Virginia Golfer Voices
by SCOTT MICHAUX
Spieth Well-Suited for Spotlight
TOP: FILE PHOTO; ROSS KINNAIRD/GETTY IMAGES
W
ith one precinct reporting
from Georgia’s 12th
Congressional District,
the golf world is already
projecting 2015 Masters
winner Jordan Spieth will be inducted into
the World Golf Hall of Fame in 2035.
Too soon?
Speculation about what the 21-year-old’s
record-setting victory at Augusta means
in the long term is moving faster than his
receding hairline. “Jordan Rules: The Spieth
Era Begins Now” was the proclamation
splayed across the cover of Sports Illustrated––
less than four years removed from the same
cover space announcing “Golf’s New Era”
in the wake of Rory McIlroy’s record romp
in the 2011 U.S. Open at Congressional just
two months after blowing the Masters.
Projecting future success based on shortterm data is a dicey proposition, of course.
We were quick to hail Sergio Garcia as the
next great champion when the teenager
chased his ball out from behind a Medinah
tree at the 1999 PGA Championship. Garcia
remains a top-10 player 16 years later, but
he’s still chasing that elusive major.
Garcia, however, is at least closer to “Hall of
Fame” conversation than Charles Howell III,
who 15 years after being declared the “next
Tiger Woods” has $28.5 million in career
earnings but only two victories and one sorry
tie for 10th place showing as his peak in a
major championship.
Acknowledging the futility of predicting
the future in golf, the confluence of youth and
accomplishment has always sparked a little
hyperventilating. Back in 1931, a youngster
only six months past his 20th birthday
knocked off Gene Sarazen and Denny Shute
to claim the PGA Championship. A United
News report heralded the dawning of the
Tom Creavy era thusly:
“The passing on the Professional Golfers’
Association championship from the overlords
of swat who have held sway since 1922, into
the hands of youthful Tom Creavy, was seen
today as presaging a new style of play.”
Well, Creavy’s “era” began and ended with
that lone major title. His experience, however,
is more the exception than the norm when it
comes to launching superstardom at such an
unripened age.
Precedence is actually heavily weighted
w w w. v s g a . o r g
39_VSGA_MayJun15.indd 39
With his triumph at the
Masters, Jordan Spieth
took possession of the
green jacket, awarded to
the event champion and
is now at the forefront of
American golf.
in favor of Spieth being a can’t-miss Hall of
Famer in line with Rory McIlroy and Tiger
Woods more than Garcia and Howell.
What Spieth did in dominating the
Masters wire-to-wire and tying Woods’
scoring record gives every reason to believe
it’s the beginning of something truly great.
Nobody got within three strokes of him
during the last three rounds at Augusta.
“He was too good for the rest of us,” said
McIlroy, who finished fourth.
Spieth is only five months older than
Woods was when “Tigermania” erupted with
his 1997 Masters triumph, so the “Spiethfrenzy” is a perfectly rational reaction for a
guy who’s finished second and first in his only
two Masters starts.
Let’s put this in some historical context.
When he donned the green jacket, Spieth
was 16 days older than Walter Hagen was
when he won the first of his 11 majors at the
1914 U.S. Open. Of the nine guys not named
Spieth since World War I who won their first
major before the age of 25, Creavy is the only
one to not win at least four career majors.
The other guys are Sarazen, Bobby Jones,
Gary Player, Jack Nicklaus, Seve Ballesteros,
Ernie Els, Woods and McIlroy.
Spieth was also the youngest player postDepression to win a PGA Tour event when
he claimed the 2013 John Deere Classic in a
playoff over former Masters champion Zach
Johnson at 19 years, 11 months and 17 days.
There have been 14 players since 1900 who
have won PGA Tour events prior to their
21st birthdays—11 of them older than the
age of eligibility for the World Golf Hall of
Fame. Only two haven’t been inducted—
John McDermott and Creavy. Woods and
McIlroy just need to turn 40.
Spieth is on that same trajectory. To this
point in his brief career, he already compares
favorably to his 21st century peers—Woods
and McIlroy.
Before he turned 22, McIlroy had won
twice worldwide, including at Quail Hollow
as his first PGA Tour victory. He was 19
years, eight months, 29 days when he broke
his maiden at the 2009 Dubai Desert Classic.
Before he turned 22, Woods had six PGA
Tour victories, including the Masters among
his four wins in 1997. He was 20 years,
nine months and six days when he won
his first tour title at the 1996 Las Vegas
Invitational—14 days before winning his
second at Disney.
Spieth already has five worldwide wins,
three of them official PGA Tour titles. Before
turning professional at age 19, he led Texas
to an NCAA championship, claimed low
amateur honors in a U.S. Open and was the
only golfer other than Woods to win multiple
U.S. Junior Amateur titles.
Combine his pedigree and results with his
burning desire to become the No. 1 golfer in
the world and you have the ingredients of a
superstar. He’s already No. 2 behind McIlroy.
The key for Spieth will be resisting the
temptation to make changes in the so-called
pursuit of perfection, à la Padraig Harrington
or Luke Donald. The knock on Spieth is that
he doesn’t have any one element of his game
that stands out as “great.” He ranks 61st on
tour in driving distance, 109th in driving
accuracy, 81st in greens in regulation, 60th
in ball striking and 59th in sand saves.
That’s all true. But he excels at using his
skill, instinct and brain at getting the most
out of every situation. He ranks in the top
eight in every “strokes gained” category
from tee-to-green and putting and No. 1 in
scoring. At last check, those are the things
that matter most.
So mark the 2035 induction on your
calendar in ink. Spieth is destined to be great.
Columnist Scott Michaux is an award-winning
columnist for The Augusta Chronicle n
Augusta, Ga., and a regular contributor to
Virginia Golfer.
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5/8/15 11:58 AM