Deep in the heart of Texas, the locals knew before the rest of us that Jordan Spieth could be golf’s next big thing.
The 21-year-old native of Dallas, up to No. 6 in the World Golf Rankings, is back in the Lone Star State the next two weeks for the Valero Texas Open, which starts Thursday, and the Shell Houston Open.
Spieth has big ideas regarding where his meteoric rise is taking him.
“Right now, currently, what I’m really focused on is Rory McIlroy,” Spieth said after beating Patrick Reed and Sean O’Hair, two other native Texans, with a walk-off 28-foot birdie putt on the third playoff hole a little over a week ago in the Valspar Championship.
“(McIlroy is) No. 1 in the world, and that’s who everyone is trying to chase. That’s the ultimate goal, to eventually be the best in the world. And this is a great, great steppingstone. Going into the four majors of the year, to have closed one out in this fashion is going to give me a lot of confidence.”
With three victories since the end of November, and six top-10 finishes in his past nine tournaments, Spieth is one of the hottest players in the world with the Masters only two weeks away.
Last year, he tied for second behind Bubba Watson in his first trip to Augusta National, but Spieth knows there is plenty of work to be done to achieve the lofty expectations, which lately are soaring.
“I believe that I’m still far away because I believe that I have to win at least a major or two in order to at least start to significantly progress to that goal (of being No. 1),” said Spieth, who played in all for majors for the first time last season, also tying for 17th in the U.S. Open at Pinehurst No. 2 but not contending in the Open Championship and the PGA Championship.
“I think seeing guys like Rory step up and become No. 1 in the world and win major championships — he has four now — for him to do that, yeah. … In order to take it to the next level and try and win majors, I’ve got to look to Rory. He’s the youngest guy (25), the one with the most success. He’s No. 1 in the world and setting the bar.”
The timeline of Spieth’s rapid rise is impressive.
People started taking notice when Spieth captured the U.S. Junior Amateur Championship in 2009 and 2011, joining Tiger Woods as the only multiple winners of the event.
In 2010, at age 16, Spieth received a sponsor’s exemption from the HP Byron Nelson Championship and became the sixth-youngest player to make the cut in a PGA Tour event on his way to a tie for 16th.
Spieth won three tournaments as a freshman at the University of Texas in 2012, made the All-America team and helped the Longhorns win the NCAA Championship. That summer, he was low amateur in the U.S. Open at the Olympic Club in San Francisco, tying for 21st.
Midway through his sophomore year, he left Texas and turned pro without status on any tour. He was planning to play mostly the Web.com Tour while also seeking sponsors’ exemptions on the PGA Tour.
Things started happening in a hurry when he got those exemptions.
Spieth tied for second in the Puerto Rico Open, tied for seventh in the Tampa Bay (now the Valspar) Championship and tied for ninth in the RBC Heritage, earning Special Temporary Member status on the PGA Tour in March, which meant he could receive unlimited sponsor exemptions.
In July, two weeks before his 20th birthday, Spieth holed a bunker shot for a birdie on the final hole of regulation in the John Deere Classic to get into a playoff with defending champion Zach Johnson and David Hearn of Canada, and he beat them with a par on the fourth extra hole.
Not only did he earn a two-year exemption on the PGA Tour, but he also became the fourth-youngest winner in tour history and the first teenager to win on the circuit since Ralph Guldahl captured the 1931 Santa Monica Open.
Spieth lost to Reed in a playoff at the Wyndham Championship later in the season, earned Rookie of the Year honors and was selected by captain Fred Couples to play for the United States in the Presidents Cup.
Last season, he didn’t earn any wins on the tour, but he finished second twice, including in the Masters behind Watson, who was impressed.
“He’s young, nerves are no big deal to him,” Watson said. “He’s a great player, and a guy like that, he obviously has no fear. … He’s special.”
Even though he was winless in his sophomore season, Spieth finished in the top 10 on eight occasions and in the top 25 a total of 18 times to earn a spot on the U.S. team for the Ryder Cup.
Then, just when everybody started wondering when the victories would come, he captured the Australian Open by closing with a 63 to win by six strokes against a field that included McIlroy and Adam Scott.
Tweeted McIlroy: “You could give me another 100 rounds today at The Australian and I wouldn’t even sniff 63. … Well done @JordanSpieth, very impressive!”
Spieth flew home, spent one night in his bed in Dallas, then headed for the Hero World Challenge in Orlando, Fla., where he won by 10 strokes to cap off the year.
When he captured the Valspar two weeks ago, Spieth joined Woods, Sergio Garcia and Robert Gamez as the only players since 1940 to win two official PGA Tour events before the age of 22.
“Jordan’s got it upstairs,” Lee Trevino, another Texan, told Golf Digest. “He knows how to play golf. He learned in that Texas wind, like I did, so he kind of shuts the club and holds on to keep the ball low.
“He knows where it’s going, so no reason he has to change. Maybe if it turned out he needed more height or distance to handle Augusta, OK, then maybe change. But he went after them pretty good at Augusta.”
Texas has a magnificent golf legacy, producing the likes of Trevino, Byron Nelson, Ben Hogan, Jimmy Demaret, Ben Crenshaw, Lloyd Mangrum and Justin Leonard.
You don’t have to be Texan to see that Spieth is the next one in that class.
–Story courtesy of The Sports Xchange, TSX Golf Editor Tom LaMarre
