Spieth will turn 30 in July, and doesn’t discount that, as good as his golf was from 2015-17, his best stuff still could be ahead of him. Never before has he had a better understanding of his swing, and what makes his game go. Experience matters.  

“To work toward that ceiling is the game of golf to all of us, right?” Spieth said. “I know where mine is, and unfortunately, it’s at a high enough place that it’s pretty hard to achieve. I believe I can be back there, and be back there at a more consistent level. That’s kind of the goal I’m at now. I still find myself just a little bit out of that trough; I’m not back to where I want to be, at the consistency that I want to be at. That’s kind of my driving force going forward.”

Three-time major champion Padraig Harrington, playing the PNC with his son, Paddy, is one of the game’s more astute observers. He has the opinion (with facts to back his thoughts) that many of the game’s greatest players enjoy only a brief burst of stellar play when they peak at the top level – Harrington himself won his three majors in a 13-month span in 2007-08. Many spend the bulk of their careers trying to rediscover levels during which they “played above themselves.” 

Said Harrington, “You’re always comparing yourself to an unrealistic version of yourself – because you’ll always think you never missed a shot.”

That dynamic could change with players enjoying more success at younger ages, Spieth being one prime example. Spieth, he said, might have “a second go.” He is a player that Harrington says he keeps an eye on. 

“What I do like with Jordan is he’s coming back,” Harrington said. “You know, that’s very unusual. Very unusual to have that peak and then to have another one. Jordan is coming back, which is quite impressive. It’s quite a testament to him.”

This week, the stress meter won’t be registering very high for Jordan Spieth. The PNC will be about getting his dad a taste of his week-to-week arena and having a few laughs with his uncle and his brother. Shawn Spieth, a former college baseball player at Lehigh, said he is here to win, so the dutiful son will do his best to put his father in a position to do that come Sunday afternoon. 

It might not be easy. Shawn said he might play “five or six times a year,” though, in typical Spieth fashion, he has been grinding over the last six weeks or so getting ready. 

“I should be good and consistent by now, right?” the dad said jokingly, turning to his son, who shot his father one of those teen looks that said, “Right, Dad.”

As good as Shawn’s short game may be, Jordan wouldn’t care to guess where his dad’s golf ceiling resides. These days, the son is too busy figuring out and striving to make a return to his own.