Jordan Spieth: Future World Number One?

Post by Golf Journalist Nick Bonfield

Tiger Woods made his return to competitive golf at the Hero World Challenge following a four-month injury lay-off, but his comeback was completely overshadowed by Jordan Spieth’s performance.

The 21-year-old – fresh off a six-shot victory at the Australian Open – played a different golf course to everyone else and annihilated a field of world-class golfers with what seemed like consummate ease. It might be the third professional victory of his career, but it’s certainly the most significant. Why, you might ask? Because it shows he’s fearless, he’s able to harness momentum and he’s simply not overawed by playing in such esteemed company.

To be fair, he showed those attributes en debut at the Masters this year, but understandably wilted on the back nine on Sunday. If he finds himself in the same 54-hole position next time, you’d put your house on that scenario not repeating itself. After victory at the World Challenge, Spieth spoke of an ultimate goal to usurp Rory McIlroy atop the Official World Golf Ranking. For all those who scoff at such a statement, consider this: McIlroy had won twice – the 2009 Dubai Desert Classic and the 2010 Quail Hollow Championship – at 21 years and four months old, Spieth’s current age. At that time, he was 9th in the Official World Golf Ranking – the position occupied by Spieth following his triumph in Tiger’s tournament.

I don’t want to be misconstrued here as suggesting that Jordan Spieth is better than McIlroy; the important distinction is that he could be. For what it’s worth, I think the Ulsterman will be atop the rankings for the majority of the next decade. Why? Not only does he drive the ball better than anyone in the world when he’s on top form – a vital attribute in today’s game – but his best is better than anyone else’s. I’ll concede that he’s often very underwhelming when he’s not on his game, but I’d take a flare player capable of bullying any course into submission (McIlroy) over a less explosive player defined by solidity in all areas. (Spieth). The lows will be lower, granted, but the highs will be higher. Plus, the world ranking favour someone winning periodically and not performing too well when they’re not over impressively consistent players who fail to win as much as they should.

It’s an extremely interesting debate - especially given that Spieth is still developing and the stand-out area of his game isn’t yet set in stone. Indeed, what’s remarkable about Spieth is that his game is pretty unremarkable – he’s just incredibly solid in every area. Given what he’s achieved in the nascent stages of his career, though, you could formulate a pretty convincing argument in favour the young American becoming the best player in the world.

Spieth won the U.S. Junior Amateur in both 2009 and 2011, joining Tiger Woods as the only multiple winners of the tournaments. He made the cut and finished inside the top 20 of the HP Byron Nelson Championship as a 17-year-old, and reached first in the World Amateur Rankings in June 2012 after finishing 21st en debut at the U.S. Open.

He turned professional in December that year and dropped out of the University of Texas mid-way through his sophomore year – a move that reveals so much about his character and inherent self-belief. With no status on any professional tour and aged just 19, Spieth made the intrepid decision to forego a college education and venture out into the real world. It would have been so easy to stay in college, build a reputation and enjoy all that student life entails, but that simply wasn’t in his nature. He knew he was good enough and had the fearlessness to follow through on move that would have instilled far too much trepidation into any normal 19-year-old to even be deemed worthy of contemplation.

He frequently drove overnight to attend Monday qualifying events on the PGA Tour, and his decision was vindicated when he earned Special Temporary Membership in March 2013 following a second place at the Puerto Rico Open and a top-10 in the Tampa Bay Championship. From that moment, getting sponsor’s invites was never going to be a problem. He won his first professional title after holing from a bunker on the 72nd hole at the John Deere Classic two weeks before his 20th birthday. Tiger Woods didn’t win his first professional event until he was 20. In his first PGA Tour season, Spieth notched nine top-10s (including three second-place finishes) and came 7th in the FedEx Cup.

It’s a mark of the stratospheric expectation levels placed on Spieth’s shoulders that his 2014 PGA Tour season was considered disappointing in some quarters, thanks largely to his ‘failure’ to record a victory. This year, he finished 2nd en debut at the Masters – pushing Bubba Watson all the way – came so close at the Players Championship, notched eight top-10s and finished 15th in the FedEx Cup. Not bad for a 20-year-old in his first full season on the PGA Tour.

Despite the above, you get the sense Spieth himself was a little disappointed with the season. After all, it was a step back from 2014 (it’s quite staggering that a 15th-placed finish on the world’s best golf tour was statistical regression, as compared to the previous year, for a 20-year-old). Not content to write off the end of the year, he went in search of a first title of 2014. At the Emirates Australian Open, he shot a final-round 63 in strong winds to complete a six-shot victory. McIlroy also contended in that tournament – a taster of the rivalry that we’re all hoping will materialise next year - but was forced to recognise the brilliance of Spieth after struggling in the aforementioned conditions over the weekend. “You could give me another 100 rounds today at The Australian and I wouldn’t have sniffed 63. Well done @JordanSpieth, very impressive,” he tweeted after the conclusion of the tournament.

Surely things couldn’t get any better, right? Wrong. The following week, he shrugged off serious jetlag to shoot -26 and win the Hero World Challenge by 10 shots from Henrik Stenson in a field containing six of the world’s top 10 players. He shot a cumulative -39 in two back-to-back tournaments on different sides of the world and won by a cumulative 16 strokes.

We all know he can’t drive the ball like McIlroy – no one can – but he’s one heck of a player and perhaps more importantly, someone who possesses genuine and unabridged belief in his own ability. That’s a very dangerous combination.

Image credit - Gary Player Twitter