Spieth has no doubts about putting ability

Jordan Spieth has struggled with his putter this season but the three-time major winner insists he has no doubts about his ability on the greens.

Spieth: 'I have no doubt in my abilities'

Spieth ranks 195th in strokes gained putting in the 2018 campaign and missed the cut at the Phoenix Open last week – the first time he had failed to progress beyond 36 holes since last May.

However, the 24-year-old Texan is confident he will make improvements soon as he looks to defend his Pebble Beach Pro-Am title this week.

"What goes through my head is I still believe that most of the guys that sit on this stage right here, you ask them who do they want putting on your team in a Ryder Cup, and I believe they would say my name - so I have no doubt in my abilities," Spieth said.

"I'm just going through just a minor slump that is just set-up related.

"I'm just trying to get back and I got a little on top of it and I was kind of hitting the ball into the ground with my hands pretty far forward, which is the opposite of what my natural tendency has been going back to when I was eight years old.

"I just kind of got into a place that I hadn't been before, and I've just got to kind of get back into a comfortable set-up position and then everything will fall through from there."

More patience needed with amateurs

Players have to endure the extra challenge of playing alongside amateurs at the competition, which Spieth admitted takes a bit of an adjustment.

"You have to show a bit more patience," Spieth said. "The rounds are slower. This year it's going to be a little different because the weather's so good and the course is playing firmer, I think it will move quicker than last year when we were walking with umbrellas.

"You have to be a little bit more patient, but you also have to be very patient on the greens here because there's more traffic.

"And last year was the first year where I lowered my expectations on the greens and just accepted hitting putts at the right speed and putting them around the right line, and if they fell, they fell. If they didn't, move on and hit as many greens in regulation as possible."

Spieth will play alongside world number one Dustin Johnson during the first two rounds.