American professional golfer Jordan Spieth has yet to record a top-10 finish in 2026 and is keenly aware of what it takes to play every part of golf at a high level. The 2015 Masters winner recently opened up about the difficult part, which is getting all parts of his game to work well in the same tournament.

In an interview with Patrick McDonald posted by Golf on CBS on June 12 on YouTube, Spieth spoke about how hard it is to stay consistent. He explained the mental and technical challenges of keeping every part of his game sharp over four rounds of competition.

"Some of it has to do with, you start spending your time and effort on something, and you take a little bit of time and effort away from something else, and the margins are so thin that [it] lets you down."

The difficulty comes from the fact that golf demands entirely different physical motions within the same round. Driving, iron play, chipping, and putting all require different mechanics, and shifting focus between them creates vulnerabilities.

Spieth said any given week, something can get a little off. He used an analogy to describe the balancing act.

"Last year someone compared it in a media center, to Whack-a-Mole and it kind of is, it's that I thought that was a pretty good one, right?" he added.

The implication was that while a golfer can nail down one aspect of their game, another might slip and cost them the hole.

Despite the frustration, Spieth said he feels good about where his game sits.

He said he feels capable of doing his best in every category, a position he described as "very cool" in the interview, because any part of the game can pick up the others when one area dips.

With the confidence that he can play his best golf with every shot, Spieth now looks forward to playing the 2026 U.S. Open at Shinnecock Hills starting June 18.

Jordan Spieth's Learning from 2018 will Define 2026 U.S. Open Performance

Spieth has played at Shinnecock Hills in the 2018 U.S. Open. He scored 78 in the first round, which was the highest score he had ever shot in a major tournament at that time.

That experience, he said in the McDonald interview, is now an advantage. Having played Shinnecock Hills under U.S. Open conditions gives him a read on what to expect, something a large portion of the field will not have. 

He has also spoken to players who have already visited the course this year. Based on those conversations, he intends to focus on reaching the fairways and making good chips. 

"You better hit that fairway that they give you," he added. "And then the greens, I remember the greens. You start working on a little bit more touch. Some finesse kind of chipping and stuff like that. Definitely a little bit more work as you get closer to the green."

Spieth will be hoping to make the cut into the weekend, which he had missed in 2018.

Do you think Jordan Spieth can put all four rounds together at Shinnecock Hills? Let us know in the comments.

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Written by

Sneha Abraham

Edited by

Surjo Ray