Spieth was born in 1993 in Dallas, Texas, to Shawn Spieth and Mary Christine (née Julius) Spieth. He attended St. Monica Catholic School and graduated from Jesuit College Preparatory School in 2011. He learned to play golf at Brookhaven Country Club.

Spieth became only the sixth player ever to win the Masters and the U.S. Open in the same year, and the first since Tiger Woods in 2002. The other four golfers to accomplish this feat are Hall of Fame members Craig Wood, Ben Hogan, Arnold Palmer, and Jack Nicklaus. He became the fourth-youngest player to win multiple major championships and the youngest winner of the U.S. Open since Bobby Jones in 1923.

Spieth started the year when he won the Hyundai Tournament of Champions with a dominant display that saw him race to an eight stroke victory over Patrick Reed. His score of −30 was not only a personal best, it was also only the second time a player reached −30 in a 72-hole PGA Tour event, after Ernie Els achieved the feat in 2003 at the same event. Spieth also matched Tiger Woods, by winning his seventh PGA Tour event before the age of 23.

He finished second in the 2008 and 2009 Junior PGA Championship. The American Junior Golf Association named him the Rolex Junior Player of the Year in 2009.

In 2009 and 2011, Spieth won the U.S. Junior Amateur and joined Tiger Woods as the tournament’s only two-time winners.

Spieth accepted an exemption to play in the PGA Tour’s HP Byron Nelson Championship in 2010. It was the event’s first amateur exemption since 1995. The tournament’s previous exemptions had included Trip Kuehne in 1995, Justin Leonard, and Woods in 1993. He made the cut, becoming the sixth-youngest player to make the cut at a PGA Tour event. Spieth was tied for seventh place after the third round, and finished the tournament in a tie for 16th place. He was offered another exemption into the tournament in 2011, when he again made the cut and finished in a tie for 32nd.

Before turning 18 in July 2011, he was No. 1 in the AJGA Golf Rankings, which promotes the best junior golfers in the world.

In 2012, Spieth earned a spot as an alternate in the U.S. Open after Brandt Snedeker withdrew from the tournament; he tied for 21st and was the low amateur. He became the number one amateur in the World Amateur Golf Ranking after his performance in the U.S. Open and Patrick Cantlay’s decision to turn professional.

In 2012, after failing to advance to the Final Stage of PGA Tour qualifying school, 19-year-old Spieth turned professional midway through his sophomore year at Texas. He partnered with Under Armour for sponsorship in January 2013 and with BioSteel Sports Supplements in March.

In the 2013 season, Spieth played in his first tournament in January, where he missed the cut by two strokes at the Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines. In March, Spieth made three cuts, finishing tied for second at the Puerto Rico Open and tied for seventh at the Tampa Bay Championship. He earned Special Temporary Member status in March, which allowed him unlimited sponsor exemptions; non-members are limited to seven exemptions per season. He notched another top-10 finish in April at the RBC Heritage, a tie for ninth.

Spieth shot a final round 62 in the Deutsche Bank Championship, vaulting him into a tie for fourth. Just two days later, captain Fred Couples selected Spieth for the United States squad in the 2013 Presidents Cup. On September 27, 2013, he was named PGA Tour Rookie of the Year. At the end of the 2013 season, he was ranked 10th on the PGA Tour money list and 22nd in the Official World Golf Ranking.

After earning a spot on the 2013 Presidents Cup team, Spieth began to plan the Jordan Spieth Family Foundation. Spieth’s younger sister Ellie was part of the inspiration, and through his work, the Foundation provides awareness and financial assistance to community organizations within four philanthropic pillars: special needs children, military families, junior golf and pediatric cancer.

In his first start after Augusta, Spieth, playing alongside Ryan Palmer at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans, missed the cut. For the first time since his debut at the event in 2014, Spieth made the cut at The Players Championship and shot a personal best round of 65 during the third round, leaving him on course for a possible top-10 finish. However, a 2-over-par final round of 74 (including a quadruple bogey on the 72nd hole) left him at −6 for the tournament and in a tie for 41st. A tie for 21st at the AT&T Byron Nelson and a tie for 32nd at the Fort Worth Invitational would follow. In his final start before the U.S. Open, Spieth would miss the cut at the Memorial Tournament.

After finishing second behind Jason Day at the 2015 PGA Championship, he became the world number one in the Official World Golf Ranking. He was the 18th different golfer to earn the honor. He was number one for two weeks in August 2015 and one week in September.

Spieth missed the cut in The Barclays and the Deutsche Bank Championship, the first two events of the FedEx Cup playoffs. However, his tied for 13th finish at the BMW Championship kept him second overall in the standings. Only needing a victory to clinch the championship, Spieth won the 2015 Tour Championship at East Lake Golf Club by four strokes. With the win, his fifth of the year, Spieth became the ninth FedEx Cup champion and earned a $10 million bonus for winning the Cup. Spieth won $12,030,485 (not including the $10 million bonus) in 2015, a PGA Tour record for a single year. He regained the world number one ranking.

A month away from the Masters Tournament, Spieth was hoping to kick-start his season at the Valspar Championship, where he was victorious in 2015, which led on to his magnificent year with his win at Augusta, as well as the U.S. Open. However, Spieth’s difficult campaign continued, missing the cut at +5. His next start at the WGC Match Play saw him seeded 4th. He was victorious over Charl Schwartzel and Li Haotong, but was defeated by Ryder Cup playing partner Patrick Reed in their winner-takes-all final match, which meant Spieth failed to progress out of the group stage. In his final event before Augusta, Spieth finished in a tie for 3rd at the Houston Open.

In April 2016, Spieth shot a bogey-free 66 during the first round of the Masters to open up a two shot lead over the field. He carded a two-over-par 74 during the second round, leading by one over Rory McIlroy entering the weekend. He led by one stroke after a third round 73. In the final round, after leading by five strokes heading into the back-nine, Spieth suffered one of the biggest collapses in Masters history, with many comparing it to the meltdown of Greg Norman at the 1996 Masters. After bogeys at the 10th and 11th holes, Spieth hit two balls into the water at the par-3 12th hole, carding a quadruple-bogey and dropping him to a tie for fourth, three shots back. He finished second in the tournament, losing to Danny Willett by three strokes. Three-time Masters winner Nick Faldo, who won the 1996 tournament, said that Spieth’s collapse “made Norman’s feel like a joyful stroll down Magnolia Lane”.

On May 29, 2016, Spieth returned to the winner’s circle for the first time since his Masters collapse when he won the Dean & DeLuca Invitational. He birdied six holes on the back nine on Sunday to see off the challenge of Harris English by three strokes.

Following a strong showing in the 2016 FedEx Cup Playoffs, Spieth played a prominent role on a victorious U.S. Ryder Cup Team. As the worlds #3 ranked player, behind Jason Day and Rory McIlroy, Spieth was looked upon as a leader within the American’s locker room, illustrating both his maturity as a 23-year-old as well as the respect his peers have for him.

On January 2, 2018, Spieth confirmed his engagement to long-time girlfriend, Annie Verret. The two married in November 2018 in Dallas.

Spieth began 2019 by missing the cut by a shot at the Sony Open in Hawaii, before finishing in a tie for 35th at the Farmers Insurance Open. A tie for 45th followed at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am; Spieth had been a shot off the lead at the halfway point, but over-par rounds over the weekend saw him fall down the leaderboard.

In February 2019, Spieth entered the final round of the Genesis Open in a tie for fourth. However, brisk conditions and gusty winds left him with a final round 81. His scorecard featured a double bogey on No. 2, a triple bogey on No. 5 where he three-putted from 4 feet and a quadruple-bogey 8 on the treacherous 10th hole after nearly driving the green. A tie for 54th followed at the WGC-Mexico Championship. For the fourth time in five years, Spieth missed the cut at the Players Championship, before exiting in the round robin stages at the WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play and then finishing in a tie for 30th at the Valero Texas Open.