Who's hot, who's not: Lowry's Sawgrass comfort, Spieth focus could be elsewhere
Shane Lowry, of Ireland, hits a shot from the first fairway during the third round of the Arnold Palmer Invitational. Pic: John Raoux, AP
The world No. 1 went 365 days between official tour victories, stacking up a slew of top-10 finishes in between his Players victory last year and his Bay Hill win last week.
The only thing that kept him from collecting trophies like 2000-era Tiger Woods was his putter. If he starts putting like even an average tour pro, there might be no stopping him considering his other-worldly strokes gained dominance everywhere else.
Nobody has ever repeated as Players champion in 50 years. I wouldn’t bet against him becoming the first.
In February, the Offaly man slipped outside the top 50 for the first time since 2019, when he won in Abu Dhabi and later the Open Championship at Royal Portrush.
That reality seems to have lit a fire under Lowry, as he put himself in the final pairing in consecutive starts at PGA National and Bay Hill, finishing T4 and third to climb back to No. 37.
Lowry’s comfort at Sawgrass has grown in the last three years, where he’s put himself in position to contend each time. Put together a good closing kick on Sunday and Lowry could add the PGA Tour’s flagship trophy beside his Claret Jug, WGC and Wentworth hardware.
At the end of 2023, the affable Norwegian had sharpened his short game to the point of being the hottest golfer in the world as he won the PGA Tour’s FedEx Cup title, helped Europe roll to the Ryder Cup and climbed to No. 4 in the world.
The short game was the one piece Hovland was lacking at Sawgrass, where he’s finished T9 and T3 the last two years.
But Hovland made a shocking switch away from swing coach Joe Mayo in the offseason and his performance in four signature event starts in 2024 has been pretty ordinary, with his best finish at T19 at Riviera.
Maybe this is the week his work with former pro Grant Waite kicks in, but his stock seems stagnant.
In his Players debut in 2014, Spieth tied for fourth as an early sign of what was to come at the Masters weeks later and his grand slam challenge in 2015.
But Spieth has been an enigma at Sawgrass ever since, missing five cuts on only last year’s T19 featuring better than 41st.
His results this season offer little clue as to how he might fare this week, with a couple of contending challenges at Kapalua and Phoenix, overshadowed by a DQ at Riviera and a desultory T30 at Bay Hill. His eyes are likely a lot more focused on next month at Augusta.
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