Masters 2026: Is it time to quit Jordan Spieth?

AUGUSTA, Ga. — Jordan Spieth's second at the second emerged from the shrubbery, and soon after so did Spieth himself, a visual that's become suffocating in its familiarity. It was a shot that carried no weight, played early on a Saturday, hours before the leaders in the 2026 Masters had stirred.

And the only reason it's worth relaying is because it happened at Augusta National, the one place where he's supposed to matter. Which raises the question: If Jordan Spieth can't get right here, will he ever be right again? This Masters marks 10 years since Spieth learned the hard way that these grounds have the capacity for exquisite cruelty.

The experience would have left scars on its own, carved deeper by what happened the year before—four transcendent rounds at Augusta that whispered where this kid could go—not to mention everything that hasn't happened since. Yes, he won the Open in 2017 and contended at several Masters since 2016, but mostly Spieth and his vast fan base have existed in the space between acceptance and belief, waiting for deliverance that refuses to come. The thing is, Spieth has actually been fairly good this season—a couple of T-11s, a T-12, 33rd in strokes gained.

But greatness does not cling to hope in T-11s. That's the kind of hope that haunts rather than sustains, tethered to nothing yet incapable of release. We understand why that hope persists.