Getting to play in the Players Championship is something many still dream about. But for Jordan Spieth, it has become a reality despite his winless streak in the 2025 season. You can’t help but pose the million-dollar question: How did Jordan Spieth qualify for the prestigious Players Championship? While we cannot question his exceptional ball control or his unwavering confidence, given his three major wins, the real question lies in his performance. Spieth hasn’t secured a victory since the 2022 season when he won at the RBC Heritage.
Fans hoped this year would be different for the World No. 64; however, his best finish was T4 at the WM Phoenix Open. Despite not securing a win this season, fans cannot help but wonder how he qualified for The Players Championship. Well, you don’t have to look far for the answer.
To qualify for The Players Championship, you must fulfill certain criteria. The first and most straightforward requirement is winning a PGA Tour event since the previous Players Championship. Jordan Spieth hasn’t met this criterion, so that option is out. Next, any Major champions or winners of The Players from the last five years gain entry. Again, no.
Jordan Spieth’s last major win came at the 2017 Open Championship. It’s been eight years!
Winners of either the Tour Championship, the Genesis Invitational, the Memorial Tournament, or the Arnold Palmer Invitational over the last three years earn exemptions. Again, that doesn’t apply to him. Besides the wins category, any professional golfer ranked within the World’s Top 50 is automatically eligible. We are seeing a pattern here that Spieth isn’t part of.
However, he qualified for The Players Championship with the next criterion. The criterion is to be among the Top 125 players in the prior season’s FedExCup points. For those who are not familiar, this competition spans the season and ends with a playoff consisting of three events to decide the FedEx Cup champion. Jordan Spieth’s peak FedExCup points came in 2015 (3,800 points). Although Spieth qualified for the playoffs’ first event, the FedEx St. Jude Championship, he finished in 67th place. Despite not securing a win, Spieth made his way into the Championship through this achievement. Last year, he reached the Top 100 with 795 points!
There are other criteria, including the next top players in the current year’s FedExCup points list. However, Spieth has already qualified. So, let’s look at what his 2024 season looked like.
Jordan Spieth’s 2024 season is an example of consistent play
Yes, Jordan Spieth might not have enjoyed a successful 2024 season, but he played consistently. The 31-year-old golfer also experienced an issue with his wrist injury that eventually led to surgery and an early end to the year. Despite that, his peak performance came at the PGA Tour’s first event of the year: The Sentry.
The golfer finished in third place with a score of -27, behind fellow Americans Chris Kirk (first) and Sahith Theegala (second). His next-best performances within the Top 10 came in two other events, the WM Phoenix Open and the Valero Texas Open (T10). Last year, Spieth finished T6 in the former event, so we can at least say that the golfer has improved since then.
After that, we have his Top 30 finishes. He achieved a total of 7 Top 30 finishes, including the ones we already mentioned. Among the rest of his finishes, his best performance came at The Open, where he placed T25. Additionally, he missed the cut 7 times, including at the Masters, and was disqualified from the Genesis Invitational for signing an incorrect scorecard.
In the latest news, Jordan Spieth was snubbed from the ongoing Arnold Palmer Invitational despite a solid performance at the Cognizant Classic. Nevertheless, the 2015 Masters Tournament winner believes he is on the right track for this year’s Masters.
“Right now, I’m on the right track back. I’m progressing, and I know that I’m on the right track. I am not searching for answers,” said Spieth. The golfer is also looking forward to having another family member this year! This year will be busy for the former World No. 1, on and off the greens. What do you think?
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