Jordan Spieth says his shot has one flaw — but it also means his career is less likely to go off the rails like Tiger Woods

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April 6, 2018 8:44 PM

Jordan Spieth doesn't hit the ball nearly as long as the other top golfers.

Jordan Spieth is one of the best golfers in the world despite not hitting the ball as far as the other top players.
The lack of distance can be a flaw in today's game where the longer hitters tend to have an advantage.
Spieth wishes he could hit the ball farther, but also believes he is less likely to get hurt, which should lead to a long and successful career.

Jordan Spieth's career is off to an incredible start, with three major championships and more than $45 million in career earnings on the course alone.

And he is still just 24 years old.

But that hasn't stopped some from pointing out that Spieth's game still has one major flaw and speculating that it will eventually come back to haunt him.

After Spieth won his first two majors, Golf Digest called Spieth's success a case of "sleight of hand," noting that he doesn't follow golf's "tried-and-true formula for being a dominant player." That is, Spieth does not hit the ball very far.

Spieth has spoken openly about wishing he hit the ball as far as other big hitters, like Rory McIlroy, who averaged 317.2 yards per drive in 2017. That was 21.6 yards farther than Spieth (295.6), who ranked 75th on the Tour last year.

"My swing, I believe, while not technically perfect, I know it, and it's not going to get me hurt," Spieth told Patrick. "There is nothing in it that is going to cause injury ... As long you are not doing anything to harm your body, and you don't do anything dumb off the course, I don't see why my career couldn't last quite a while."

This has been the biggest flaw of Tiger Woods' career — that he hasn't been able to stay healthy. And many have pointed to his big swing that has always put an incredible amount of torque on his back and his legs.

Woods has also famously changed his swing several times, which means he and his body have consistently needed to relearn the swing, whereas Spieth has (so far) shown a desire to remain loyal to just one swing, a swing his body knows well.

Spieth may never hit it as far as Woods or the others, but he feels that his swing will help him avoid a similar career downfall.

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