Jordan Spieth, a guy we all expected to bounce back, just wrapped up 2026 without a single top-10 finish. Let that sink in for a second: a three-time major champion, failing to crack the top ten all year long for the first time in his career. It’s a brutal reality check, especially after he was supposedly fully healthy and confident following a wrist injury and procedure.
Jordan Spieth’s Career-First Flop
Dude was coming into this year with all the hype, right? Fully healthy after that wrist injury and procedure, feeling good, confident in his game. Everyone was talking comeback. Early signs were there with three top-15 finishes in the Florida Swing. But then… nothing. Not one more top-10 registered by year’s end. That’s a career first for him, which is wild. His putter, man, it’s total Jekyll and Hyde: creating magic but also giving away crucial strokes with shockingly short misses. And those lively, intense on-course chats he’s known for? Now, it just feels like he’s trying too hard, like he wants it too badly. At 33, finishing all the way down at No. 52 in the FedEx Cup standings and missing his third straight U.S. team appearance? That’s a tough pill. You gotta wonder what direction he takes his game heading into 2027.
Brooks Koepka: Lingering Injuries and Putting Nightmares
Then there’s Brooks Koepka, another powerhouse who just couldn’t get it done. His first season back on the PGA Tour was a struggle. He only teed it up in 16 tournaments all year, thanks to lingering injuries that wouldn’t quit him. It’s tough to compete when you’re not 100%, right? And guess what else didn’t quit? His notorious putting woes. We’ve seen them for the last two years, but this season they really stuck around. Since winning that 2023 PGA Championship, Koepka has now officially bled strokes on the greens for three consecutive seasons. That’s a wild stat compared to his past dominance. Before 2024, he’d only done that once since his rookie year back in 2014. That’s a massive, undeniable slide for a five-time major champion, and it clearly impacted his ability to even stay on the course consistently.
So while the DP World Tour is still cooking, the PGA Tour and LIV Golf campaigns for 2026 are officially in the books. That means it’s prime time to dive into all the offseason analysis and look ahead to next year. It’s truly wild to think about the contrast: guys like Aaron Rai and Ryan Fox going from solid pros to major championship winners, or Rory McIlroy grabbing a second straight Masters, and Scottie Scheffler absolutely cleaning up the FedEx Cup with consecutive wins. For other players, though, especially those seven mentioned as underwhelming, it was definitely a season to forget. For guys like Spieth and Koepka, the question isn’t just “what happened?” but “how do they even begin to turn it around in 2027?” Their fans deserve an answer.
This article was created with AI assistance and published under Seattle On Tap’s editorial standards. See our Editorial Policy.
Originally reported by CBS Sports.
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