Jordan Spieth Backs Game at No. 51 as Royal Birkdale Removes His 2017 Signature Hole

Q: His most famous shot is now impossible. Can Spieth invent new magic on a course that erased his past glory?

Yes—but only if it is new magic, not a replay of 2017. Spieth’s most famous Birkdale escape, the 13th-hole drop onto the driving-range area, is effectively gone. That space is now out of bounds and part of the fan village, and Royal Birkdale itself has been extensively remodeled. The old par-3 14th where he hit a brilliant 6-iron no longer exists, the old par-5 15th has been reworked, and the course is now firmer, faster and playing in very different summer conditions than the wet, lush setup he saw in 2017. That means memory alone offers limited value. The better case for Spieth is that Birkdale still rewards the traits that once made him dangerous in links golf: creativity, trajectory control, patience and nerve. Even after years of uneven results, he remains a reliable Open performer, with a decade-long run of avoiding finishes worse than tied 40th in this championship. He also says his game is healthier and more complete than it was several years ago, even if the results have lagged. The evidence cuts both ways. He has only two PGA Tour wins since that Open title, no top-10 this season, and putting remains the biggest obstacle. Models based on recent form do not make him a leading favorite. But Spieth does not need the old holes or the old shot to contend. If he is going to matter this week, it will come from adapting to a redesigned, heat-baked Birkdale and turning his belief—his “blueprint”—into one more burst of invention.

3 articles · Updated · golfchannel.com · Jul 13

Royal Birkdale’s redesign has erased Spieth’s old par-3 14th and repurposed the old 15th, meaning the 199-yard birdie shot and 48-foot eagle putt from his 2017 Open win cannot be replayed.
Spieth, 32, said seeing the altered stretch for the first time Sunday was "unusual" but fitting, calling those shots a kind of "walk-off" from the course where he won his third and most recent major.
No. 51-ranked Spieth still insists his game is stronger than results show, saying he has led tournaments in each of the four strokes-gained categories even if not all at once.
That confidence comes despite no top-10 finish anywhere since last summer’s Memorial and no major top-10 since his tie for fourth at the 2023 Masters.
Returning to Royal Birkdale for this week’s British Open, Spieth says he remains optimistic that once results click, he can make another sustained run.