Jordan Spieths FedEx St. Jude meltdown could come…
MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Jordan Spieth set a goal of 67 for the ultimate spherical of the FedEx St. Jude Championship, sure that could be enough for him to crack the top 50 in the FedEx Cup and advance to next week. Turns out he would have only needed a 69, and even that was out of his attain.
Spieth and Keith Mitchell, who was up to his knees in water on the 18th making an attempt to salvage his postseason, narrowly missed out on advancing in the PGA Tour postseason Sunday, dropping a probability to be assured to play in all the $20 million signature occasions in 2027.
One birdie over his last three holes would have accomplished it for Spieth. Mitchell would have needed to shave two photographs from his rating. He made bogey from the water on the 18th.
“I just feel like I’m kind of getting back to playing really good golf, like it’s close to kicking off, and I’m not going to play a tournament for a long time,” Spieth said after closing with three straight pars for an even-par 70.
Jordan Spieth of the United States watches a shot from a bunker on the second gap during the ultimate spherical of the FedEx St. Jude Championship 2026 at TPC Southwind on Sunday, Aug. 16, 2026, in Memphis. Getty Images
Spieth got here into the first playoff event at No. 54 and was projected to need one thing around the top 15 — relying on others around him — to make it to the BMW Championship for the first time since 2023.
He made it through the worrisome stretch of holes — Nos. 11 through 14 at the TPC Southwind — with a pair of bogeys and a 30-foot birdie putt.
“If you can get through there unscathed, you know you’re looking at some opportunities on the other side,” Spieth said.
But he tugged his tee shot on the fifteenth far enough to the left that it discovered the water, main to bogey. His chip from behind the inexperienced on the par-5 sixteenth was too strong and rolled off the inexperienced, and he missed a 15-foot birdie putt. He missed a birdie from about that distance on the seventeenth.
Needing a birdie on the 18th, he went from a patch of dust proper of the golf green just over the inexperienced, still a putter in hand from 35 ft. He began strolling before the long birdie putt completed short of the cup, giving him a par.
“I just didn’t execute enough shots and … a couple bounces could have gone one way or the other,” he said. “I needed to be almost flawless today.”
Mitchell, who has never been among the top 30 to attain the Tour Championship in his 9 years on the PGA Tour, began at No. 49 this week and was on the bubble seemingly all week. He said he never seemed at a leaderboard until strolling off the seventeenth inexperienced.
Keith Mitchell performs his shot from the seventh tee during the third spherical of the FedEx St. Jude Championship golf event on Saturday, Aug. 15, 2026, in Memphis. IMAGN IMAGES via GWN Connect
If he was protected, he could have performed out to the best, away from the water, figuring out a bogey wouldn’t harm him. But he was proper on the projected bubble of top 50. He took on the shot. He thought it was very best, but it barely cleared the water, and hopped below the hazard line on the bank of grass.
For Mitchell, there was no option. He eliminated his footwear and rolled up his pants, took his stance in the water up to his calves and gave it a shot. It bounced short and took a hop to the left, using the bank down into the water. He did properly to make bogey for a 72. In the end, even a par would have left him less than a level short of Matt McCarty at No. 50.
“I thought it was perfect when I hit it. Caught a little bit of a gust, and it came up that short,” Mitchell said. “The second shot was obviously interesting, and I just didn’t play it far enough right.”
The new factors system that places an emphasis on season efficiency means the postseason is just not almost as risky. Sungjae Im, who began at No. 53 and began the ultimate spherical tied for second, comfortably superior.
Mitchell was the only one from the top 50 to fall out.
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