevitably in the next two or three starts we'll see him back to where he belongs.
Big mover
I am a massive Rory McIlroy fan and watching on Friday highlighted why I am one, because I see him playing to a level of golf we don't see anywhere else.
The nature of this golf course doesn't really suit any type of particular player, but you have to be on your game around here.
One of McIlroy's strengths is that he isn't afraid to make runs of birdies and when he gets his foot on the gas, he generally doesn't like to take it off. That's what we saw at the start of Friday's round after a disappointing first day.
He hasn't had the consistency this year which we've seen in the past, and that's the only reason why there's no wins on the scorecard for Rory so far this year.
The putter is the one thing that maybe stops McIlroy being this good all of the time, but on Friday he was banging them in. He was doing everything right and was looking really comfortable again.
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