Jordan Spieth feels the ability to rest and relax is going to play as important a role as the hard work he puts into his game if he wants to better his phenomenal 2015 season.
The 22-year-old world No2, winner of two major titles this year apart from claiming the FedEx Cup Playoffs, headlines a star-studded field in Shanghai this week for the WGC-HSBC Champions.
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This is his first strokeplay event since winning the Tour Championship in the last week of September – he did play the Presidents Cup in October – and the Texan said he does not remember the last time he did not touch his golf clubs for two successive weeks.
“I didn’t touch my clubs for two weeks, which is the longest time by a week that I’ve taken off since I was probably 11, 12 or 13 years old,” said Spieth.
“I’ve learned over the last couple years how even to be just a few days away from the game, what kind of impact it has, and it’s significant.
“I learned it in 2014. I didn’t rest much. I probably hit too many balls, too many putts late into that season, and by the time the Playoffs came, I just didn’t have enough gas to hold on. I ran out of strength at the end of that season.
15 hours later in Shanghai and greeted by fire and iceman at the baggage claim.. Hi @rorymcilroy pic.twitter.com/fYZlrF5i3X
— Jordan Spieth (@JordanSpieth) November 2, 2015
“So this past year, I did a better job of conserving energy. Even though I played a lot, I took some more time off and I limited practice at the back end of some of my three-, four-week stretches to be able to save energy. We did a good job of that.
“This next 2016 season is going to be a difficult year. With the Olympics and the majors pushed up and closer together, I don’t think it will affect the amount of tournaments I play. But it is very important to take this time off and have a break.”
As for skills, Spieth has done his homework pretty well on which areas he needs to improve upon.
“There are definitely ways that I can fine-tune and get better. That’s what we try to do each year,” said Spieth, who was 78th in driving distance during the season with an average of 291.8 yards.
“Obviously, I would like my short game to stay consistent with how it was this year and I can certainly improve tee-to-green in different categories.
“But I can get longer, and that is something I can do over the off-season. It’s a combination of swing and what I do in the gym.
“I’m not saying that I’m going to change anything but I can focus a bit more on certain shots. I’ve already looked at some of the stats from this past year, and I wasn’t consistent from 125 to 150 yards compared to everyone else on Tour, so there’s that.”
And while Spieth is looking rested for his first start of the new PGA Tour season, he realizes that he has picked up a bit of rust from not playing the last few weeks, and is going in with a slightly different mindset than his usual win-at-all-cost attitude.
“I am aware that it’s going to be a little tougher than normal given I took off the last few weeks. I haven’t played much golf and I am a bit rusty. So I have some stuff I’m trying to work on. I want to obviously win this week, I do expect a bit of rust to come out,” said Spieth.
“I think my mindset is different this week. I wish it weren’t, but going into the Tour Championship or the Presidents Cup, I was expecting my A game, A-plus game. Coming off this break, I’m not hitting the same shots that I’m used to seeing. It’s getting close; the more balls I hit, the more consistent it’s getting. But I just have these stray ones.
“So, my mindset this week is going to be to stay focused, to try and play with a smile on my face. Obviously, I still believe that I can get out there and compete. I just know that I haven’t had as much practice as I did in previous tournaments.
“This is one of the biggest events of the year, but you do need the rest. So coming off rest, it’s a lot harder to play your best.”
Spieth is paired alongside Henrik Stenson and Bubba Watson and tee off at 5:45am UAE time on Thursday.
