Jordan Spieth, Adam Scott tweak their game to boost chances in Fort Worth

Across the fairways and greens that comprise the playing field for today’s opening round of the Dean & DeLuca Invitational, high-profile competitors have been seeking answers to stabilize inconsistent golf games.

Dallas resident Jordan Spieth, the No. 2 player in the world golf rankings, spent Wednesday searching for his smile, and finding it, during a pro-am round with actor Bill Murray. Spieth considered the light-hearted tour of Colonial Country Club an ideal antidote for the disappointment of Sunday’s closing 74 that took him out of contention at the AT&T Byron Nelson.

“I think so,” said Spieth, who tied for second at last year’s event, one shot behind winner Chris Kirk. “I’ve seen this course plenty of times. It’s not like I’m out there really trying to grind. It’s more to get into a rhythm and feel like I’m putting some good swings on it and getting adjusted to the golf course. I love this place, love this course. I have had success here.”

So has Adam Scott, the No. 7 player in the world rankings who won the 2014 Colonial title. Scott, a native of Australia, spent last week reintroducing himself to his surfboard in efforts to recharge his mental batteries for a significant stretch of summer golf that, in his mind, begins this week at Hogan’s Alley.

“I came away from that feeling really good,” Scott said of his surfing therapy. “I kind of have that spring back in my step again and I’m ready to tackle this event and what’s coming this summer.”

For Scott, that stands in marked contrast to his mindset during Masters week, when he said he “ran out of gas” during the season’s first major championship. Scott, who won consecutive tournaments in March at Florida venues, has taken steps to avoid an energy shortfall during the PGA Tour’s significant summer events. He said that stretch begins this week.

Like most Colonial competitors in this week’s field, Spieth and Scott will rely more on feel than power while trying to work their way through Colonial’s dogleg fairways and small greens. Among today’s PGA Tour venues, that is a rarity.

For Kirk, the defending champion, that is part of the course’s allure and a factor that could become more pronounced as the tournament unfolds if predictions for Thursday afternoon wind gusts to 30 mph, coupled with Thursday night and Friday thunderstorms, materialize.

“This place definitely is built more for a feel player,” Kirk said. “If you can flight your shots and work the ball with the wind here and there, you’re going to have a big advantage. These greens are really difficult to hit, no matter how firm or soft they are. It’s going to be really difficult in 30 mph winds.”

“We started to figure it out,” Spieth said. “I’m at a much more natural feeling right now than I was this past Thursday through Sunday with my swing. I’m kind of swinging with what my body wants me to do versus fighting it, which is what I felt like I’ve been doing. It seems a lot easier for me right now than it did this past week.”

“This week, given the forecast, is going to take a lot of imagination,” Spieth said. “I think that’s really going to help me. I think less focus on the swing and more focus on imagination, painting a picture and working different kinds of trajectories … is going to be really good for me. Just be an artist out there. That plays into a more natural state for my ball-striking.”

Colt Knost, a former SMU golfer who grew up in Pilot Point, agreed that keeping drives in the fairway will be critical for anyone planning to win a plaid jacket in Sunday’s final round.

“You can’t just step up and blow it 50 yards offline and have a shot here at Colonial,” said Knost, who has cracked the top four in PGA Tour events the past two weeks. “You’ve got to shape the ball around here. It puts a premium on accuracy and I like my chances when it’s like that.”

Scott, in turn, likes his chances if he can recapture his ball-striking consistency that led to March victories in consecutive weeks at the Honda Classic and the WGC-Cadillac Championship.

“This golf course does reward good ball-striking and I’m really looking forward to trying to find that form I had in the early spring,” Scott said. “I think I’m close. I feel like it’ll be a nice week to put it all together here.”

This story was originally published May 25, 2016 at 8:46 PM with the headline "Jordan Spieth, Adam Scott tweak their game to boost chances in Fort Worth."